How people work has changed significantly as a result of the pandemic.

Many employees initially reluctant to change a habit of a lifetime found themselves gradually easing into a style of working that met their personal needs, commitments and other interests outside of work.

Less travel. More control over working hours. The freedom to walk the dog or perhaps pick up the kids from school. This did not mean work was not being delivered, it was quite simply being delivered in a different way.

The “Work from Home” directive is changing. As employees we are being actively encouraged to return to the office. So what happens when a colleague is unwilling to return to the old way of working.  Requests to continue working flexibly are regular occurrences.

However it would appear from recent reports that Employment Tribunals are seeing an increase in claims in respect of flexible working. It would seem we haven’t yet found a way of managing how we work, in agreement, going forward.

Without developing a healthy balance or acceptable compromise the journey ahead will be stressful for all involved. The question is do we really want to return to the ‘one size fits all’ way of working?  Is now not the time to embrace change and move forward together?

Some food for thought.  As always there is more than one view point.

Working from Home means no more ‘have I packed my papers’, ‘will I take lunch’, ‘I need to rearrange the plumber’…the list is endless, and that is even before you head for the bus in the pouring rain or scrape the ice from the car.

Then there is the journey time never to be retrieved. At home you are at your desk in minutes. And don’t forget in addition to saving on transport costs working from home allows you to claim some of the costs back, either as part of your tax-deductible self-employed expenses or as part of your capital allowance.

Then there are the things you just have to be at home for; pets, dentist, tradesman or even that urgent delivery from Amazon! Working from home gives you that flexibility. Everyday tasks can also be fitted around your work, everyone has a coffee break in the office environment why is it any different at home?

If you have come from an office environment that isn’t particularly nice then working from home can be a vast improvement, plus you may be fortunate enough to be able to work from a garden or have a choice of rooms.

However for every up there is inevitably a down.

For the easily distracted a strict sense of discipline needs to be established right at the start. Whatever is taking your attention from your work make sure it is sorted before you are too far into your working from home experience.  Make sure you are comfortable but not so much as you just want to pick up your book and relax or spend an hour checking your personal social media!

Don’t become isolated make sure you are taking the time get out of the house and socialise. Don’t let what seemed to be a great idea and plan turn into a nightmare.

Keep your hours realistic. Just because you are home doesn’t mean you are available 24/7. Make a point of switching your computer off. Don’t leave it on standby. Letting boundaries become blurred robs you of all the benefit.

If interaction with colleagues or others is necessary do it gracefully after all you are flexible. Try and ensure your meetings are on the same day to make a visit to the office worthwhile.

Just a few things to consider when making your choice or considering offering flexible working within your organisation.

Here at Erskine we are embracing hybrid working for those posts that can, and have proved, that the role can be successfully achieved from beyond the office walls.

We will continue to offer other flexible working opportunities. To support our managers and staff to understand and embrace the diversity required in the modern workplace by adopting a people centred approach through a health and wellbeing lens.

To see some of the posts we have on offer visit erskine.org.uk/about-us/work-for-erskine/