With that in mind, employers are now finetuning their employee handbooks to foster productive working environments and strong cultures while providing best-in-class in-office and home office guidelines. Tough mountain to climb. The common thread line through it all is that no one – boards, management, employees, consultants, politicians – can get everything they want.
From our POV, we now have to look to the future and think about optimization. Steady state is approaching. Here are the top issues employees working from home still face:
- Isolation and Loneliness: Remote work can lead to isolation and loneliness, especially if there is limited social interaction.
- Ergonomic Issues: Poor ergonomics at home can lead to discomfort or repetitive stress injuries, such as back pain, neck strain, or carpal tunnel syndrome. This stems from not having proper home office setups.
- Work-Life Balance: Remote work can blur the line between professional and personal life, leading to overwork and burnout. A short walk during the day is good; a three hour video game session with friends is not.
- Distractions: Remote work comes with distractions such as family members, pets, household chores, or neighbors, which can impact productivity. Clutter is a cousin of distraction, can be solved with a good WFH setup.
- Cybersecurity Threats: Phishing attacks, data breaches, and malware are increasingly common, especially if employees use unsecured networks or devices. New solutions are popping up every week to assist IT departments (not an easy job right now).
- Communication Challenges: There’s a lot of nuance in how you communicate with colleagues – remote communication tools don’t effectively convey tone or intention, leading to misunderstandings, omissions or miscommunications among team members. Now more than ever, using Slack and the like competently takes front and center.
- Tech Issues: Employees are more susceptible to technical issues like internet outages, software glitches, or hardware malfunctions, which can disrupt workflow. Again, looking at you IT.
- Professional Development: Proximity bias limits opportunities for networking, mentorship, and career advancement that are typically found in an office environment. That knock on your boss’ door for a quick chat is now relegated to a Teams convo or an email.
- Mental Health Concerns: Similarly, lack of face-to-face interaction and the pressure to constantly be available online can contribute to stress and anxiety among remote workers. No one wants to always feel “on call”, especially when you’re heads down on a task.
- Dependency on Digital Tools: Reliance on digital tools for communication and collaboration can pose a risk if those tools experience downtime or if there are compatibility issues across different platforms.
These risks should be addressed by implementing best practice policies, providing resources and guidance, and offering support to ensure the well-being, both mental and physical, and productivity of their remote workforce. Once again, the buck stops with HR and Management. The former should inform, and the latter should be decisive for whatever model (e.g. 2 in, 3 out) they choose.