Do we HAVE to go back to work?

For more than a year now, we’ve been talking about the return to work – what it will look like, how it will feel, and whether or not it’s necessary.
We first wrote about the return to work in April 2020. Looking back… wow, we were a bit early on that one. We wrote about it again in February of 2021.
Today it seems companies are mostly back to work in-person but the feeling of flexibility is somehow ever-present. For a company like ours, being onsite is part of the job. We can’t very well install equipment from our living rooms. But we are seeing the results of companies who are able to function with part of their team still at home.
Some have parts of teams at home and some in the office, depending on personal and family needs. Others have a schedule for being in the office on certain days and some days where most people are home.
The flexible work options are a good fit for employees.
And, from a facility management point of view, there’s certainly an upside to having members of customer teams out of the office on specified days. Maintenance can happen, testing can be done and for a company like ours, we can see the potential for energy savings.
A recent article on NPR.org says “It’s a radical change in the nature of work. And despite predictions and surveys, no one knows for sure how long it will last or what the future of work will look like.“
There are some significant topics to consider in this article, especially the idea that work will now revolve around home life, no longer the other way around. This could be true for some industries. Again, our team and other companies like ours may not have that type of culture, but the philosophy of flexibility is certainly something we embrace.
We recently wrote about how our team members are learning new skills to enhance their core knowledge. Part of this is so they can support others should they need to be out for a family emergency – or even a child’s performance or big game.
Putting our people first has always been what we do… and it’s good to see this is becoming the norm.