Home vs Office
My observation in speaking with many candidates, is that people are feeling the big adjustment of the commute to the office again after Working from home (WFH).
My observation in speaking with many candidates, is that people are feeling the big adjustment of the commute to the office again after WFH. This shift will be impacting people differently. For the parents who were home schooling trying to juggle who gets to work from the dining table, or the ironing board (aka stand up desks), to people without children, or living alone, trying to find ways to still meet people for human connection- we have all had different challenges; however seem to have found a way to cope, be productive and found a new flow of working effectively.
How we think about our work places has been disrupted, and what I have observed is that many people have adjusted effectively. Many companies have had record revenue increases, through a global pandemic, all whilst juggling a crisis, and most people have been WFH (Respectfully acknowledging the negative impact of the pandemic has had on many businesses as well such as the art sector, travel, tourism and hospitality industries).
Now that things have shifted again, and office environments are slowly opening up, I notice how leaders are enthusiastically trying to bring teams together again, to get the collaboration and connection that has been missing amongst many teams. However I am noticing many employees are reluctant to go back to work 5 days a week, and have been asking for more flexibility (such as 2-3 days to WFH). Companies who have not adjusted to a hybrid work model, have been struggling to find talent.
Whilst People Leaders are finding ways to entice staff back to the office spaces, they’re also trying to work on retention strategies to retain top talent as job opportunities are increasing at a high rate. This is difficult to navigate while people are not physically connected. How does the work space gain more alure than home life? Perhaps a hybrid model is a good starting point, and to ensure specific teams are in the office on certain days to start building the connections and physical collaboration again. What happens on the days in the office needs to be impactful, to ensure staff feel the benefit.
People have become more efficient at being productive with their time (juggling young children in a small house while having an important business meeting, and your partner is on another business call, takes skill and focus). People have become superb at prioritizing, and accepting that things don’t have to be perfect. Work meetings on video have become more realistic (children sitting on laps, cats walking across the computer screens, dogs barking, teenagers asking for wifi logins etc), as life really is, and people are more forgiving with the imperfections in all of our lives.
Business as usual is no longer, and we are looking forward to seeing how companies adjust in a creative way to retain and attract talent.