How Can People Professionals Create Remote Working Wellness – A Guide: download our free report here.

As the new decade began, the number of those working remotely was increasing. In the UK, more than 1.54 million people worked from home for their primary job in 2019, compared to just 884,000 in 2009.

Doubling numbers in a decade make it clear that remote working works, for both people and businesses. It’s something that’s already well understood by companies that rank as the best places to work and it’s a strong preference of the workforce itself .

But remote working isn’t simply convenient for both sides – studies show that it’s effective in terms of both productivity and employee satisfaction .

For most people, remote working means home working. The reality of working at home brings light to an entirely new mental, physical and experiential landscape to people’s lives – and in 2020, this has become something that many organisations have been forced to adapt to, not necessarily through choice .

That a responsible business or organisation needs to take care of the health and wellness of their people should be an assumption to make in the year 2020. Yet having people in a remote working situation means an added challenge to this premise, with potentially a notable shift in the way that this is achieved.

In a new era of working environments, prepare for fresh perspectives to health and wellness

One consequence of remote working may seem simple, yet the impact can be enormous: loneliness. The feeling of being ‘lonely’ is so common that it has become minimalised or seen as a weak emotion – yet it can have a serious impact on health . Working at home can uncomfortably blur the lines between professional and personal life, with employees feeling unable to switch off and simply stop working .

While the negative impact of working remotely must be recognised and attended to, the remote working experience can be hugely positive to health and wellness – as long as there is a culture that pays attention to nurturing it .

Accepting this viewpoint is one thing. But how can leaders, like you, suddenly shift focus from ‘in the room’ to ‘on the screen’? How can you keep the wheels turning and productivity rolling as well as making sure that each one of your team is feeling included, valued and simply ‘heard’?

In your people’s busy working lives, how can you balance the emphasis on health and wellness with the realities of their free time? And during both an increase and evolution in how people work remotely more often, how can you ensure it functions for those outside the standard office location?

With a remote working experience there is even more need to support your employees and teams with a ‘how to’ work well from home, in terms of their wellness. The need for accountability via disciplines and boundaries has never been greater for your people to understand and implement.

Particularly with a new comfort with remote working and a distinctly changed mindset after Covid-19, there will be a permanent shift in operations, experiences and policies. This will no doubt create more work initially, but in the long run there is real potential in building a stronger and more efficient workforce that has the right resources at their fingertips, both virtually and in the environment that surrounds them.

At Pavelka, we passionately believe that in order to achieve this, it means looking at not only each person’s physical and mental wellness, but at how people are supporting and staying connected to each other. This goal becomes even more crucial with remote working.

It also needs to be acknowledged that each individual has the ultimate responsibility for their own health and wellness, but with the right support and resources, leaders can instigate the suitable conversations and activities that highlight an all-round understanding of how each person can look after themselves but still have the ability to notice and support their team members.

No matter whether your organisation has 5, 50 or 5,000 people, or whether your people have always worked around the world or have just begun to work from home, they all need support.

With this guide, we hope to provide a positive framework that people professionals and leaders of all kinds can use to ensure that health and wellness remains at the cultural centre of your remotely working individuals and teams.

How Can People Professionals Create Remote Working Wellness – A Guide: download our free report here.

Sources

[1] The ONS Labour Force Survey, the largest study of employment circumstances in the UK.

[2] The Best Place to Work institute recently published its annual report on the World’s Best Workplaces 2019 A close examination of the top ranked companies reveal that 60% of them actively implement remote working policies in their organisation.

[3] A report by Zapier.com published at the end of 2019 revealed that 74% of the workforce would prefer to quit a job for one that offers remote positions.

[4] A 2-year case study by Stanford professor Nicholas Bloom with Ctrip (China’s largest travel agency), noticed a 14% rise in productivity and an increase in actual hours worked amongst the remote study group

[5] According to the American Psychological Association, remote work can increase employee satisfaction when implemented correctly

[6] The Guardian has reported that “Covid-19 could permanently shift working patterns as companies forced to embrace remote working by the pandemic find that their employees do not want to return to the office once the closures are lifted.”

[7] The UK Office of National Statistics reported that 5 percent of adults feel lonely ‘often’ or ‘always’, with further 16 percent of adults reporting feeling lonely ‘sometimes’, equivalent to around 9 million adults suffering

[8] A report referenced by the American Psychological Association warned that social isolation increases the risk of stroke and heart disease to the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day

[9] A 2019 survey by cloud infrastructure company Digital Ocean found that 82% of remote tech workers in the U.S. felt burnt out, with 52% reporting that they work longer hours than those in the office, and 40% feeling as though they needed to contribute more than their in-office colleagues

[10] Nuffield Health’s 2019 whitepaper stated that remote working was found to have a positive impact on wellness. Where negative effects were found, it was largely the result of individual traits or factors that needed to be addressed organisationally