Business Breakdown: Navigating New Workspace Trends

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the business world in many ways. Some of these changes are temporary, but others are likely to permanently remain. Learning how to navigate these new workplace trends can only help your business to grow and prosper further.

Requests for Remote Work

While some people have been eager to get back into the office since the pandemic began, others are quite content working from home. Therefore, you likely have requests from employees to continue working from home. You may want to consider examining every case individually so that you can assess each employee’s ability to work from home and success over the past year doing so. Another option is allowing employees to choose to work from home two or three days per week.

Broader Search for Employees

Deciding to have more remote employees allows you to expand the scope of your search when looking to hire new team members. In other words, you are no longer limited to prospective candidates who have the ability to easily commute to the job. You may now have the opportunity to hire a top candidate from across the country or globe. Do make sure you thoroughly explain any in-person requirements to such candidates before they accept the positions.

Reduced Physical Space

If you’re going to allow employees to work from home more regularly on a permanent basis, you likely do not need as large of a physical workspace as you once did. You can look into downsizing and buying or renting a smaller building. Another option is to consider renting out units in shared workspaces, like this workspace in Melbourne. The approach that you take depends upon the needs of your business and the number of employees who are still coming into the office each day.

Need for Paid Sick Days

The last year has been quite revealing in terms of how many employees feel as though they are obligated to go to work even when they are rather ill. Many people cannot afford to take a day off from work because they do not get paid sick days. With both this understanding and the need for quarantine still in existence, revise your current plans to allow for the proper amount of paid sick days per employee.

Lack of Social Interaction

One issue that has come into fruition due to working from home is a lack of social interaction among employees. Some of your employees are likely doing fine with this new experience, but others may be suffering from the absence of human connections during the work day. Even if you are planning to offer more remote work opportunities, consider still hosting in-person events for employees to get together. For example, you may want to reinstate the annual holiday party.

Increased Awareness of Hygiene

People have learned about hygiene in new ways since the pandemic began. As a result, you need to increase the health and safety protocols at the job. Do not let these efforts fall to the wayside when the pandemic ends. A number of individuals are likely to continue following certain protocols and practices, such as increased hand washing and wearing of masks, well beyond the end of the pandemic. While you do not necessarily need to continue requiring masks for a long time, you should look into the practices that are the best fit for your company and the environment.

The pandemic has changed so much about the world, and the way that people work is no exception to that shift. As a result, you need to start more closely examining your place of work. Decide what changes you want to phase out and which ones are here to stick around.