If this event will undoubtedly be an important disruptive element for the world of work and its traditional model, well sumarised by the famous French motto “Boulot-Métro-Dodo”, it is also important to take into account a very important fact: This experimentation is done for a lot of us, in a forced and unprepared manner, without any preparations, on either side, aka. employers and employees.
If LinkedIn, as well as the press were full of very enthusiastic posts in the first ten days, we are now starting to see articles, posts or reports that are less enthusiastic …
Based on the above statement, it is, in our opinion, legitimate to question the impact of the current situation on Homeworking, its adoption…
And if all attempts to develop it, generalize it in companies will lose traction in the future, as a result of the current period.
This is why, for us, any audit of the Homeworking process, following this “somewhat exceptional” period, will have to take into account the stress factor generated by the Covid 19 with, among other factors:
- Homeschooling impact
- Permanent overcrowding
- Limited movement
- And for some the stress linked to the impossibility of seeing sick elderly parents…
Indeed, and a good example of this, will be the feedback on this experience of an individual who finds himself locked up with his spouse and his three young children(the three of them being aged between 5 and 10 years) and having to manage their school work, while both parents are trying to keep their work level as productive as possible.
One must not be a “fortune teller” to think that the possibility:
- That some parents (to not say all of them) will be eager to return to their office,
- That individuals won’t want to hear about homeworking any longer will be great, even if the individuals were practicing homeworking, prior to the confinement period.
Another factor, which seems important to us, and which can have a strong impact on Homeworking perception and adoption by employees, is the quality of the working environment.
For many people, this period of forced Homeworking is done while working on a laptop, from the kitchen or dining room table, a setup miles away from an office environment, which even if it is not always the most ergonomic set-up, is certainly more suitable than a wooden chair with a straw seat.
Let’s not talk about individuals who have practiced Homeworking from the very relative comfort of the sofa, or even of their bed …
As a result, the consequences of those bad environments are already beeing seen , either through articles published in The Times newspaper on 28.03.2020, or in Le Figaro newspaper on 30.03.2020, or in studies such as the one performed by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), Working at Home Wellbeing Survey
If those issues already appear in week Three, it is easy to think that the damage will be even worse on week Six or week 9 9as the confinment period might last months), especially if there was already a fertile ground, with issues such as Neck, Lumbar pain …)
So, if we do not want Homeworking to become a great project of the past, we believe the following points are very important and need to be remembered when Assessing the current Homeworking experience:
- It is first and foremost a starting point on which to build
- Each employer should take advantages of all feedbacks received (positive and negative) to lay a solid foundation in the future.
- Those bases could take the form, among others, of:
- Training and information modules for employees (as recommended by the various laws)
- Establishment of an appropriate IT infrastructure
- Assistance and provision with Adequate equipment’s, especially if the employees already have physical problems
- …
It is legitimate to think that it is only if:
- All the above (and potentially others) conditions are met
- We are also witnessing the implementation by companies of a preventive and reactive strategy, which considers the needs of employees, via
- Regular training
- A regular audit of the abilities, skills, methods used and needs of the employees
That Homeworking will be able to resume its forward motion and remain a formidable tool of Work flexibility, and a help in achieving a better work / life balance that it used to be prior to the Covid 19 crisis
P.S: # Take care of yourself and others – # Stay home