In remote working there is an opportunity for companies too
OPINION |

In remote working there is an opportunity for companies too

WHEN WE RETURN TO NORMALITY, ENCOURAGING SMART WORKING COULD BENEFIT ORGANISATIONS, WHO WILL BE UNDER FINANCIAL PRESSURE

by Tracy Anderson, Dept. of Management and Technology

Almost every aspect of our lives is being affected by COVID-19. But while some things will eventually return to what they were before when we are finally the other side of this period, others will not.

Thinking about the world of work, sadly, some employees will lose their jobs as a result of the economic consequences of this pandemic. We all hope that this will be a temporary state. Others who are more fortunate will remain employed. But for many employees, they may find that how they work will be permanently altered.

We have seen a massive shift in working practices in response to the restrictions of COVID-19. Work has gone virtual and employees are working remotely from home on a scale never before seen. Previously the incidence of such practices had been relatively low and sometimes only granted to subsets of employees. Now these practices are widespread and apply to whole organizations.

No longer do affected employees get up in the morning and commute to the office but they sit at their dining table or on their sofa with their laptop having made a coffee in their own kitchen. No longer do these employees chat to their colleagues at their desks nor travel to meetings with colleagues or customers elsewhere but they interact over Skype or one of the multitude of platforms that can facilitate video conferencing and collaboration. The changes to daily work habits are many, and will differ across individuals and occupations. But this largescale shift to remote working seems likely to change the organization of work forever.

While the adoption of theses practices has been prompted by the need to maintain operations and keep organizations afloat during this challenging period, in embracing these practices, organizations are developing new capabilities, expectations and norms around ways of working that are likely to outlive this crisis.

Of course, the road of transition is rarely smooth and not all employees will respond positively to such changes but this shift is allowing managers to see that employees across a range of roles can be just as productive outside of the office as they can be in the office - and even in these extraordinary times when many are having to deal with bored children and ensuring those who are more vulnerable get the support they need. (For those managers who were previously more skeptical of flexible home-working, this may be a revelation.) The current situation has prompted employees to review their schedules and pare back, ridding their calendars of the unnecessary, ultimately more actively managing their time and increasing their ability to work more flexibly and efficiently. This is beneficial for employees and their employing organizations.

In the aftermath of this crisis, many organizations will come under increasing financial pressure. Continuing to support and encourage such flexible remote-working arrangements could help. At that point, organizations will have already made the investment and negotiated the no-doubt somewhat bumpy path of transition to a more virtual workplace, developing accepted ways of working together when employees are not co-located. Now they can reap the benefits if they so choose. Most obviously, remote-working reduces pressure on office space and can reduce overheads. But, perhaps most importantly, continuing to offer and support remote-working may help organizations to retain and motivate their employees. While employees will doubtless welcome the freedom to go to the office and interact with colleagues in person when the opportunity finally comes – and it is very important not to underestimate the social function of the workplace - employees will then have experienced the increased autonomy and personal flexibility that

remote-working can provide. Of course, this is not for everyone, but many may desire the opportunity to retain an element of this going forward – or at least at particular points in their working lives. Organizations who attempt to fully return to their pre- COVID-19 ways seem likely to lose out.

Remote-working is new to many organizations but expect to see more experimentation in the future as employers and employees attempt to find the right balance remote- and office- working to foster personal autonomy and workforce efficiency, without losing their sense of workplace community.

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