Home alone

As organisations contend with ongoing working from home, Charles Butterworth, Director, Access People considers the negative impact of remote working and onboarding on employee wellbeing

There are clear benefits to a remote working culture. Greater autonomy and flexibility allow workers to structure how they spend their days, which can lead to increased productivity. According to a recent Access People poll, half of workers prefer a hybrid working arrangement, working some days from home and some days from the office. A significant 41 per cent prefer to work entirely from home. Less than 10 per cent would like to return to the office full time. These figures reflect a significant shift in mindset of the majority of the workforce. 

A permanent switch to hybrid working could have both a positive and negative impact on both managers and employees. On the positive side, it provides employees with the ability to achieve greater work-life balance by having the freedom to choose how they spend their time. It also allows businesses the opportunity to innovate, upskill their workforce and make greater use of the technology available to connect workers and streamline processes.

However, amid this rapid change we must always keep the mental health and wellbeing of our people at the forefront of our minds.

THE MENTAL HEALTH COST 

A recent poll by the IWFM revealed that one in five (20 per cent) reported their health had suffered in 2021 as a result of working from home, while one in three (33 per cent) complained that their employers had failed to equip them to work effectively from home. For those accustomed to commuting to the office every day and seeing colleagues, and those for whom socialising was an important part of their lives, the pandemic has been a lonely experience. There has been a clear impact on mental health as a direct result of lockdown measures, which also impacted workers. Some became overwhelmed with the unclear divisions between work life and home life, and it became difficult for employers to have sight over the wellbeing of their workforce because of a lack of technology to support this rapid change.

So, despite the benefits of remote working, and the fact that many employees want to continue working at least some days at home (91 per cent), there is also a great indication that the mental health of workers is continuing to decline. This is especially true when it comes to those who report suffering from anxiety.

Entering into endless streams of video calls can be mentally and physically draining, resulting in a sensation that has come to be known as Zoom fatigue, which impacts certain demographics harder than others – namely women and new employees who are going through a remote onboarding process. Days can begin to blur together, and burnout can be reached faster without the distinction between home and work.

THE ROLE OF MANAGEMENT 

There are things we can do to address the problem. Managers and HR leaders have the critical responsibility of helping their workforce navigate this transition by prioritising the mental health and wellbeing of their workers.

When asked about the health and safety challenges within their organisations, concern for wellbeing of remote workers topped the list, with 44 per cent of those surveyed citing this as the main obstacle to tackle. This indicates that leaders within organisations need to have open communication with their employees to find out how the process of remote working can be made easier for them in order to alleviate their concerns. This might mean surveying employees to enquire about what equipment is needed, providing regular opportunities to check in, and doing a technology audit to ensure that the systems that are being used to connect employees are fit for purpose in the modern working environment.

REMOTE ONBOARDING

In addition to focusing on technologies that have the power to connect workers and keep them safe, remote onboarding is another aspect for management to consider. Remote onboarding strategies must keep the workforce of tomorrow in mind while demonstrating that their employer is flexible to their needs. A poor remote onboarding experience is detrimental to those all-important first impressions and affects how engaged employees are with their new employer. Organisations with robust employee engagement practices see employees who are five times more engaged in achieving organisational goals and 35 times more likely to feel part of a unified team driving business results.

We have the power to support people’s wellbeing while also doing our jobs effectively during this challenging moment in history. The priority is finding the right balance between work and life, and helping our workforce navigate this change successfully.

Let’s take a step back and look at how far many of us have come over the last (nearly) two years since the pandemic began. In response to a crisis, many industries were able to move mountains to support their workforce as they entered into a new era of remote work, utilising technology to make a difference in people’s lives and reach organisational goals. There’s every indication that this is set to continue, and the possibilities are endless for what can be achieved if we continue to put the wellbeing of our people first.