The new way of working
Accounting firm Velocite had all the equipment they needed to work from home, but it took a global pandemic to force them to do it. Now, it’s a permanent option for the company’s 22 staff.
When Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the Covid-19 alert levels in March, she encouraged anyone who could work from home to do so.
It saw people who had never even fathomed the idea suddenly having to decide where in their house their new office would be and how they would manage while having the kids around.
Now research shows it is the way of the future, with a University of Otago study of 2595 New Zealanders working from home during lockdown finding 73 per cent were equally or more productive and 89 per cent want to continue at least part of the time.
On job search website Seek, ‘‘working from home’’ has been one of the top search terms since the start of March.
At Velocite in Taranaki, 80 to 90 per cent of staff loved their time working from home.
‘‘A lot of us realised how easy it was and how good it was to be working from home, taking breaks, doing exercise, less time commuting actually gave you more time in the day,’’ Velocite chief executive Paul Petrowski says.
‘‘If it’s best to be working in the office for a certain period of the year because you’ve got support there to get through a chunky project, then that’s probably what you should do, but if ... you’re feeling more productive working from home because you’ve got less distractions, then that’s also an option.’’
Petrowski says employees working from home also gave the company the option to grow their workforce without expanding their floorspace.
Canterbury-based Massey
University researcher Nicola Green says employees working from home with fewer distractions are proven to be more productive – organisations just need to be clear about arrangements and expectations. ‘‘The clear benefit is flexibility so you’re flexible to exercise when you like, pick up your kids from school, you can work when it suits you best, and manage your home.’’
However, the risk with working from home is becoming socially isolated and blurring the line between work and home, she says.
Because of this Green recommends having a dedicated workspace if working from home, even if it is in the lounge and you can throw a blanket over it at the end of the day.
She says the best outcome for both productivity and wellbeing is a hybrid arrangement. ‘‘It’s easier to manage those work and life responsibilities.’’
Green says while there can be some cost saving in real estate, employers still have obligations when employees work from home, such as health and safety.
For businesses looking to get rid of office space and exit leases, it’s important to discuss the options with the owner of the building, commercial landlord John Shewry says.
‘‘There’s going to be a lot more people looking to make changes than there are newcomers to business. Anyone who’s got any sense would be looking after the tenant they have and doing anything they can to make it suit their business changes.’’
Shewry owns a number of commercial properties in New Plymouth and was the creator of the city’s container mall area Quarter Bank. While he doesn’t believe people working from home will be the death of the CBD, he does believe it, along with Covid-19, is an opportunity to reinvent it.
‘‘We need to try and diversify town a bit and encourage those that are wanting to work from home back into town by saying ‘we have this space, you’re able to use it for this amount of time’ and then another firm comes in and uses the same space for four more hours.
‘‘People still need to meet and although you can have a Zoom meeting, you can’t get the feel of what people are saying unless you’re in front of them.’’
However, he says office workers are still needed in towns. ‘‘We need office workers because those pedestrians on our streets help support the hospitality section of town and give the town some vibrancy.’’
‘‘A lot of us realised how easy it was ... taking breaks, doing exercise, less time commuting.’’ Paul Petrowski, above
Velocite chief executive
‘‘It’s easier to manage those work and life responsibilities.’’ Nicola Green, right