Work as we know it, has been forever changed by Covid - 19. If not already, now is the time for managers to envision the office employees will return to or even re-imagine their entire work from home modality.
According to a policy research working paper by the World Bank titled “Who on earth can work from home?” published in July 2020, in Nepal only 6.3% of jobs can be performed at home accounting to the internet constraints. Our World in Data confirms that only 2.6% of people in Nepal are fully vaccinated on 25 June 2021. The Economist Intelligence Unit on 27 January 2021 has also stated that it might take up-to early 2023 to get all citizens of Nepal fully vaccinated. Given the statistics, shouldn’t we be ready to move into the smart ways of working?
Majority of organizations in Nepal have slowly begun to let go of the tight grip of monitoring employee’s activities day in and day out. With increased trust, flexibility and accountability given to the employee, the return given back to the organization by them will be immense. Technologies for collaboration, better communication and data privacy during the work from home modality is increasingly being adopted, which is truly the way forward to progress and overcoming the current situation.
What about the ones whose work is maximum on the ground? How are we ensuring that they are engaged when all movement is restricted or partially restricted for safety? This truly is a time when we will have to reimagine their responsibilities and up-skill them to ensure that not all of their work has to be dependent on working actively on the ground. Only if all organizations take this step toward re-imagination, will our economy be able to recover sooner.
On the employee side, remote working is widely being accepted hence we can expect employers and organization be selective of hiring or giving projects to self motivated individuals. The one who can adopt technology easily and also communicate effectively during this era of working from different locations will truly be sought out for.
But with increased encroachment of work into our homes and autonomy of working style, the lines get more blur on when our work starts and when it ends, the key is to find a balance by setting daily to do lists, taking adequate breaks and at the same time having ownership of the work that we do. With the time saved of not having to commute to work, use that hour for self care activities to energize you for the day and even detaching yourself from work in the evening.
Although employees would want to come back to office to separate their work and home spaces, collaborate, brainstorm and try to feel more normal again, is the organization ready to create separate dedicated workspaces ensuring safety and wellbeing for employees so that they can focus on just working and not worry about getting infected ? The solution to this which seems to be the hybrid working modality where people who can work from home continue working from home but those who cannot, continue to office with limited foot flow.
With the flexibility given earlier to get work done from anywhere, should we take it all back when the lockdown eases? If work is getting done, productivity is improving and equity is being ensured in work from home policies, why not let employees choose where to work from and when? After all, these are organizations that employees will want to work for and not need to work for.
So are you well equipped to transition to the smart ways of working, if not, Let the HR experts do an in-depth external review of your working process and streamline it for better efficiency to work better from home or in hybrids, contact us, The HRVantage, immediately to find a fix for all your HR problems!
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