CHANGING THE WAY WE WORK
This is one discussion we are following closely. There has been a definite need to shape shift co-working resources over the past 15 months, to meet changing demand bought about by the pandemic. However, it’s easy to miss some of the real drivers for hybrid working because of the noise created by employees who have, for the first time in their career, experienced the opportunity to work from home.
According to the *Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Business Population Estimates, in 2019 there were 5,867,800 businesses in the UK, of which 5,824,500 are considered “small businesses”. Small businesses account for 99.3% of the total business population. Of these small businesses, 4,457,820 businesses (or 76.5% of small businesses) had no employees—these are sole proprietors and partnerships with only the self-employed owner-manager(s) and companies with a single employee who is also a director. The other 1,366,600 small businesses had at least one employee.
These statistics make it clear that a significant number of UK workers were already operating from home or in flexible work spaces before the pandemic. Many of these contributors to the UK economy have worked through the monumental mindset change of stepping away from the structure and support of working for larger organizations and have successfully adapted to life as a lone worker.
Work from home and social distancing has forced many employers to openly address the way their business is run. It’s a subject that has been high on the agenda for some time and has often resulted in a superficial nod to employee health and well-being, despite the terms and expectations of employment often contributing to the physical and psychological issues experienced by employees. So surely this is more about a business community finally listening to the needs of its workforce?
The topic of work-life balance is constant. Interestingly, in my role as a business advisor, many of the start-ups I have supported over the past 7 years have cited better work-life balance as their driver to self-employment. Surveys are reporting a high percentage of workers who would rather take a hit on their salary so they can maintain a remote or hybrid approach to work. Isn’t this a good thing that as individuals we now have the chance to assess our own needs alongside that of our employer? This doesn’t mean having to make the choice between isolation and socialization.
With so many remote workers already out there, it’s surprising that it has taken a pandemic for tech to raise it’s game and respond with a solution that works well on a global scale. So why haven’t we seen a shift to virtual working sooner? after all, it allows us to work smarter not harder and it significantly reduces our carbon footprint and overheads.
Having a certain amount of social interaction helps to make us who we are. The option for face to face business activity remains a key element of this. We now have the experience, connectivity and technical capability to do business remotely but it will always fall slightly short of providing us with reassurance, recognition, development, support, credibility and relationships a physical meet up can offer. Long live the face to face!
Author: Jayne Ford – 02/06/2021
Jayne runs her own advertising and marketing consultancy and is commercial manager and original team member of Corspace, a high-quality flexible workspace in Crewe. www.corspace.co.uk
*Contains statistics from Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)