Working from home is here to stay for advice firms, but employers must be aware of the significant risks this can potentially pose for both employees and the business
The way many businesses are run has changed permanently, as employers that had no choice before have now realized exactly what can be achieved through working home or hybrid working.
However, there are some caveats when working at home rather than the office. Inevitably, the gains that are made by working from home – such as the ability to take care of children or saving time and money through not commuting – are offset by potential issues around health, employers having different perceptions of the efficiency of home working to their employees and cyber security.
Health
One of the benefits associated with work is health. In a guide for local authorities, ‘There is strong evidence that work is good for health and unemployment is bad for it’.
But when people work from home, the dynamics are different to travelling to a work environment. Home working environments vary from person to person, as will the temptation to work longer hours with no clear demarcation between home and work. Some commentators are wondering if this could be creating a future health crisis driven by a lack of mobility and a decline in mental health.
Some has heard that the average commute, which was about 30 minutes pre-pandemic, can now be as little as 16 steps because someone is only walking from a wardrobe to a chair.
Some are wondering if this could be creating a future health crisis driven by a lack of mobility and a decline in mental health.
Advisers may be able to fit more client meetings in over Zoom instead of spending an hour commuting to one appointment, but is the potential drawback less mobility? Driving does not involve a great deal of movement, but getting a train, walking to a meeting or cycling to work involves more movement than virtual meetings.
“Home working is also causing some more serious conditions such as diabetes – through the lack of movement – lower back problems and repetitive strain injury,” . Further more that eye strain can result from constant use of small screen laptops at home, while in the office staff may have bigger screens to reduce that problem.
“People can be hunched over laptops at home, where they often don’t have the same sort of chair as in the office. And once conditions have already arisen, they are pre-existing, so will not be covered by insurance.”
Mental health is another big concern. For many people, the social side of work has huge health benefits. Spending time in a busy office where there is always someone to have a chat with is great from a wellbeing perspective – but very different to working at home and possibly not seeing anyone in person all day.
During the pandemic, advice firms devised all sorts of ways to ensure team members engaged with each other despite working remotely. Daily check ins, virtual quiz nights and so forth enabled work to retain its social element and activities of this nature need to continue within firms where home or hybrid working is the norm.
Efficiency perception gap
Prior to the pandemic, home working was seen by some as a soft option. People would even joke about it, making inverted comma signs as if it meant having a cheeky day off.
But during the pandemic, most people got a taste of what it is really like to work from home and whether it was something they wanted to do more of. Employers were able to identify when it works for their employees and when it does not. They could see how difficult it was for new entrants to learn from others in a remote or hybrid working environment, for example.
Prior to the pandemic, home working was seen by some as a soft option.
A recent survey shows, a global association of investment professionals, looks at whether remote working will be effective in the longer term.
The Future of Work in Investment Management report, which includes financial planners/advisers among the financial services professionals surveyed, found that the UK has one of the biggest ‘efficiency perception gaps’ in relation to remote working.
More than half of employees surveyed said remote working has had a positive effect on their efficiency. However, managers were less optimistic, with just a third believing the efficiency of their employees had increased.
concerned about this mismatch. Some might see these findings as a reason why some firms might look to move away from remote working now that Covid-19 has become manageable and the government’s restrictions have been removed, but everyone does not see this happening.
Not only have certain groups of people such as working parents and people who care for elderly relatives benefited from greater flexibility that they are reluctant to relinquish, the universality of working from home has meant other cohorts – young people who may have started work during lockdown, for example, have a different outlook and have experienced work in a different way for the last two years.
“It’s now been long enough that employers can’t put the genie back into the bottle,” says Franklin.
What are firms to do if they are seeing a very different picture of the efficiency of home working to their employees? “It puts the onus on leadership and management to be more specific about what they want from their employees,” says Franklin. She says leaders and managers are used to providing clarity on the ‘what and the why’ but often leave the execution – the ‘how to do it’ – to their team. This works well when everyone is in the office all the time, but when working remotely, leaders providing more details and ensuring these are passed on can help employees understand how they can better meet their employer’s expectations.
Cyber security
Technology is playing a bigger role in the advice sector and that was happening even before the pandemic. But post-pandemic, advice firms are relying on technology even more as virtual meetings have become a normal part of the job and use of client portals is increasing.
Working from home – or anywhere else – is made possible through technology but this can lead to a wide range of cyber security risks. For example, ransomware and service attacks have risen since the move to remote/hybrid working.
people rarely have the security and confidentiality measures that would typically be in an office, such as a secure connection, secure printing, secure file exchange and so on, at home.
Post-pandemic, advice firms are relying on technology even more as virtual meetings have become a normal part of the job and use of client portals is increasing.
The use of portable computers and the associated security risks have already been apparent and, in most cases, dealt with pre-pandemic.
“While robust IT infrastructure goes a long way to reduce risks, it is important to remember those risks which are seen to be “softer”, such the firm’s culture and compliance processes,” he says.
This includes how the firm’s management handles compliance oversight, the level of cyber security training for employees and the maintenance of a firm’s corporate culture.
Commentators say company devices should be used for home working so that employers can ensure that usage complies with their rules, which employees need to be aware of.
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