Why coronavirus is going to change the way we work forever
The pandemic is only accelerating trends that were already happening
The coronavirus pandemic has significantly impacted the world in the short term, from both personal and business perspectives. Today the majority of the UK's white-collar workforce is working from home in a bid to slow the spread of the virus. Yet rather than a temporary measure, is this a glimpse of the not-so-distant future of work? Will working from home remain embedded in British work culture even after the coronavirus crisis abates?
Handling sudden change
Right now we are all getting used to the short-term policies being put into place by governments and businesses around the world in order to stay safe and reduce the impact of Covid-19. Many employers and employees have had to adapt to long-term remote working. Some organisations may have already done so with great success, leveraging cloud-based technology to enable flexible working for all staff. Comparatively, others with primarily on-premises infrastructure may have struggled as systems and data have remained tied to their physical office locations.
The coronavirus crisis is accelerating trends that were already happening
However, no matter their previous technology set-up, the majority of businesses have now been forced to make changes - shifting from centralised to distributed workforces, enabling all staff to work from home in self-isolation. Given the nature of the crisis we face, even those forward-thinking businesses - with a modern working culture and technology that lets employees work flexibly and from any location - may have to adapt to a new situation in which every single worker is now logging on remotely. Yet rather than triggering drastic changes, the coronavirus crisis is accelerating trends that were already happening. Changes that may have taken some businesses months or even years to implement are now happening far more quickly. So how will this impact the future of work?
The role of the ‘home workspace'
A recent survey commissioned by Citrix showed that 65 per cent of UK office workers currently work from home due to the virus outbreak believe logging on remotely from home will become more common once the coronavirus crisis abates. The survey also highlighted that those currently working from home feel they can productively use their usual commute time for other activity, whether that is working (39 per cent), spending more time with family or doing leisure activities (32 per cent) or enjoying the benefits of reduced stress due to lack of commute (35 per cent). Clearly this shift to longer term working from a ‘home workspace' has the potential to dramatically improve quality of life and mental wellbeing for a vast proportion of the workforce, particularly those who would rather not commute long distances, often at great cost.
Despite the benefits, the research also revealed potential challenges - from feeling lonely and isolated from colleagues (39 per cent) to a lack of appropriate tools (34 per cent). While the ‘home workspace' has the potential to enable greater productivity and, importantly, employee happiness, there is clearly more to be done to set all staff working from home up for success. In addition to ensuring employees have the right tools to work effectively and collaborate from home, organisations will also need to adapt workplace culture to ensure colleagues can communicate and interact beyond the traditional office space.
Adapting to a new normal
This pandemic will encourage many businesses to analyse and subsequently rethink their investments. For many, it will make a lot of sense to shift employees to remote work, both for the benefits it affords staff and the financial benefits to the business.
Businesses invest significant cost simply to have somewhere to put their employees for their working day
Businesses invest significant cost simply to have somewhere to put their employees for their working day. Floor space in prime real estate locations in major cities is not cheap. Imagine the savings a business could make with as little as a five per cent shift of the workforce from the office to working from home. This is revenue that could easily be used to offset investments in digital transformation and lay the groundwork for a more streamlined, agile and future-ready business strategy.
This new normal, whereby remote work is the norm, will also allow businesses to optimise their talent pool while creating a wider variety of employment opportunities. The majority of high-paying jobs today are based in major cities, encouraging many workers to move and impacting the makeup of local communities. Shifting to this new future where people can work efficiently from home will allow businesses to hire people from outside major cities, opening up a wider talent pool and spreading revenue beyond cities.
Preparing for a more flexible future
The future workplace will need to focus on a fully tech-enabled, outcomes-led approach to work, where work is what you do and not where you go. As such, the home office will become an integral part of the British work culture where remote work will be the new normal.
Collaboration between IT and HR is key to shaping this future workplace. Without it, businesses will struggle to create both physical and digital environments that enable staff to be and perform at their best. A crucial step will be deploying intuitive, user-friendly systems that enable collaboration and productivity - no matter where staff are working. Yet this must go hand-in-hand with HR practices and policies which create the right workplace culture, providing training and encouraging staff to make the most of available flexible working options. Both technology and working culture must be considered and adapted to effectively underpin improved and more efficient ways of remote working.
Businesses that embrace this flexible approach to working will gain the agility, speed and efficiency required to ensure business continuity during unpredictable times, as well as improving the work experience for their employees. Organisations can make changes which both support their staff today while working in self-isolation from home, and provide more flexible work options for employees once we reach the new normal. Indeed, as the workforce experiences the benefits of working from home today, many businesses may well find themselves under pressure from staff to champion flexible working and embrace the future of work more quickly than they had anticipated.
Darren Fields is vice president, networking EMEA at Citrix