44% of employees are more efficient working from home

Two in five employees (44%) believe they are more efficient working form home, according to research by ENEI.

The research of 113 employees during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, published July 2020, also found that just over a quarter (27%) said that the work they produce is of a higher quality while working from home, with only 7% reporting the opposite.

Furthermore, almost three-quarters (73%) of respondents are finding working from home much easier than they anticipated, with an almost equal amount of respondents (74%) wanting to continue working from home long-term, 15% happy to continue remote working short-term and only a small proportion (10%) keen to return to an office environment as soon as possible.

Furthermore, 44% of employees with caring responsibilities now feel more loyal to their employer compared to 33% of non-carers.

However, over half (52%) of employees have seen an increase in their workload since the pandemic restrictions began, with an additional 37% working longer hours, but only 3% of employees cite they are dissatisfied with the support they are receiving from their employers during this time.

Debbie Rotchell, strategic consultant at Enei, said: “Our research suggests that as many as two in five employees are anxious about returning to their normal place of work, despite the safety measures being put into place. Whilst many employers will be wondering if and when they ask people to return to the office, they should consider the opportunities of long-term home working with the potential cost savings, productivity boost and the inevitable benefits to the environment. When appropriate, this could be blended with face to face working in a more agile approach, giving employees more autonomy in the way they work.”

"The research found that few employees reported a negative impact on performance due to homeworking, but women were less likely to say that homeworking has had a positive impact on their motivation, and those with caring responsibilities were half as likely to feel that their new working pattern was more efficient than those without. This is likely to be as a result of children still being at home. The survey will be repeated later in the year once children have returned to school to see how this changes.

“Employees have been telling us for years that they need more flexibility in the way they work, and part time working options that simply reduce the total number of hours are too inflexible to meet their needs. This enforced period of homeworking has shown how easy and effective working from home can be and should be given serious consideration as a permanent addition to an employer’s ways of working."