One thing is clear, there is no 1 size fits all when it comes to flexible working and working practices during Covid-19 will have been a different experience for everybody. Some people will have been more productive working from home and may have found an improved work-life balance since social distancing began (despite some trying to home school at the same time!). Some, in contrast, will have found the isolation much harder to adjust to and will have struggled with the reduction of day-to-day contact with colleagues. 

Whatever the experience, what we don’t yet know is how this will all translate when employers consider more flexible ways of working in the future. The worst thing a business could do is to ignore what they have learnt about their teams during this period. Managers and business owners will have learnt more about their employees, the way they like to work, their drive, commitment and their personal circumstances (we’ve all been on a call where a rogue child or pet has put in a guest appearance) than they could have dreamt of learning in a ‘normal’ calendar month. And what does that present businesses with…? A real opportunity to embrace a more flexible way of working, having seen how it can work in practice, what the benefits are and what the pitfalls may be.

There are of course roles that require face-to-face interaction, and the truth is that some of us simply have a preference for working in this way. We think that ignoring all the changes we have recently been forced to make and reverting to the old ways of working could be a missed opportunity.

During the past 6 weeks we’ve seen increased use of Zoom (who have gained 2.22 million users in 2020—more users than it amassed in the entirety of 2019), Skype and now WhatsApp have announced that they plan to increase the maximum amount of callers to 8 to allow them to compete in the market. This will be the tip of the iceberg as providers scramble to improve their offering and enhance the remote working experience even further.

It’s important to remember that there are a multitude of reasons for employees wanting to work more flexibly, spanning multi generations. What we have all proved to ourselves in the past weeks and months is that, despite this new way of working being out of our control, we all made it work in the most challenging of circumstances.

Some things have become clear from all this. You either had or have now implemented the technology to enable people to be able to home-work. You have seen how your employees have reacted to working from home and, hopefully, feel satisfied that outputs haven’t dropped and, in some cases, may have even improved.

Our hope is that once we are able to attend our offices again, opinions will have changed for the better. Employees will feel liberated to ask for flexible working arrangements without a dreaded sense of fear that they are somehow being branded as ‘workshy’. We also hope that businesses will be more open to engaging in these conversations, having seen in practice how it can work to the benefit of the company and employee. 

Having a combination of office and home-working brings a feeling of empowerment and improves general well-being of employees who, in turn, work hard and promote an employer that trusts and supports them. Win win right?

For any help with your flexible working policy, contact us today.