Dawn Picken: Why working from home is a good thing for workers and businesses

COMMENT:

Many of us need homework, if we don't already have it.

I'm not talking about solving maths equations, writing an essay or even cooking dinner.

By homework, I mean those of us who can work remotely should do so regularly, say, at least one day each week.

Businesses worldwide have told staff to work from home to try to halt spread of Covid-19, or novel coronavirus.

About 200 staff in Bay of Plenty Regional Council from offices in Whakatāne, Tauranga and Rotorua worked from home earlier this month to test how the organisation would respond if coronavirus hit the region. All offices remained open for the public.

The idea was to test a scenario where most office-based staff would work from home or offsite.

I presume regional council employees were able to write reports, make phone calls and access spreadsheets from home.

Here's something they didn't do that could impact our region if enough of us work remotely: skipped the morning commute. And the evening commute.

Imagine not hundreds, but thousands fewer vehicles clogging highways because local employers co-ordinated efforts to rotate staff working from home. It may sound like a fantasy of unicorn proportions, but someone has likely already devised an app to make it possible.

Rotating days is important because it means not everyone gets each Friday as their remote day and we could theoretically spread traffic throughout the week.

Client-facing staff such as cafe servers, chefs, store clerks, drivers, police, first responders, teachers, construction workers and many others in agriculture and horticulture don't have the luxury of working remotely.

Census data from a Priority One-commissioned report shows about one-quarter of the Bay of Plenty workforce in 2013 had a bachelor's degree, level 7 qualifications or higher, a level of education conducive to white-collar jobs offering work-from-home opportunities.

Statistics New Zealand cites a December 2018 study which found about half of Kiwis have flexible work hours. The proportion varied considerably by industry: more than seven in 10 employees in rental, hiring, and real estate services had flexibility, while fewer than four in 10 employees in healthcare and social assistance could flex their work hours.

I'm no telecommuting expert, but I've worked mostly from home the past several years. Done right, it can be freeing and efficient - my back-of-a-tissue calculation estimates remote work could have saved me up to three weeks in traffic over five years, assuming I drive to an office just two days per week.

Working from home also allows me to claim my dog as a colleague, which is better for her than being alone and cheaper than doggy daycare.

Plus, I'm not sharing germs every day with office mates (I still slather on hand sanitiser so frequently I smell like a hospital floor).

Studies show telecommuters are more productive and happier than counterparts who sit in an office each day. And more companies can make remote work possible through free online tools for messaging, word processing and videoconferencing.

There are benefits to employers as well that can translate into improved retention rates. One US study found one in four workers had quit a job because of a long commute.
Compared with office employees, remote workers saved $4523.04 on fuel each year. They were also able to maintain healthier lifestyles, as they clocked an extra 25 minutes of physical activity each week.

Yet many employees report disconnection and burnout when working remotely. Nearly 30 per cent of remote workers struggled with work-life balance. It's hard to set limits when working from home (says the writer still clicking a keyboard at 8.40pm). Autonomy is empowering, but so is a schedule that allows you to relax after dinner rather than squeezing in one more task.

Remote workers also tend to take shorter breaks and fewer sick days than office-based ones. That's fine for managers trying to gain extra efficiencies, but not great if you're an employee with a life.

And what remote workers gain in productivity, they often miss in harder-to-measure benefits like creativity and brainstorming.

So unless an emergency requires everyone to work from home each day, I'd argue for a mix of home office work plus ghastly commute and distracting open office with interesting colleagues who know more about stuff like the computer system than you.

Even one day a week telecommuting has potential to improve traffic flow, lessen our carbon footprint and allow flexibility and freedom to work in a way that suits our internal body clocks and peak performance times.

Coronavirus is teaching us many things, like how to properly wash our hands, elbow or fist bump and cancel travel plans. And many of us can adopt new ways of working - in bare feet, dog beside us while our car stays in the garage, or at least, out of traffic during rush hours.

Some employees prefer sitting in an open office or cubicle, and there's no substitute for face-to-face collaboration and being social, which is why offices and co-working spaces exist.

But it's worth considering productivity, people and planet when designing a more flexible work environment.

Coronavirus has shown us remote work can sometimes be the most practical option for people who can serve clients from anywhere. It shouldn't take a pandemic to achieve.