CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 3 2022 12 People Don’t Want to Go Back to the Old Way of Work By Jeff Dewing CEO of CloudFm and No1. best-selling business author and podcaster ecent stats show one-third of Britons are still working from home despite the rule changes. Working from home has proven to be successful over these last 2 years. On average, those who work from home are 47% more productive. Therefore, if it is not adversely impacting business, forcing people back to the office just for the sake of it, simply does not make sense. At the end of the day, if someone gets the job done quicker and faster remotely then why not let them. Leaders worldwide need to accept that employees don’t want to go back to the old way of work – the world has changed and they need to embrace it or they could risk employees jumping ship to join more progressive businesses. To flourish in the ‘new age’ of work CEOs should consider the following: Flexibility In today’s world flexibility is a must in one shape or another. The pandemic has changed the way we work forever, with a third of millennials saying they would leave their job if they had to come back into the office more. This highlights the importance of this factor and demonstrates many people have gotten used to the freedom that flexible working provides and do not want to give up the benefits associated with this such as time and money saved commuting. Although it is not a one size fits all approach, it is clear that rigid rules and barriers are outdated and should be a thing of the past. Firms should be as flexible as they possibly can to enable the better work-life balance that employees seek. Whether that is relooking at the standard 9 am to 5 pm hours by being flexible so employees can work around things like the school run and doctors’ appointments or whether it is providing the option to choose your location and setting- ie working remotely in another town or country, or in ‘offices’ as and when they want to. This empowers staff enabling them to make their own decisions and structure their workday to suit their needs. New Age ‘Office’ Now remote working isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Some people prefer working out of their homes going to an ‘office’ environment or just want a change of scenery every now and then. That is why it is so important to have those options. Shared workspaces can be great for this where employees choose when and where to go in allowing employees to work in a hybrid mode if they want to. If you want your employees to come in more often entice them with ‘attractive facilities’ (coffee machines, free food, refrigerators, options to rent a desk/desktop, private room options if needed, community events etc). Then there are some things that just work better inNov21612 R
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