Remote Work Is Here to Stay — But It Requires Empathy

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A year into the pandemic, one thing hasn’t changed for office workers: remote work. Working from home isn’t just a “phase” but a way of life now; and many love it. It’s become the new norm, even for those with reservations. However, while work from home is an undeniable part of the future, it requires empathy from companies — and a reworking to how businesses operate structurally.

According to Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, “42 percent of the U.S. labor force [is] now working from home full-time” which also “accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity.” Bloom went on to say that, however, there are inequalities to working from home, explaining:

“Many Americans also lack the facilities or sufficient internet capacity to work effectively from home. More than half of those surveyed who are now working from home are doing so either in shared rooms or their bedrooms. And only 65 percent of Americans reported having fast enough internet capacity to support workable video calls. The remaining 35 percent have such poor internet at home – or no internet – that it prevents effective telecommuting.”

Rishad Tobaccowala, author of Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in The Age of Data and senior advisor at Publicis Groupe, echoed this sentiment when it comes to inequality — and particularly stressed that managers need to be empathetic to their employees.

Flexibility, he stated at an ANA conference, is key to retaining staff and fostering a healthy work culture, especially in times of stress: “People are now living at the office, not just working from home. Because of this, leaders need to find ways to make remote work more flexible and balanced, leading with kindness.” Making this a sustainable situation is important as this won’t change anytime soon, even after the pandemic is over.

According to Cella’s recent study, teams were “better prepared than they thought, though almost three of out 10 teams were not well prepared.” For the majority of teams, working from home did not “impact the quality of work,” and reported that “at least 80 percent of teams will employ remote working opportunities and arrangements following ‘return to work.'”

Cella theorized that this “will lead to more off-site/remote roles in the future, which will widen the recruiting geography and introduce new talent to companies,” which can ultimately foster more diversity and inclusivity practices. Moreover, Cella also reported that 84 percent of respondents said “they did not experience challenges collaborating with clients or teammates. Video conferencing and screen sharing were the most popular ways to accomplish collaboration.”
Source

“Remote Work Is Here to Stay — But It Requires Empathy,” ANA, 2021.