Experts have warned that employers risk losing workers with skills and experience if they do not include the staff in consultations over returning to the workplace.
A survey of over 1,000 UK workers - carried out by HR software provider CIPHR - has revealed employee attitudes to returning to their pre-pandemic workplace and how some employers have not helped prepare their staff for the transition back.
The survey found that 39 per cent of workers said they had not been consulted about their return to the workplace and 40 per cent of respondents reported that they had not been asked for their views about how many days they would like to be in the office.
Prior to the pandemic, 74 per cent of respondents worked onsite at business premises and only 8 per cent worked fully remotely. However, during the pandemic that changed, with 61 per cent of respondents being required to work at home and for higher income earners the number increased to 75 per cent of workers – 74 per cent of whom were in receipt of an annual salary of £45,000.
Although the pandemic is still not over, thousands of businesses are now running at pre-pandemic staffing capacities. It is not back to complete normality, however, as 67 per cent of employees intend to keep wearing a face mask in their workplace, with those most likely to continue wearing masks in all indoor public settings are the 40 per cent of fully vaccinated workers – compared to 39 per cent of all workers. Only 10 per cent of respondents stated that they no longer intend to wear a mask – and another 10 per cent have decided not to get vaccinated.
For the 16 per cent of workers whose normal place of work has not yet reopened, 40 per cent say they expect to be back by September, with a further 20 per cent by the end of the year – 11 per cent are anticipating a return sometime in 2022; 17 per cent are not aware of when they will be asked to return and 12 per cent have had their workplace permanently closed.
In general, survey respondents were positive about returning to the workplace - 24 per cent said they felt happy to return; 22 per cent said they were looking forward to it and another 22 per cent said they felt alright about going back. Only 23 per cent who worked at home during the pandemic were anxious or “dreading” going back.
Claire Williams - Director of people and services at CIPHR - urged all employers to consult staff about changes, particularly about returning to normal working. She advised that businesses need to be considerate of employees’ rights to submit formal flexible working requests and suggested that they should gain feedback from employees about measures they would like to see implemented for their specific situation - as well as using HR solutions.
She stated:
“Above all, it’s important that people feel listened to, and that employers act on their feedback, wherever possible.”
She added a warning that “employees’ loyalty can be easily lost by a failure to communicate, especially following a period where employers have had to call on a huge amount of goodwill from their workforce.”
