How Atlantic Canadians Feel About Working From Home
HALIFAX — Almost two-thirds of Atlantic Canadians started working from home during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most feel they’re just as, or more productive at home than they were in their offices.
At a Halifax Chamber of Commerce webinar today, market research company Narrative Research gave insight on how the pandemic has affected Atlantic Canadians.
CEO Margaret Brigley and COO Margaret Chapman broke down research the firm conducted throughout the pandemic, including a survey of more than 3,000 Atlantic Canadians from earlier this month.
Brigley and Chapman said the 62 percent of Atlantic Canadians who have transitioned to working from home during the pandemic have a “mixed bag” of feelings about it.
About 25 percent said they’re more productive in their own homes, while close to half said they’re just as productive. Almost 30 percent, however, said they’re getting less done at home than in the office.
Brigley said you can look at those numbers from a couple of different perspectives.
“From an employee’s perspective it’s great that three-quarters feel as or more productive at home, but we can’t ignore those who are less productive and we need to find different ways for those employees to thrive,” she said.
While exactly half of the survey respondents said they were happier working from home, one third said they would rather come back to the office.
Brigley said increased isolation, less collaboration, wariness of screen time “and the whole work-life separation” are all reasons people are anxious to get back to the office.
With such a “mixed bag” of feelings about working from home, Brigley added it’s more important than ever for employers to pay attention to how their employees are dealing with remote work.
“From an employer’s perspective it’s never been more important to have metrics in place to measure productivity, to confirm that work is getting done efficiently, and [confirms] that work isn’t bleeding into every part of an employee’s life,” she said.
Chapman said the best way to measure productivity is simply by “looking at outcomes.”
“Here’s the widget you produce, or the report we write, how long does it take to do that? And can we do that in the same time or less time or more time than we used to? I don’t think anybody wants to be micromanaged, but I think looking at outcomes is probably one of the best measures for employees,” she said.
But she also cautioned that it’s important not to just look at the hard outcomes, but “also keep tabs on how employees are feeling.”
“Some people feel as productive or more productive [working from home], but that one-third who are less productive, what toll is that playing on people? And it’s really important with employers to touch base with people and say, what can we do?” she said.
She and Brigley recommended a “two-front” approach to managing employees during the pandemic: measure productivity and track (and respond appropriately to) employee sentiment.
“More than anything, if there’s any good to come out of this pandemic from a business perspective, it may be forcing businesses to actually look at how they can evaluate the end outputs within their business,” Brigley said.