Rethinking The Office - Attitudes Towards Working Remotely In Grenada And The Region

RETHINKING THE OFFICE Attitudes Toward Working Remotely In Grenada And The Region

2020 | JULY

Rethinking the Office Having been put on mandatory lockdown with strict curfews in March, businesses were faced with two options, work from Home (WFM) or not at all. In some cases the work from home option was not a viable alternative which significantly affected the productivity of those businesses. For others, working from home provided new opportunities for efficiency and productivity. Even for those companies however, the opportunities were accompanied by relevant challenges, lack of technical preparedness and family disruptions being the main problems. To understand people’s attitudes toward WFM versus working in an office, the Terra Caribbean group surveyed over 500 office workers across Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad & St. Lucia.

Highlights

Leila Maria La Touche, Managing Director

An overwhelming positive view on Working From Home in Grenada Overall, 79% have a favorable view The response on the productivity level were split 50% of respondents felt that working remotely will have a positive impact on their corporate culture • Over 90% of respondents think that a hybrid is the ideal structure for the future working environment • • • •

A REGIONAL VIEW

BARBADOS

GRENADA

ST. LUCIA

TRINIDAD

View working from home positively

84%

79%

75%

88%

Feel they are more productive at home

53%

41%

50%

64%

Why don’t more companies adopt the work from home approach?

Traditional/Old school Culture

Nature of business

55%

Lack of available technology

26%

Other

13%

7%

In the longer term, what is the ideal working environment?

5% 3%

92% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

Hybrid (Remote/Physical)

50%

60%

Fully Remote

70%

80%

Fully Physical

90%

100%

THE GRENADA PERSPECTIVE - Working From Home Primary Benefits

Primary Challenges

Flexible schedule

55%

Family disruptions

58%

Better work/ life balance

47%

Social isolation

42%

40%

Keeping a regular schedule

30%

36%

No dedicated space to work Internet connectivity

Increased focus & productivity

22%

Less stress

17%

Other responses

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Other responses

27% 26% 8%

4%

Working remotely offers a more flexible schedule and better work life balance but over 57% of the respondents think that a key hurdle for implementation will be family disruptions.

Culture Percentage of those that believe corporate culture will be the same or better with a work from home structure.

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Reduced commute time Transport cost savings

86% Same or Better

Coaching

Office Space

How effectively can coaching and mentoring be done when working from home?

What percentage could your office space be reduced by in a hybrid or fully work from home scenario?

36%

Somewhat effectively

17% 47% Effectively

Not so effectively

47% REDUCED

Embracing Working From Home Will companies actually embrace the concept of working from home in the next 12 - 24 months?

0%

10%

20%

29% 30%

40%

YES

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50%

NOT SURE

33% 60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

NO

Though the response in regard to whether companies will embrace the concept of WFH were split, the forced execution of WFH caused by the lock down has provided a viable alternative that was not widely accepted pre- lockdown.

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38%

Insights The lockdown has opened the eyes of employees and employers alike who now have a better appreciation for WFH. In the past, in person meetings were perceived as a must, whereas, presently online alternatives such as zoom have been widely accepted as an adequate form of meeting.

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Your presence in the market exhibited by having an office space is more than about housing employees but moreover, it significantly impacts the public’s perception of your company.

Though WFH was widely accepted, the hybrid form being most desired, it is not expected to have an immediate impact on demand for office space in Grenada. Further, it should be noted that though more flexibility may be offered to employees, with regards to WFH, there will still be an expectation for designated spaces at the office based on the trends of organizational cultures. Though we do not expect to see an increase in demand for office space, this is not directly correlated to the increase in WFH situations.

Terms & Conditions - These survey results have been published for general information only and are not to be relied upon. Although high standards have been used in the preparation of the information, presented in this report, no responsibility or liability whatsoever can be accepted by Terra Caribbean for any loss or damage resultant from any use of, reliance on or reference to the contents of this document.

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