In an effort to better understand how individuals are responding to novel work-from-home conditions in the wake of Covid-19, management platform Pipefy surveyed employees from medium- and large-sized businesses, with some interesting results.
Chief among them is the fact that, despite enjoying additional family time and greater flexibility, more than 40 percent of respondents reported suffering from reduced overall mental health and wellbeing. While this no doubt reflects wider quarantine conditions related to Covid-19 beyond the home office, it’s telling that new remote workers were significantly more likely to experience problems compared to their more seasoned counterparts.
One of the survey’s main goals was to examine what aspects of their new work conditions were most appreciated and most disliked by new remote workers. Consequently, astute companies can leverage the survey’s results to improve satisfaction and productivity among workforces that are facing these conditions for the first time.
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Distractions, loneliness chief among complaints
Primary complaints from respondents included dealing with distractions (63%) and, unsurprisingly, maintaining a healthy work-life balance (36%), no doubt due in part to the fact that most businesses fail to provide clear instructions (60%) or establish clear work from home policies (54%), leaving remote workers feeling listless and without direction. Businesses can tackle this by improving communication and investing in project management software like Jira and Asana.
Companies looking to boost workplace wellbeing can also make use of technologies that facilitate communication and encourage spontaneous and casual conversations, both work-related and otherwise, which are sorely missed by new remote workers. The survey underlines the “importance of having a thriving virtual office culture to maintain the happiness quotient of employees and reduce feelings of isolation.”
Finally, a majority of respondents (54%) felt that no real collaborative infrastructure had been put in place, while a surprising two-thirds reported not having the right tools to effectively work as a team. The takeaway is that employers need to become more adept at providing online collaborative software for working from home.
- Check out our list of the best remote desktop software of 2020.
