As we all know, in 2020 most of our work lives were tuned upside down. Suddenly, remote working was the default and it’s had a negative impact on many employees.
Having workers isolated at home erodes company culture, which is needed to encourage personal development. Company culture impacts wellbeing and helps employees to feel engaged and passionate.
The performance of a business has a direct link to workplace culture – particularly revenue growth, creativity, employee absence, productivity and employee retention.
One thing to remember is that office space is more than just bricks and mortar, it’s the very heart of your business culture.
A shrinking network
If all levels of staff are together, it creates increased collaboration for meetings and group working as well as enhancing relationship building, communication skills and development.
It can help disperse knowledge across desks when curiosity in the office is encouraged, it breaks silos down and allows for ideas to be shared and developed as a team.
Homeworking, especially over an extended period, means that a person’s network can shrink to the people they only directly need to work with.
Collaboration opportunities
Being in the office allows employees to connect with people they may not interact with daily, small things like spontaneous conversations while passing in a corridor or over a coffee are hugely valuable.
Something simple like being able to read people’s emotions face to face rather than over a screen can make a world of difference. This results in more personal conversations where you can really get insight into a person’s wellbeing and offer support where needed.
Conversations with colleagues can sometimes feel like ‘time off the clock’, but it’s often a rich addition to office culture leading to better decision-making and increased efficiency.
Advice, new ideas, collaboration opportunities and insight into where work overlap is occurring are often lost with a WFH (work-from-home) workforce.
A clear place of work
Not all jobs are suitable for remote working and not all homes are suitable for jobs.
An office guarantees certain standards by law on equipment – screens that don’t strain your eyes, chairs that don’t strain your back and appropriate working conditions such as temperature. Homeworkers are generally expected to make their own arrangements.
Equipment aside, a massively important part of any workplace is the atmosphere. An office naturally lends itself to conversations and periods of quiet focus, whereas homeworkers often have to coexist with spontaneous interruptions be it pets, children or deliveries arriving at the door.
It’s not healthy to feel like you’re working every waking hour, even if you love your job. The ability to ‘switch off’ from work reduces stress.
Having a clear place of work means that it can physically be left with a line drawn under that part of the day allowing sufficient energy for both personal and professional projects, even when one area becomes busy or stressful.
Click HERE to check out what we have to offer at Itek House.
