14 Apr Work from Home
Before COVID-19 changed the way lots of organisations work, statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics report 1/4 of Australian’s spend at least some of their week working from home.
With the current changes to our working environments, and the need to be able to comply with isolation and/or social distancing laws, the need to allow more workers to work from home is increasing rapidly. So as part of this fast paced and constantly changing situation to keep businesses running remotely we need processes. It is important to be able to evaluate employees home environments and mental well being while working from home as this becomes an added layer of responsibility for employers, managers and employees.
So how can you manage this well? It really starts with basics as we can’t physically inspect all our employees homes under the current circumstances.
Start with a conversation
It is important to get an understanding of how your employees feel about the prospect of working from home. It might sound great but it really isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.
Reassure your employees that this is an opportunity to trial working from home, and as soon as life gets back to normal it will be time for another conversation about the pro’s and con’s.
This will also give you information about who has a suitable office set up and who might find it more challenging.
Work from Home Checklist
You should develop or view and OH&S checklist for all employees currently working from home or on standby to transition to work from home.
A simple yes or no checklist will let you see how prepared your staff are to work from home.
There are some great free resources at www.business.vic.gov.au for businesses.
Worksafe
There are lots of tips and advice on the Worksafe Victoria website.
The quick guide you might find most useful is https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/minimising-spread-coronavirus-covid-19-working-home
This has some basic guidelines and information on working from home in these challenging times.
If you want to use this time to test the ability of your team to work from home as an ongoing incentive to attract and retain top talent then the full guide will be useful in the future.
There are specialists who can help you set this up for your organisation too
Use Technology to lighten the load
Get our team members to send you a photo of their home set up or walk you through it on a video call. Its important you understand the conditions your employees plan to work in.
Selfies are also a good way to see how your team are working from home and it boosts morale among team members.
Exercise and Breaks
Encourage some gentle stretching and movement so people aren’t stuck at their workspace all day without moving.
We all know the benefits of exercise and the effect of endorphins to keep us focused and the positive influence they have on our mental resilience, something we could all use right now!
Do you have an office extrovert who would set up a group video to get everyone moving? This could keep your team connected and focused on being back together when they are back in the office.
So if you have been wanting to see if your team could work successfully from home at times then this time may just prove your case.
Work flexibility is high on the list of motivators for employees when looking to join a business.