Home office
The system of work from home, of course, mainly concerns administrative and creative workers, or employees in manager positions, who can perform their tasks remotely. In the Czech Republic, especially in the regions, however, home office is not widely used by companies, so the need to start working with this tool might have been perceived as an initial complication as well as an interesting experience later.
Given that large foreign companies and technology giants such as Google or Facebook began to think very quickly about the long-term massive involvement of employees working from home, it seems home office will be one of the ways in which the labor market will develop in the coming years.
Arguments IN FAVOR
One of the key arguments is cost savings for both employers and employees. While a company can significantly reduce the cost of renting or acquiring office space, an employee saves not only money on transportation to work, but also time spent on the way to the workplace.
Recent times have shown home office can be a suitable tool in times of flu and other epidemics, when employees can work from home and avoid infection in the common workplace.
The possibility of working remotely can be especially attractive for creatives and wanted professionals. A welcome employee benefit that can attract skilled workforce to your company.
Other benefits include facilitating greater independence and responsibility of employees, preventing common disputes arising from daily close contact at the workplace, or the possibility to employ professionals abroad.
Arguments AGAINST
Some surveys suggest decline of labor productivity at home, other research, however, contradicts it.
Working from home is definitely not suitable for everyone, and the HR department should carefully select employees who are able to schedule their working hours autonomously and devote themselves to tasks even in a situation where no one is supervising them. However, according to the experience of Western countries, it seems that along with the change in work culture - trust in employees, education, appropriate financial evaluation, goal setting and good communication - a group of people able to do telework effectively is growing.
Another complication taking unprepared companies by surprise during the coronavirus crisis was the inability to transfer corporate programs to personal computers, or problems with the security of servers and databases when connected remotely.
One of the biggest disadvantages of working from home, also mentioned by employees themselves, is the impossibility of working in a team and face-to-face conversations. At a time of necessary isolation and ordered spacing, this was of course desirable, but in the long run, creativity and team cohesion can decline without human contact in the workplace.