Besides multiple benefits, working from home has hidden dangers which are not always immediately apparent and which employers need to address for the long term.
On the surface, the home-working experiment appears to have been a success. Several global organisations are exploring a permanent shift, allowing their employees to split their time between the office and home.
Behind these headlines are the smaller stories; an accountancy firm in the north of England which had never considered a remote work policy found its employees carrying home desktop computers as the office closed and the firm desperately tried to source laptops. It is now successfully running its day-to-day operations remotely. Few companies were truly prepared for remote working, yet many adapted faster than they considered possible.
Change creates opportunity. With a remote workforce an organisation can reduce a key cost: the office space. They can expand the talent pool and reduce another key cost: salaries. If you no longer need to recruit from set geographical locations, then you no longer need to meet inner-city salary expectations. They can also offer employees an entirely new perspective on work-life balance. Our research indicated that people have welcomed home-working.
In a survey conducted by Totem, only 38% of respondents expected to return full time to an office. Furthermore, when the same group was asked for their preference, only 22% would select to return to the office. Nearly 75% of respondents wanted to continue at home or work in a hybrid model. This trend is supported by other third-party studies.
The hidden issue
Whilst an individual’s sentiment toward home-working can vary based on their social, personal and environmental pressures, it is clear that for the majority, expectations have fundamentally changed.
Employers save money and employees are happier. It sounds ideal. However, we have begun to see indicators of a fundamental change in our workplace interactions. When interviewed, individuals who previously worked in informal office cultures referenced a perceived increase in formality when interacting with colleagues remotely. Inversely, individuals who previously worked in hierarchical, formal office cultures referenced a perceived decrease in formality when working remote. Whilst seemingly minor, it shows how removing the office can impact our perception of our colleagues and the nature of our conversations.
This is creating a more important issue. Our research identified decreasing familiarity between colleagues. Shared office experiences help us feel like we know each other and create our intrinsic sense of belonging. Crucially, this enables us to communicate confidently. Familiarity influences how we judge someone’s emotional state, goals, and desires which in turn informs our communication style and tone. Without it, our anxiety when communicating increases and our confidence and trust decreases. Our ability to challenge, ask for help and problem solve with our colleagues is inhibited. Essentially, teamwork is getting harder without an office.
The unnatural formality created by video calls and faceless avatars on instant messaging tools do not replicate the sense of warmth, understanding and familiarity generated when meeting someone in person. For an organisation, a team that is unfamiliar with one another is less effective. For an employee, it is anxiety-inducing and can create a sense of isolation. Every new process, task or teammate decreases our familiarity. When we are working remotely, our ability to rebuild it is inhibited. Silos are created between old and new and the outcome is an organisation that struggles to communicate and adapt to change.
What happens next?
For many, returning full-time to an office appears unlikely. In the short term, Covid-19 creates uncertainty. In the long term, employee expectations have fundamentally changed. People want the option to work from home. If successful, it also offers organisations significant financial benefits. However, at the same time our familiarity is being eroded and with it our ability to communicate. This has a detrimental effect on our mental health and our ability to work together effectively.
We need to find a future-facing solution to this problem. Organisations will likely need less office space, but they will still need a space. Landlords and organisations need to identify how they can utilise this space and the time an employee spends there to build familiarity. Social design has never been so important. The amount of desk space is unlikely to remain the selling point.
Guest commentary by Marcus Thornley, founder and CEO of Totem (www.totem.team), a digital workplace culture platform based in London
