Source: Malaysia China Insight
With the pandemic sweeping the world, COVID-19 rendered a large proportion of the workforce unable to commute to work. This transpired employers and employees to seek alternative work arrangements, particularly in a fast-paced, growing country like India. Due to the pandemic, most workers experienced work-at-home or work-from-home (WFH).
While most of them cherished this new concept of work, where they could spend more time with their families, many complained it led to the blurring of boundaries and elongated work hours and decline in mental health.
How did people react to the work-from-home concept?
The abrupt closure of many offices and workplaces these past two years ushered in a new era of remote work for millions of employees worldwide. In America, most workers whose job commitments can primarily be done from home say that, before the pandemic, they rarely managed their work digitally. One-in-five say that they hardly used to work from home earlier. Now, 71% of those workers are performing their job from home all or most of the time. And more than half say, given a choice, they would want to keep working from home even after the pandemic, according to a Pew Research Center survey.
Source: The Enterprises Project
Closer home, in India, however, the response regarding work-at-home has been mixed. “Nearly 74% of Indian employees say they want more flexible remote work options, while at the same time, 73% of them also crave more in-person time with their teams”.
According to the World Trade Index by Microsoft India, “work became more human and authentic, as coworkers leaned on each other in new ways to get through the last year. “One in four, that is 24% of Indian employees, have cried with a colleague, and 35% of people are less likely to feel uncomfortable now when their home lives show up at work.” It is reported that individuals who interacted with their coworkers more closely than before experienced healthier work alliances, documented higher productivity and better overall well-being. The profound interactions with coworkers enable employees to foster a workplace where 63% of Indian workers said they are more likely to be their full, authentic selves at work.
Challenges Faced By People In Work-At-Home
Even though people have been adapting to the work-from-home culture fairly well, there have been some challenges as well.
Digital overload is on the rise. While employees claim that their productivity has remained the same or higher over the past year, this was productivity at a human cost. “Nearly 62% of the Indian workforce says companies ask too much of them like this, and 13% say their employer doesn’t care about their work-life balance. More than half (57%) of Indian employees feel overworked, and 32% feel exhausted.”
The digital load of a workers’ day has increased significantly over the past year. It has been reported that the time spent on Microsoft Teams meetings has more than doubled (2.5X) globally, to top that, 62% of Teams calls and meetings are unscheduled, and the average Teams meeting is now 10 minutes longer than it used to be, from 35 to 45 minutes. The average Teams user sends 45% more chats per week and 42% more chats per person after hours. And in spite of meeting and chat overload, 50% of employees respond to Teams chats within five minutes or less.
Source: Inc. Magazine
A Work Trend Index research conducted by Microsoft India stated that almost 62% of India’s workforce (including 51% of Gen Z employees) want to switch jobs in 2021. It is an organization’s attitude towards hybrid work that eventually influences who stays, who leaves, and who seeks to join the company, and most companies have not been focusing on their employees’ well-being.
India’s first generation of tech-savvy digital citizens, or as most of us call them ‘Gen Z’, appear to be withstanding immense pressure and need to be re-energized. As a result, the young generation has reported more difficulty feeling engaged or thrilled about work, getting a word in during meetings, and bringing new ideas to the table compared to other generations.
Source: Healthshots
The statistics mentioned above well-being show that even though people have made their peace with the work from the home culture, it certainly is not an easy culture to cope with and is adding more pressure on the mental health of people.
A Return to Office in the New Normal: The Way Ahead
This Covid led disruption has lent us a lifetime opportunity to transform where we work, and how we work.
We at Max Estates have made progress in achieving a better work-life balance for our tenants, even while they work from office. We have embraced a flexible strategy to the new hybrid model of work and the renewed statutes that come with it.
With the transforming role and objective of offices in the new normal, we have attempted to create holistic spaces with a suite of amenities, including sports facilities, restful places for recreation like meditation rooms and herb gardens, and more. So that while you give you your best at work, you do not compromise on your well-being.
We reinforce the values of innovation, collaboration and inspiration, enabling on-site continuous learning along with relaxation, around the workforce needs of today and tomorrow. Implementing our WorkWell philosophy, we have tried to ensure care for both physical and emotional well-being of our tenants by:
- Culture and learning manager to curate sports, art, culture, technology and networking events
- Upcoming State-of-the-art fitness centre, and best-in-class trainers to provide a comprehensive solution towards the wellness of our occupants
- Aesthetically created meditation room for rejuvenation, relaxation and serenity in the middle of the work day
- In-house sports league across various sports promote competition, enjoyment and community
- Conveniently available variety of food, drink and snacks catering to every choice including healthy options on the go
- Decompression spaces such as landscaped courtyards and terraces including a 10000 sq ft urban forest at the heart of our upcoming development, Max Square
In our view we all need to prepare for a Hybrid Workplace ecosystem, which will be a mix of work from office, work from home and work from anywhere.
While hybrid is the future; however, the remote to hybrid model transition is going to be messy, complex and time consuming. While the office has emerged to be an essential part of the new model of work, we do not think there will be a one size fits all solution. At scale, the new normal will be unprecedented and hence will put to test all past norms and accepted practices in play for decades, and no one has yet solved the equation on the right mix between the different models of work.
As we find our balance, we ask many more questions which go beyond how many days should people come to office: For example, what work or activities are better done in office vs virtually, how meetings will be conducted in the new paradigm, how do we avoid creating a two-tier structure in which people working from office are valued and rewarded more than ones working virtually etc.
The key is to not ‘Pause’ and wait for an answer. ‘Test and learn’ mindset will be critical in searching for the new normal as people return to office and design new policies, practices, working norms, collaboration technologies and more.
