The great WFH debate

It seems strange to think that a few years ago, working from home wasn’t even a thing. Maybe there was the odd occasion when you had to wait in for a delivery or had a sick child to look after, but other than that, no one entertained the idea.

Fast forward to the post-pandemic world of 2024, and it’s basically a given that there would be at least an element of home working for those jobs where it’s possible, with many jobs simply being 100% working from home.

You now hear of some businesses putting the block on working from home, with people being switched back to working from the office, as you will have seen with many of the super large corporate businesses which sit near the top of the FTSE.

The debate then centres around output, employee happiness and finances. 

Many businesses, it would appear, think that the best way to boost productivity is to have everyone at the office, all day every day. The argument is that they collaborate better and this, in turn, improves output and productivity. In certain businesses, that could well be true, but an important factor left out of that is the happiness of the employee. Do they want to commute? Do they want the idle water cooler chit-chat? Do they want to smell Dave’s reheated fish dinner at lunchtime? I’d guess not for many people.

I think some of these businesses either lack trust in their employees, or they don’t have the reporting data in place, which updates in real-time, the relevant metrics for that person or team.

There was a recent report produced in Australia that found businesses with work-from-home options, had more positive financial results, than businesses which didn’t. Now, before you start, I know that’s a headline summary, without any context, but all I’m saying is, that would make sense to me.

Giving employees the choice around what makes them happy, and what suits their lifestyle seems like the right thing to do. Some will want to work from the office. That’s fine. Some (probably many) would prefer to work from home, which I believe should be supported.

There is some cheesy saying along the lines of “A happy employee is a good employee”. Cheesy as the saying is, it again makes sense. 

I feel if you force people to work from the office all the time, your staff turnover will be higher and finding those replacement people will be more difficult.

And finally, with my technology hat on, with the right computer systems in place and Cyber Security controls, it shouldn’t matter where you’re working from. It should simply work, and be secure, by default. It is 2024 after all.

Working from home is here to stay, and making use of it to retain and attract new talent to your business, is a must.

If you’d like to discuss your options for working from home, please contact us at hello@lucidcomputersolutions.co.uk or 01527 908646.

Gavin Moorhouse is the owner of Lucid Computer Solutions, based in Redditch, they provide IT Services to businesses. Want to speak with him about your business? He’s only a phone call away… 01527 908646