In a report by StraitsTimes on May 24, 9 in 10 workers (sample size : 9000 respondents) would like to continue working from home due to the cost and time savings. It seems the perks of working from home far supersedes working in an office cubicle for 8-9 hours a day. The greater control and flexibility of time seems difficult for the workforce to sacrifice at this current moment as there are reports of a new strain of the coronavirus being discovered.
In a survey by dimensional research in collaboration with Cisco Webex analyzed data from a total of 1569 qualified participants who stems across 16 industry sectors and with bulk of respondents between 26 - 55 years old. A question was posed " which of the following would make you uncomfortable in your company's office environment?"
High touch ( conference, touch screens, remotes, mouse, door handles) and sharing areas (elevators, restrooms, gantries) had at least 60% of respondents expressing concern of contracting covid-19 through the mediums mentioned. With a trailing but does have legitimate concern is the cleanliness of the rooms that the workforce utilise on a daily basis. Even if a surface is cleaned every hour, how safe can we feel that the bacteria or germs is not contributed by a coronavirus carrier? As such, there is a strong need from organisations to ensure that the workplace is safe. So what are the things that the workforce would like to see put in place to increase the acceptance of returning to the office space?
From the data above, you can observe that the top 3 mitigation strategies is increased sanitation, decreased intermingling and staggered work arrangements would help your workforce feel confident in returning back to the workplace.
Besides the physical and observable factors, organisational leaders need to allow your workforce to adapt to the new changes through the utilisation of conversations and proper change messaging. Doing all the proper sanitation and reduced intermingling is not enough as your workforce needs to see the benefits to returning to the workplace. The question that needs to be answered is "Why do i need to go back to the office if i can do my work from home?"
Stay tuned to our next article on " The Benefits Of Returning To The Workplace"
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