We have all read articles in the national press and heard interviews on the radio and TV about the government’s attempts to encourage white-collar workers to return to their workplaces.
But as yet, only 34% of white-collar workers have returned to their offices in the UK, compared to 83% in France and an average of 68% amongst other major European City offices
This seems to suggest that that the governments edict to employees is not working and that employees decide when and who should return to the office - this view is poppycock.
The reality of it is that employers need to decide who and when employees return to the office but to date, they do not know what to do.
Should they let go office space and keep employees at home or keep the office space and insist employees return to work at the office – when it is safe to do so – or to put in place some sort of hybrid arrangement? Of course, the worst of all worlds is to keep the office space, and all the employees with and face the risk of continued down turn in productivity.
According to the latest CB/PWC financial Services Survey around 88% of 133 financial services companies polled in London said that the shift towards working from home as a result of Covid-19 had made them review how much office space they needed going forward.
The problem is, employers do not have a crystal ball; some fear losing control of their work force, and productivity, whereas others welcome the change as an opportunity to cut costs, but there could be unforeseen consequences.
I remember trying to work from home with a new-born baby. As soon as my child was asleep, I started working only to be annoyed and frustrated when he woke up demanding to be fed or changed - I found it really difficult to concentrate – and of course my productivity went down, but I loved my work and soon returned full time at the office like (after three months).
From my experience some employees can work from home, whereas others struggle.
This is backed up by studies. Since the lockdown about 50% seem to suggest that productivity has gone up and 50% down – I suspect that those who have minimal or no distractions at home are more productive and those who have young children, crowded homes, or elderly relatives simply cannot.
The real questions to be addressed are i) how are employers going to evaluate productivity, ii)how much office space will they be able to and wish to, let go and iii) if they need to make redundancies who will they chose?
Employers have got used to seeing their employees arrive in the office at or before the appointed hour and leave at or after the appointed hour. They feel comfortable that if the employee is in the office they must be working; not nursing a hang-over. This is not necessarily the case. We all know colleagues who fritter away the day and only seem to start work at 6.30p.m.
In the future how will employers measure productivity. The simple answer is by the bottom line – but we all know it is not that simple; juniors need nurturing, business needs to be won, information needs to be absorbed and strategy needs formulating.
Two hundred years ago before the factory work was ‘put out’, workers were paid by what they produced regardless of how long it took them to produce it. But when the factory came into vogue, workers were ‘clocked’ in and ‘clocked out’ and this has now become the norm – but is this really good for either the business or employees?
The next tricky decision is how much office space to let go. Some organisations simply do not have the necessary break clauses, so cannot, but of those who can, some are reluctant to see their fancy offices, reception rooms and meeting spaces cut. Would this loss of image send out a signal that they were struggling?
Then comes the hardest decision which is how many staff are required and who to ‘let go’.
Presumably those who can work effectively and efficiently from home will be kept and some juniors and those who cannot work so well from home will be let go – this would make business sense – but is it right?
Those workers who live in crowded apartments, cramped conditions with large families, young couples with infant children, and middle aged individuals with elderly relatives, maybe good workers, but not good at working from home.
Given the imponderables which our employers face in knowing what to do to maximise profits for the business post lockdown – is it hardly surprising that for now, most employers of white collared workers - which include our industries, are sitting on the fence?
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In the meantime – bear in mind that our clients the worlds wealth creators are the only people who can pull us out of recession, and we owe it to them whether we work from home or not to work together to assist. If you agree, then join like-minded, client focused private client professionals in Caroline’s Club by clicking here.