Is home working proving that healthy?

Normally I spend 20% of my working days visiting my clients across the UK and further afield. I locked down two weeks before the Government instructions and received a whopping refund for my abandoned travel meaning that my credit card has never been so happy. After a day or two of teething problems my first thought was that home working was going to be super-efficient. The likes of Teams, Zoom, FacetTime and Google provide me with all the tools that I need to conduct efficient meetings. Shorter one-hour meetings have proved to be the extraordinarily popular and I have to confess that I have not been as busy and productive in 30 years. So far so good...

There are so many businesses struggling to survive right now, and many people are working longer and longer hours to help keep their businesses afloat. Some were zombie businesses before lockdown though there are many others that are sinking fast as a direct result of the pandemic.

Like so many of us, I have found myself working longer and longer hours at my computer. Sitting at our computers all day without the daily local or longer distance commute has its drawbacks. Our bodies are not designed for such a sedentary lifestyle. Furthermore, our poor eyes are not good at staring at computers for hours and hours on end.

There's currently much talk about abandoning office space in favour of perpetual home working but hang on a moment. I hold my finger on the pulse of many business leaders and there is an undeniable surge in terms of mental health issues, family breakdowns with more children taken into care plus an unhealthy broadening of the national girth. Then there are the unexplained headaches and neck issues, lower back problems often caused at least in part by poor posture plus tendonitis caused by endless use of keyboards.

Do health and safety regulations cover our hardworking staff for inadequate chairs and desks in the home office? Are your home workers covered by your insurance? We find ourselves in a very different situation with many unintended consequences.

Not every household enjoys quiet, dedicated workspaces. Not every family has a plethora of computers at its disposal. Working parents are being forced to share office laptops with teenage children plus splitting their working day with home schooling. Some of my clients confess to working late into the night to catch up on their working day when many of us suffer from depleted energy. Is this really an ideal scenario for businesses to make sustainable profits?

Whilst I am the greatest fan of technology and AI, I do think that swinging too far in the home working direction is certain to be dangerous mistake. The secret to a successful, profitable and healthy future has to be embracing greater workplace flexibility. What businesses need is to strike a sensible balance. I am fan of workplace exercise spaces, so maybe all leaders need to consider this when planning future office layouts? A healthy and happy workforce is more likely to be a well-motivated and profit generating workforce.

Robin currently supports business leaders across five continents. For a free no-obligation 15-minute 'Discovery Call' please click on https://calendly.com/robin-johnson-2/15min or email robin.johnson@OvationXL.com