Prana Partners founder Mark Lyttleton supports founders at all stages of their entrepreneurial journey, helping them to cope with the many pressures involved in building and growing a business. This article will look at the rise of remote working, examining the importance of employers taking a proactive approach towards protecting teleworkers’ wellbeing and helping them to achieve a sustainable work-life balance.
Until relatively recently, home or hybrid working
was a relative rarity, with just a few organisations embracing a teleworking
model and many doing so somewhat reluctantly. Fast-forward to today and remote
working has become commonplace, with a survey from the Office of National
Statistics revealing that 40% of working adults surveyed between 25th
January and 5th February 2023 had worked from home at some point
over the preceding week. This represented a significant rise on the 12%
reported in the same period in 2019.
Many business leaders have come to recognise the
significant benefits that can be achieved by remote working in terms of
increased productivity. However, others are reluctant to see a continuance of
hybrid and remote working practices, for example, well known tycoons like Elon
Musk and Alan Sugar. Some business leaders are concerned that homeworking
culminates in a disconnect from the job, damaging the culture and camaraderie
of the workplace, with a negative effect on both staff collaboration and the
mental health of workers.
In reality, both opinions have merit. While a
growing body of evidence suggests that flexible working has a beneficial impact
on productivity, research also reveals that remote and hybrid working also have
disadvantages from the employee’s perspective, with many prone to work longer
hours, suffer more stress and experience a blurring between work-life
boundaries.
Hybrid and fully remote working do have significant
benefits to the environment, helping workers to reduce their carbon footprint
while simultaneously saving them transportation costs. However, a significant
downside is the lack of social interactions. Despite technological
advancements, video calls are no replacement for human interaction in person.
Whether working in the office or from home,
employers have a duty of care in respect of the employee’s physical and mental
health and wellbeing. Responsible employers encourage their workers to
establish clear boundaries between work and personal time, ensuring they take
regular breaks. It is also important for employees to schedule regular
one-to-one meetings, checking in to not only assess the employee’s progress
towards work targets and goals but also to ask how they are feeling and gauge
their general wellbeing.
