Among others, the benefits of remote working have been cited as work-life balance, reduced com- mutation time and costs, higher productivity, increased motivation, flexibility, and autonomy. For companies, remote working is touted for high levels of employee satisfaction, improved staff retention, increased productivity, and cost savings. Flexible work arrangements have always been available for the privileged few – those who are able to negotiate for flexibility as part of their employ- ment perks. Typically, those who contend against flexibility typically do not trust employees to be responsible for their productivity when working away from the office. This is not surprising because conventional management theories assume a causal relationship between high productivity and uninterrupted face-to-face work interactions on a Monday-to-Friday typical work week.
Though remote working is not a new phenome- non, it has since 2020 been pushed to the fore by the COVID-19 pandemic. There’s no doubt that COVID-19 forced us to take stock of life, rearrange priorities and focus on what we think really mat- ters. While employers were battling to keep their business operations afloat; many employees started to re-evaluate what work really meant to them and took a microscopic look at their relationships with the companies they work for. As things stand now, some workers and employ- ers are embracing remote working, whilst many are still dreaming of a full return to pre-COVID workdays in the office.
What has been your biggest remote working challenge?
I doubt we will ever be able to accurately assess the extent of the trauma brought on by COVID-19. Isolation led to spikes in mental health issues and the grief of losing colleagues and loved ones left many broken, depressed, and helpless. A study published in the Psychology Medicine Journal found that out of 200 Soweto adults, 20% believed that the pandemic has caused them anxiety and 14% were prone to depression as a result (Kim AW, Nyengerai T, Mendenhall E, 2020). Challenges associated with remote working range from poor performance, reduced produc- tivity, communication gaps, team disconnection, missed opportunities to learn from peers, and diminished team cohesion that may adversely impact company culture.