If the health crisis linked to Covid-19 has led us to rethink our way of living and consuming, it will also and above all have upset our way of working. During confinement, 95% of companies must have resorted to teleworking voluntarily or by force. While this measure may have made some people very happy, for others working at home has turned out to be much more laborious and complex than hoped.
Teleworking in times of health crisis: inventory.
A few months ago, only 3% of employees in France, including 61% of executives, practiced teleworking on an occasional basis.
During confinement, this percentage rose to 24% on national territory and up to 41%, or four employees of the ten, on the side of Ile-de-France residents.
According to’ National Association of HRDs (ANDRH), no less than 95% of organizations used teleworking during this exceptional period. An unprecedented figure which has caused a real upheaval for both companies and their employees.
A mixed report.
Good…
In terms of benefits, time savings in transport (38%) and better concentration (27%) were cited, as well as greater freedom in how to adapt working hours according to personal constraints (78%).
For people confined in family, many are those for whom this period proved to be an opportunity to reconnect with their spouse and their children. Privileged moments made possible thanks to working at home and also to the closure of schools.
When 53% of respondents consider their productivity unchanged, they are 24% to have felt more productive and efficient. And even if isolation is one of the main obstacles to teleworking, 76% of the employees concerned said they still feel “connected” to their teams, despite the physical distance.
And at least not so good.
Personal and family organization which is sometimes risky, the lack of suitable equipment, the impossibility for some of being able to set up a dedicated workspace as well as the lack of training in the various remote communication tools were pointed out. Despite this, it emerged that everyone knew how to do with the means at hand and managed to adapt according to their situation.
Overall, they are still 41% to state that teleworking would have had a negative impact on their professional relations (colleagues, hierarchy, customers, suppliers). The current little perspective that we have, does not allow us for the moment to know whether this impact is more linked to telework or to the context of a pandemic.
By listening to the various testimonials, it is easy to realize that the level of satisfaction with the home-office experience is extremely variable depending on the types of jobs, lifestyles and preferences and each. But this also varies according to the inequalities in the housing of the employees in question.
On the business side …
On the business side, while many were still cautious about the implementation of this practice, the forced act during the pandemic had the effect of accelerating this process.
The companies which have experienced this crisis the best are those which had already set up partial teleworking and for the others, the need to reinvent themselves as a matter of urgency was felt.
In this period of turmoil, the human resources department has worked hard to develop benevolent and better-suited practices for employees without losing sight of the company’s results.
Managers have also had a hard time organizing the management of their team remotely and no less than 48% have seen their workload increase considerably. Shorter but more regular meetings, personalized exchanges and schedules, tasks adapted according to the situations and possibilities of each … The priority during this period was the well-being of the employees and the organization with a view to back to normal.
What future for teleworking?
Difficult to go back after such a step forward.
If employers were able to meet the expectations and needs of their employees during the crisis, the latter are a majority to request the extension of the post-containment practice.
If full-time teleworking is not yet to be considered, companies will be less and less legitimate to refuse their employees to work from home at least one day a week.
Not less than 79% of them say they are ready to give up their assigned office in order to be able to telecommute. No wonder when we know that open-spaces, however more and more widespread, tend to reduce the concentration and efficiency of workers.
If the organization of work will be one of the essential questions in the months to come, it is certain that the possibility of working in home-office is already one of the selection criteria of the people currently looking for a job. It will therefore be in the interest of companies to be open and innovative on the subject if they wish to attract new talent and retain their current employees.
As home office work may tend to fall within the norms of companies, the latter will also have to reassess their needs in terms of space. Indeed, introducing a rotation of attendance could free up a considerable space in the offices and thus allow companies to rent smaller spaces and therefore reduce costs.
Organizations face an uncertain future.
In the aftermath of a health crisis and on the eve of an economic crisis, everything is accelerating and nothing is certain. Companies will have to learn to adapt quickly to different events in order to ensure their sustainability.
You are a business and need a personalized support through professionals to organize and structure the implementation of teleworking within your organization? Our experts Boost’RH are available to assist you in this transition.