As the UK is instructed once more to work from home, new research published by Harrison Clark Rickerbys (HCR) highlights the need for employers to ensure flexible working policies are fit to deal with the challenges of homeworking in lockdown.
HCR’s research shows the proportion of people who said that they felt homeworking had a negative effect on their wellbeing increased significantly from just 3% pre-Covid, to almost one in five (17%) during the first lockdown.
One of the benefits of homeworking has been the absence of daily commuting, with nearly a fifth (19%) saying that it’s what they liked most about working from home during the first lockdown.
However, almost a third (30%) of people surveyed said they worked longer hours from home than they did pre-Covid. At the same time, the percentage of people who felt they were less effective working from home than in the office doubled, to almost one in five (18%).
Lawyers at HCR, the Top 100 law firm which conducted the research, suggest these insights give employers cause to review and refresh their remote working policies.
“Our working landscape has changed forever,” says Matthew Hayes, Head of HCR’s Real Estate team, which led the research project. “We conducted this research in order to understand what the future looks like for ourselves as an employer and for our clients, before and after Covid-19. The insights have been fascinating.”
“The rapid roll out of homeworking in response to Covid-19 has had many positive impacts, but it is not without risk,” says Clare Day, partner at HCR.
“We found that there had been tensions around remote working that existed pre-Covid, which may have a bearing. The research revealed a perception gap between employers and employees when it came to homeworking. Before it became a lockdown necessity, almost a third (32%) of workers said their bosses didn’t allow homeworking, while in the same survey it was a tiny proportion, just 5%, of employers who said they didn’t endorse homeworking.
“This suggests there may be some cultural barriers to homeworking in many businesses, as well as some practical policy issues. Now, as we face lockdown again, we would urge employers to take steps to improve their support for homeworkers.”
HCR proposes three actions from employers:
- Review and refresh remote working policies to ensure they are explicit and take account of Covid-related changes in work patterns
- Provide help for managers to support workers remotely, including effective communication and assessing worker wellbeing
- Find new ways of measuring productivity, defining clear goals for employees whether working from the office or home.
The whitepaper is available for download here https://www.hcrlaw.com/insight/future-workspaces/Ends
Notes to editors
HCR conducted this research in order to understand what the future looks like for themselves as an employer and for their clients, before and after Covid-19.
500 people were surveyed by HCR in two parts. The first survey was conducted online in July-Sept 2019. A second survey was conducted during the pandemic in May-June 2020. Qualitative interviews took place June-Dec 2020.
The resulting insights form the basis of a whitepaper “Future Workspaces – what is the future of the office?”, published by HCR on Monday 11 January 2021.
Harrison Clark Rickerbys is a Top 100 law firm (https://www.hcrlaw.com) which has more than 600 staff and partners based at offices in Birmingham, Cambridge, Cardiff, Cheltenham, Hereford, London, Thames Valley, Worcester and the Wye Valley. They provide a complete spectrum of legal services to both business and private clients, regionally and nationwide. The firm also has a number of highly successful teams specialising in individual market sectors, including health and social care, education, technology, agricultural and rural affairs, finance and financial services, defence, security and the forces, and construction.
Press contacts For more information about the research, a copy of the whitepaper, and to arrange interview opportunities – please contact Rachel Evans 07970 101451 revans@hcrlaw.com
Alternatively, you can contact the HCR press team at Target PR: Sarah Bryars 07887 543583 sarah.bryars@targetgroup.co.uk Bethan Simkins 07879 422960 bethan.simkins@targetgroup.co.uk
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