New data shows that nearly two-thirds of HR specialists surveyed are expecting more work pressures as a direct result of the move to homeworking.
A new survey conducted by Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing, an employee benefits consultancy, has found that homeworking is set to continue which will put more pressure on HR teams.
The findings suggest that almost 9 in every 10 organisations are now intending to introduce at least some form of home-working moving forward.
Around two-fifths (39 per cent) of respondents expected partial home working to be available to all workers, with a further 46 per cent intending to introduce this for selected employees only.
However, as a direct result of this, HR teams are expecting their workload to increase significantly.
Nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) said this would place more pressure on them whilst close to a fifth (18 per cent) are expecting a significant increase to the HR workload.
Steve Herbert, Head of Benefits Strategy, at Howden said:
After more than a year of restrictions it’s no surprise that both employers and employees have become far more accustomed to the concept of home working, and both sides can now see the benefits.
From the employer perspective the benefits of continuing with at least some home-working include cost savings, improved engagement, higher productivity, and better employee wellbeing too.
Yet a permanent change to partial or full home-working will inevitably pose new challenges for employers and their HR departments to manage, and our survey demonstrates that many Human Resources professionals expect their workload to increase accordingly as a result.
However, further data showed that almost half of HR professionals (44 per cent) were unsure about whether their current benefits package fully support staff working from home.
Howden noted that the move towards greater remote and homeworking should be matched with much greater flexibility and reach in company-sponsored employee benefit offerings to support employees.
Steve Herbert continued:
We would strongly encourage many more employers to embrace flexible benefits and/or digital communication and delivery methods to better support the increasing numbers of remote workers in the 2020s.
The pandemic is likely to represent a watershed moment in employment, and Howden would urge HR professionals to ensure that their company-sponsored employee benefits offerings reflect this significant shift in working practices.
*The survey took place at The Howden Employment Webinar on 11th March 2021 amongst an audience of more than 200 senior HR and Finance professionals from a variety of Private, Public and Third Sector organisations.
Monica Sharma is an English Literature graduate from the University of Warwick. As Editor for HRreview, her particular interests in HR include issues concerning diversity, employment law and wellbeing in the workplace. Alongside this, she has written for student publications in both England and Canada. Monica has also presented her academic work concerning the relationship between legal systems, sexual harassment and racism at a university conference at the University of Western Ontario, Canada.
