Thread by @AitchAre1

What's all this talk about the future of work? It's already here...

We ran a survey amongst our European workforce to get their thoughts on all things work during Covid, and as Covid hopefully eases, about returning to the office.

Here are our key findings.

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Most of our offices are in city centres and 80% of our employees rely on public transport to commute. A key consideration, given restrictions on public transport and a high level of reticence on using trains and buses in the midst of a pandemic.

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Indeed, the biggest concern about returning to the office, expressed by 74% of our employees, was about contracting Covid on public transport!

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26% do not want to return until they have been vaccinated. I was surprised it wasn't more, to be honest, particularly given 49% of our employees said they would be uncomfortable in returning to work in the office, and 43% are worried about contracting Covid at the office.

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A whopping 72% of our employees said that going forward they would like to have flexibility in choosing where and when they work. Probably because 76% of our employees agreed that remote working had not impacted their productivity. Only 10% felt that it had. 

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38% of our employees have enjoyed working from home. Only 3% have not enjoyed the experience. We are quite a "young" company, so only 21% of our employees have had to contend with caring for and/or homeschooling kids.

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Gratifyingly, 86% feel that they have been well supported during Covid, and 93% feel that we are taking the right approach (our philosophy has been quick to close or re-close, slow to reopen, and stating from the outset that people don't need to go back to an office). 

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So now the emphasis is on ensuring people are at the centre of any "remote-first" approach, with our culture, hiring, onboarding, development, retention, processes, leadership, communication, collaboration etc. geared towards a hybrid environment.

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What a great time to be in HR! It's tough, as Covid has been tough, and it's had such an impact on so many lives and businesses. But working through the challenges, step by step, often without precedent as a guide, but always doing the right thing by people, is so rewarding!

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