According to a report from Culture Shift - a UK-based tech-for-good developer - the events of recent months have impacted positively on the culture of the UK’s industry.
Of the respondents surveyed, 39 per cent said it has actively improved since they changed to remote working, with 73 per cent describing it as positive in the current climate.
The same report also revealed that more than 36 per cent said working from home has boosted their productivity, whilst more than 28 per cent said it has had a positive impact on their mental health - with 45 per cent saying they are dreading going back to the workplace.
However, whilst many have welcomed the remote arrangement, 50 per cent of employees in tech have said that working from home has made them feel isolated.
Olive Strachan MBE, who is founder of Olive Strachan Resources Ltd and a global business woman and diversity and inclusion specialist - stated:
“There’s no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in challenging times for businesses. With many teams working remotely, organisations have had to improve their communication keeping employees informed of developments, while demonstrating empathy, and providing coaching plus support for their mental health and general wellbeing.”
She continued:
“The research found that most employees have credited their organisations with having a positive culture in the current climate, with many benefitting from improvements to their productivity, overall wellbeing, creativity, work-life balance and relationships with key stakeholders, such as their employer.”
On the positive impact of working from home, the research found that 51 per cent of employees in tech confirmed working from home has improved their work-life balance - and 43 per cent who said that they feel more likely to experience bullying in the workplace, became just 30 per cent whilst working from home.
Job motivation has been positively impacted by working remotely whilst 26 per cent receive less passive aggressive comments when not in the workplace.
More than one third of employees say that creativity has improved for them, with 37 per cent stating that trust in their boss has had a positive influence; 43 per cent said that their boss has asked about their wellbeing more often since they started working from home and almost half feel that they are being trusted to get on with the job.
On the negative side, self-doubt is rife with 27 per cent feeling this more so whilst working from home, particularly 16-34 year-olds, where 31 per cent feel it more than when they were in the workplace.
Almost half of employees feel isolated; 23 per cent feel they have been affected negatively when it comes to promotion opportunities and 25 per cent say that it has affected their training and development.
Gemma McCall - CEO and co-founder of Culture Shift - said:
“With many organisations across the country now thinking about how they can bring employees back to the office safely, we wanted to hone in on the general consensus on remote working these past few months. While there have been some minor issues, it’s generally been quite successful.”
She added:
“Remote working has positively impacted employees’ wellbeing and is something employers should absolutely be considering as they plan for the future — especially now the success of this approach has been clearly proven. While there are of course some key factors organisations need to work on, like continued commitment to training and development, as well as progression, employers should be ensuring they have systems and tools in place to empower their teams to remain productive, creative and supported, even while they’re working from home.”
