Is remote working here for good?
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed us to look at the way we operated in a totally dramatic manner. Policies that were rigid and seemingly non-negotiable pre-pandemic were thrown out as the world chaotically spun around in all directions.
One outcome that arose from the ‘lockdown’ scenario was where businesses continued to operate, despite shutting down the workplace. They did this by ensuring that employees worked within the confines of their homes – be it in the living room, bedroom or kitchen table. In a flash, the pandemic normalized working from home, making the dining room one’s desk and the kitchen the cafeteria.
After decades of ‘9-to-5’ office-centric work, the opportunity to rethink working arrangements, not least of all freeing ourselves from some bad habits – like ineffective meetings to unnecessary bureaucracy whilst retaining the best parts of office culture, presents itself. On the other hand, experts warn that continuous remote work can extend the work day, blur the work-life balance and decrease mental wellbeing.
Working from home has been some sort of success, with staff enjoying increased flexibility. At the other end of the spectrum are those who say they miss the office; especially the bonds of companionship that produce teamwork and creativity. Some may abhor the loneliness of working at home. While exactly how the office-home balance will pan out is left to be seen, one thing is certain: companies and workers are not likely to go back to the way things were.
The take away from these tectonic changes tells us that there are tasks that can be accomplished remotely without any drop in productivity or quality. However, there are tasks that are also team - work oriented, require face-to-face interactions that build cohesive relationships and generate ideas, etc. In short, some tasks can easily be done from home, whilst others – especially those that involve service and production will continue to be ‘on-site’.
A study done recently of over 800 occupations featuring 25,000 respondents discovered that jobs involving ‘knowledge work’, like those done by office managers and accountants had a much easier time shifting work online compared to manual or customer-facing occupations like in hospitality and retail. The study estimated that 88% of jobs done in business and financial operations could be done from home. Workers in food and accommodation however, have the least teleworkable jobs at all. To compound the effect, these two sectors, which are the hardest hit, employ workers who are disproportionately concentrated at the bottom of the income distribution grid.
One of several ideas floated is to encourage people to work two weeks at the workplace and work the next fortnight at home. This arrangement also can cut work/office space with reduced levels of staff on-site. Ask yourself, how many of your back-of-the- house staff are occupying space that can be freed by enabling them to work from home? However, there are some categories of ‘core’ staff such as front desk, housekeeping, restaurant/bar, kitchen and cleaning staff, which will be required to work at the hotel right throughout.
Another proposal is to identify jobs that can be done from home on a full-time basis on a fixed salary / term contract, without any service charge entitlement. Instead, add an ‘allowance’ to compensate for meals and tea not taken, had such workers come to the hotel and for forfeiture of the share of service charge. Service charge is to be paid only to those who work full-time in the hotel. This can turn out to be a ‘win-win’ situation as such ‘core’ staff will then receive a higher service charge / monthly income, which in turn can attract people to join the industry.
Be that as it may, one thing is for certain; Technology and innovation will emerge as powerful change enablers on the road to recovery as organisations migrate towards digital transformation.
Shafeek Wahab – Editor, Hospitality Sri Lanka, consultant, Trainer, Ex-Hotelier.
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