Trends

Will home office be the new normal after all?

By Juan Manuel Saucedo

September 10, 2020

Prior to this pandemic, many employers were wary of the effectiveness and productivity of their workers outside of the workplace. These days when many companies have been forced to rethink how to manage physical space, flexible hours and work from home, statistics indicate that more than half of employees prefer to do it remotely or from home. Even as the threat of the coronavirus begins to recede, it is expected that a large part of workers will want to keep this modality of working remotely.

Now, as an entrepreneur, having your employees do Home Office allows you to save resources on expenses such as: electricity services, water, Internet, office rent, maintenance, payroll, among others. However, it could sacrifice the productivity of your work team.

With the new normal of “Home Office” it is speculated whether  or not the employees’ productivity will be affected. It probably won’t be, since the employee is also saving resources and time in commutes to and from the workplace, meals and so on. In addition, employees can dedicate more time to their family, to themselves and to carry out other activities.

In fact, productivity could be the tipping factor that will determine whether or not employees will be allowed to continue to work remotely. According to data, during the first eight weeks of the pandemic, “working hours, frequency of communication with others and the ability to complete tasks decreased rapidly and did not recover.” Although this measurement was carried out during the height of the pandemic, and at this peak several factors intervened, such as stress caused by the virus, taking care of family members, confinement, technical difficulties, and adapting to an environment which even though it’s your own home, is not what you are used to as a work environment.

As an employer, for this new labor normality to flow, it is necessary to clarify the methods that define and measure employees’ productivity, information security and the commitment of both parties to give their best, without direct supervision.

This is new for both parties – employer and employee. Obviously there will be those who do not want to do Home Office; there will be some who feel more productive in a physical work environment. However, statistics indicate that most people want this opportunity, which will lead to companies giving in.

At Mijo! Brands, a creative digital marketing agency with offices in Mexico City, Guadalajara and Puerto Vallarta, we have experience working remotely and we have a team of professionals in all disciplines that will help you find the areas of opportunity in conjunctures like the current one, to ensure that your brand remains positioned, regardless of the circumstances.

Contact us right now!

Juan Manuel Saucedo is an administrator at Mijo! Brands and entrepreneur. Regiomontano at heart and Vallartense by choice.