The Economist |The World in 2021| pp119| “Bonding from homes” “Firms will need to find new ways to bring their employees together” by Philip Coggan Bartleby columnist
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In 2020, as COVID-19 restrictions were started, many workers moved from carrying out their roles and responsibilities while working from corporate offices to doing so while working from home (WFM). “Managers will have been surprised by how well the working from home experiment went.” More surprisingly “A study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that home workers put in almost an hour extra a day compared with when they were in the office.”
So was this success based on built-up goodwill, prior work knowledge and well-honed cadence? Regardless, what measures might we be needing if WFM significantly continues throughout 2021? How will firms effectively integrate new hires, facilitate promotions and departures, and avoid a chasm between in-office staff and WFH staff? Even prior to the pandemic there was a unspoken "pecking-order" with in-office staff considered by some as first class versus remote or gig economy workers as second class. Some worry that corporate productivity and even the generation of new ideas may suffer in a distributed workplace. Missing out on face-to-face casual and spontaneous interaction between some workers and leaders potentially limits cross-fertilization of ideas and important opportunties for professional networking as well.
Likely most companies “will spend [more time in] 2021 trying to restore the collective spirit. Even if employees do not come back to the office full-time, they will probably be asked to return for a least one or two days a week.” To facilitate workforce "bonding" some version of extracurricular activities may be planned online as well including “Zoom drink events…trivia quizzes, online karaoke and scavenger hunts.” And Human Resources will busy themselves with more workplace surveys to gain insight to new challenges, opportunities and to measure morale.
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