Horror for some, blessing for others: Home office. What was an exotic exception for most before the pandemic will become the usual standard for many after it. Although we have different needs, there are points that make us and ours Making work from home more sustainable.
More than half, namely 54 percent, of companies in Germany want Establish home office more firmly in the long term – this is the result of a survey by the Munich Ifo Institute. There is therefore no question that the experiences of the pandemic will have a lasting impact on the world of work. The question is how. Due to the urgency, companies have had to break up traditional work organization quickly, but not all manage to establish functioning remote models.
The employer evaluation platform Kununu together with the Industrial Association of Office and Work World eV (IBA) has determined who has succeeded in doing this best in this country. In the list of the best at the special price “Best Workplace Home Office” runs a large insurance company this year.
What did these companies do differently? For example, they provided their employees with flawless equipment. The home office situation was also implemented quickly and gave employees the freedom to deal with it independently.
Home office as a hiring strategy
Further ifo studies show that Home office is an important criterion when looking for a job has become. An evaluation of job advertisements and job seekers on LinkedIn shows that calls for positions advertised in the home office have more than doubled. The market reacts immediately: Large employers such as Siemens, Allianz or Deutsche Telekom have already announced that home office will become part of their hiring strategy for new staff and a regular option for their employees. It is also evident that when working from home, skills such as individual flexibility, the ability to work in a team and, above all, digital know-how are gaining in importance.
Managers have meanwhile also seen the need to adapt their management style to the remote situation, as this places completely different demands on them. It takes increased mindfulness to detect possible negative vibrations in the employees. Because all the things that you would otherwise notice in the office are now gone. What is needed are trust, confidence and leadership at eye level. Letting go is part of the home office.
In Germany, the average in spring 2021 was around every second workstation capable of working from home, whereby there are industry-structural and regional differences. However, the home office quota in February 2021 was only around 30 percent of all employees.
The Randstad work barometer shows how other countries have implemented working from home. The People’s Republic of China appears to be the least flexible. 95 percent of the employees surveyed had to be present at work despite the corona pandemic. In India, too, this proportion was comparably high at 79 percent.
Read also: The most important leadership concepts of the future
Advantages of home office: sustainability par excellence
It is no coincidence that so many people like to work from home. It is simply and simply convenient – you not only save the daily travel time, but can also start the washing machine or take a quick walk around the block with the children during the break. Instead of waiting for the subway in the morning or – even worse – stuck in a traffic jam, you can do a few yoga exercises, meditate or go jogging. Working afterwards is much more fun, motivation increases, stress is reduced Work-life balance is getting better. Cooking yourself a healthy meal every lunchtime takes a bit of discipline, but it speaks for you more balanced lifestyle. At the same time, you generate less waste because you don’t have to-go packaging. Working in your own four walls also reduces travel costs.
There are advantages not only on the private, but also on the social level. According to a study by the Vodafone Institute, the average German teleworker saved 1,144 kg net of COâ‚‚ emissions during the lockdown – extrapolated to the year. In the long term, the study assumes a saving of 700 kg of COâ‚‚ per person per year. It shows that the potential for COâ‚‚ savings through home office is greatest in Germany when compared to other countries (UK, Sweden, Italy, Spain and the Czech Republic).
It corresponds to 80 million one-way flights between London and Berlin. This is not only due to the fact that traffic is falling – employers: inside have lower energy and electricity consumption. Of course, these expenses then automatically increase at home, but we have it in hand and can use this as an opportunity to switch to a green electricity provider. In general, the editors of the study are convinced that thanks to digitization, our lives are becoming even more sustainable and so we could achieve a double transformation.
Disadvantages of working from home: what should be considered?
It would be wrong to claim that working from home, no matter how sustainable it is, only brings advantages. If you have children at home, you might find it difficult to separate your professional and private life because different needs collide. But even without offspring it can happen that employees cannot switch off, suffer from sleep disorders and mental blocks or are increasingly exhausted. On the one hand, this could be due to the lack of spatial separation lie, on the other hand on the overtimethat could arise in the home office. One is always available, answers e-mails after work, shortens the lunch breaks or even skips them because of the many online meetings.
Another Negative effect when working in the home office is the lack of exchange with colleagues – both on a professional and a private level. This makes some workers feel lonely inside. If social contacts are reduced, this could lead to depression in the long term. The Germany Barometer Depression 2021 shows that 33 percent of those surveyed consider not going to work and interacting with colleagues to be negative for their mental health. Every tenth person even suffers greatly from it. Jean-Victor Alipour, home office expert at the Ifo Institute therefore expects that in the future, above all hybrid working models will prevail. Last but not least, there are also disadvantages for companies because they have to find labor law, organizational and technical solutions for working from home.
What does the New Normal mean for us as a society? TK Board Member Karen Walkenhorst sums it up in an interview: “The challenge that we all face together is to transform the good work culture into the new world of work. For that we definitely need new rules of the game. “
Flex Office: cheers for flexible time management
What could these rules of the game be? One possibility would be the so-called Flex Office, in German: that flexible workthat adhere to the Employee needs: adapts inside. A clear definition is still pending, but it is generally understood by it Location-independent work and individual scheduling. Because with the Flex Office the employees are much more flexible and can distribute their working hours variably throughout the week.
Tips for sustainable work in the home office
- To the Sedentary lifestyle In the home office you can counteract this in a wide variety of ways. If you manage to build a routine into your everyday life, you will suffer less from headaches and tension. Regular ventilation as well as breaks in the fresh air wake up and relieve the eyes of screen work. Here you will find a large selection of stretching exercises for the neck, shoulder and chest muscles. Yoga has proven to be particularly effective because it allows you to concentrate on your breath and thus switch off better in your head.
- Sufficient fruit and healthy drinks keep fit and drive away tiredness. Ideally, your workplace is cozy, bright and equipped with ergonomic furniture.
- Stick to working hours and finish work on time. Practice saying no – we can save the world tomorrow too.
- For the Mood and motivation it is good to exchange ideas with colleagues outside of the online meetings. This does not entirely replace chatting at the coffee machine, but it strengthens the feeling of togetherness. With the hashtag #more with each other, there are many examples online of how you can maintain your social life.
Sustainable in the home office through the right balance
When working in the home office, the following applies to see more of the opportunities and less of the risks. Working at home is more sustainable if you design it accordingly on both the employee side and on the employer side and show self-discipline. Those who find the right balance between virtual communication and personal exchange are well prepared for the challenges of the working world in the 21st century.
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