Remote working has been a popular topic of debate in the news recently.
You may have seen an Independent report confirming that Amazon has instructed its UK staff to return to the office full-time, believing that this will improve collaboration and company culture.
Following a similar line to Amazon, a Startups report revealed that a wide range of companies including Barclays, Dell, and Boots are rolling back the ability of staff to work from home.
This is all in spite of the fact that the new Labour government appears to be taking a different view of flexible working. Business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, was reported in the Times as saying that flexible working boosts productivity and that new legislation will provide a default right to such working for all employees.
Although the exact details of the new legislation are not yet known, it is clear that remote working is certainly coming under scrutiny. Indeed, if you are a business owner yourself, you may well be considering your own company policy with regard to enabling staff to work remotely.
The Covid pandemic was the catalyst for a big increase in home working
The development of online business communication systems made remote working accessible without high-cost equipment from around 2010. Even so, it was the Covid pandemic in 2020/21 that drove a big increase in the number of people working from home.
That was primarily due to necessity rather than choice, as health experts and the government stressed the importance of lockdown and social distancing. As a result, companies that previously may have been reluctant to allow staff to work from home were forced to invest in the IT systems to allow it.
Source: Statista
As you can see from the chart, the percentage of people working fully at home peaked at just under 40% during periods of lockdown.
Since the pandemic ended, the number of people working permanently at home has declined. Meanwhile, hybrid working has increased nearly threefold, from 8% in May 2020 to 23% in July this year, with increasing numbers of people splitting time between home and office rather than full-time in one location.
There are advantages of home working for both employees and employers
There is little doubt that staff able to work from home for at least some of the working week benefit from not having to face the stresses associated with the daily commute.
They can also enjoy the ability to work flexibly. This can help them be more productive and work longer, more flexible hours, not necessarily being tied to a nine-to-five routine.
Furthermore, being at home rather than some distance away in an office means short-term commitments such as a dental appointment may only take out an hour of the working day rather than a whole afternoon. So, someone can be back at home and working more quickly than they might if they were in an office.
There are also benefits for employers in staff working remotely.
A reduction in the amount of workspace required could enable you to downsize and reduce your business costs.
You also have the often overlooked advantage that there may no longer be geographic restrictions on where you can recruit, subject to any requirements you may have for staff to be in the office at least some of the time. This could vastly open up the pool of talent you are able to recruit from.
Working from home does create issues for businesses and staff
Alongside the benefits of homeworking, however, there are downsides for both employers and employees.
From a management perspective, not having staff in the office can raise key issues around monitoring and accountability, with staff potentially feeling tempted to slacken off, or even disappear for periods.
While not insurmountable, these issues could result in you needing to change your management structures, especially around considerations such as reporting and appraisal.
Homeworking also raises issues around mentoring and training. For example, new staff may not necessarily be able to learn positive behaviours from their more experienced peers if they are not in the office with them.
If you think back to your first job, you may well recall how helpful it was to be in an environment where you could get a question answered face-to-face, rather than through the impersonal nature of an online chat facility.
There may also be duty of care issues you need to be mindful of when it comes to your employees working at home, and to recognise that homeworking will not work for some people.
For instance, young staff still living at home, or in a one-bedroom flat with a partner also working at home, may find hybrid working challenging.
Likewise, someone living on their own may suffer from loneliness and depression if they are spending their working day at home rather than in an office with colleagues.
You will need to create a clear remote work policy
If you are having second thoughts about remote working in your business, or if it is something that would benefit your company, then one important step is to set out some clear guidelines.
By having a comprehensive remote working policy that employees agree to from the outset, you can avoid ambiguity and subsequent disputes, and create an environment that works for all of you.
Such a policy should set out all of the requirements that you want to be fulfilled if employees want to work at home.
These are likely to include:
- Who is allowed to work remotely
- How you expect staff to work
- How you are going to evaluate the work they do
- Whether you are happy with full-time or flexible working.
You will also want to make clear the occasions when you will expect them to come into the office, such as for all-staff meetings, monthly one-to-one meetings, and annual appraisals.
Similarly, it is important to be clear on the policy when it comes to external meetings with clients, suppliers, and other third parties.
There are no simple answers and it is down to what works best for you
It may be tempting to simply use a standard business template for your policy. But, setting out your own bespoke policies will ensure that your remote working strategy aligns with the way you want to run your company.
After all, it is your business, you are in charge, and you are the one who thrives or suffers subject to business success or failure.
While you will want to ensure staff are happy with the way they are required to work, it is important that you are equally satisfied, especially when it comes to issues such as accountability, communication, and reporting.
The key will often be to find a flexible approach that works for both you and your staff.
Get in touch
If you would like to discuss any aspect of your financial planning, then please do get in touch with us at DBL Asset Management.
Email enquiries@dbl-am.com or call 01625 529 499 to speak to us today.
Please note
This blog is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
Please do not act based on anything you might read in this article.
