Is Working from Home the New Normal? Jobseekers certainly want it to be

The pandemic has changed working practices for nearly every sector. Working from home (WFH) has dominated the past 12 months and it’s fair to say, many people have found it difficult. Despite this, the UK workforce seems to be the most reluctant to return to the office. While it may have been difficult, plenty of us have also benefited from a much healthier work-life balance.  

As vaccine programmes take root and the country starts to reopen, the ‘new normal’ is a phrase strewn across every media outlet imaginable. But what is normal going to be, after all this? 

Here to stay 

One thing that a lot of people are agreeing on is that remote and flexible working models are here to stay. Whilst many business owners are dreaming of the day that they can get their teams back to the office, sources are showing that there is a huge disconnect between the attitudes of employees and their employers.  

57% of UK employees have stated they do not want to return to the way things were. One survey showing that 1 in 4 UK workers would resign from their current role if they were made to return to the office.  The biggest motivators for these trends seem to be a perceived boost in wellbeing, benefiting from a better work-life balance, or a combination of the two.  

If WFH actively makes your employees happier and healthier, it makes sense to adopt flexible or remote working practices. Happy workers are up to 13% more productive than usual. More productivity from the same number of staff ultimately means more profitability for you and your business.  

As shown by the stats above, over a year of working remotely has made people realise that their working lives can be far more flexible. Flexibility is fast becoming one of the biggest determiners of where job seekers look for work. To ensure you attract the top talent, you need to be sure your organisation can adapt.  

Recruiting in the future 

A study commissioned by Slack found that 72% of office workers want a flexible or ‘hybrid’ model of working as things go back to normal. And this wasn’t a small study! The researchers from a combination of universities surveyed a cross-sample of around 10,000 workers from the UK, US, France, Germany, Japan and Australia, so, you can be confident it captures a representative attitude of the office workforce.  

We believe this is something that organisations should embrace if they can. During the middle of Lockdown 2.0 last year, Personnel Checks were fortunate enough to recruit a new CMO and CTO entirely remotely. By offering a hybrid model of working we were able to expand our talent pool and onboard two candidates that were the perfect fit for us. Despite being C-level positions, and never meeting them in person, both have had an incredible impact on the team.  

We’ve benefited from recruiting in a way that we’d never even considered a year ago. While this was a first for Personnel Checks at the time, it’s a trend that we’re already starting to see upend normal recruitment practice. Candidates want flexible options; employers that embrace this will benefit from a more diverse talent pool than ever before.  

Retention through culture

Human beings build relationships by interacting with each other and as these interactions build over time, they create culture. Positive company culture is one of the biggest drivers of staff retention. 65% of those surveyed by Glassdoor, reported culture as the main reason they stayed in their role.  
 
If organisations are to successfully adapt to a hybrid model of working, great consideration needs to be given to how company culture can translate itself into a remote environment. Employees working in this manner need to feel as much part of the company as an employee who works, or did work, in the office. 

Adapting your company culture to the digital realm is going to be one of the biggest challenges for organisations over the coming years. Failure to recognise this could spell disaster. 

If you’re looking for tips on how to get the most out of the remote recruitment process, check out our article discussing what we learned from our successes. You can find it here.  

For more information about how Personnel Checks background screening solutions can help you, get in touch! Give us a call on 01254 355688 or drop us an email at letstalk@personnelchecks.co.uk