Can workcations actually work?
A recent industry survey revealed that 76% of employees would be more likely to work for a company with a “work from anywhere” policy.
How would you feel about letting your employees work from anywhere in the world?
It may sound unrealistic and nomadic; and for many it will be – but if it is possible it doesn’t have to mean your employees working abroad full-time. Many just want the option to work remotely when on holiday, to extend their time away.
First, let’s not blur the technical lines between holiday and work. Working time regulations make it clear that everyone must have four weeks holiday – so an employee must be either “on the clock” or not.
That said, it has long been a practice for people to tag a couple of days (proper) holiday onto the end of a business trip. The workcation is the reverse – some time properly available and working for the business, but from the location of the holiday. It may be to fit in with an itinerary, get the benefit of a few extra days sunshine or, say, manage the interval between long-haul flights.
So now we are clear what we are talking about, what would the practical considerations be to facilitate it, should you wish to?
Time zones, connectivity and data protection should all be considered, and any one of these may make such working impracticable or impossible. For longer-term arrangements, issues like visas and taxation become an issue and specialist advice would be recommended.
Holidays don’t have to be abroad of course, and things become simpler when people want to “work from anywhere” domestically. It’s got to work for your business though. Weigh up the practicalities to you and your operations, your staff relations, how important such flexibility is for recruitment and retention and fairness across all staff.
A clear, consistent remote working policy will help your business deal with requests, and keep things fair for all employees. Just get in touch if you’d like any help updating a policy, or putting one in place.
Sickness absences are at an all-time high
The number of fit notes issued in the UK hit a record high last year – 10.4 million. In part, the increase has been attributed to the economic crisis and also to the impact of the pandemic, which has led to more stress-related absences.
If you’ve been noticing increased absences, it might be having negative effects on productivity, as well as increasing costs. It is important to manage them proactively.
Begin by ensuring you have a robust absence policy, so expectations are clear and phoney sickness days are discouraged. The HR Dept can help you implement a comprehensive policy, as well as introducing return-to-work interviews and measuring tools. For long-term absences, we can work with occupational health therapists to plan adjustments and phased returns.
If stress or anxiety is at play you’ll want to be supportive, but it’s not yours or your managers’ jobs to act as counsellors.
You can bring in tools like the Bradford Factor (see article below) to underpin your enforcement of absence policy objectively. You may also find employee assistance programmes (EAPs) good value for the business. They provide expert, independent support services for mental health and other issues like debt advice – taking the burden away from you.
Check that your culture encourages a healthy work-life balance. Both our physical and mental health are heavily impacted by work-life balance. Ensuring that workloads are evenly distributed, and that staff know when to switch off, will reduce the risk of stress.
In the face of so much absence a robust approach is important – not least so that those who do show up every day don’t get burnt out covering for persistently absent colleagues. If you’d like support, just get in touch.
I can’t work, I’m having a haircut!
If you wanted further proof that working from home is less productive than the office, recent payment data shows a rise in midweek expenditure at salons, whilst mobile phone data in the US showed a whopping 300% increase in 4pm Wednesday tee off times on the golf course.
So if everyone is sinking a putt or having a trim, who is manning the phone and getting the proposal finished?
Teams benefit from personal contact so that they can build trust, communicate efficiently and collaborate together. So getting everyone in one place at work is best.
If you can’t get everyone back in full-time, though, make sure you set very clear expectations about what is expected from them when working from home. While some employers may be comfortable basing this solely on output rather than having someone tied to a desk, it can be easy for standards to slip.
Repeated delays in returning phone calls while someone is out running errands or skipping a Zoom meeting because they are late back from lunch could end up costing clients or missing deadlines.
You could assess whether your own management style for home workers is too distant, not accounting for the lack of direct supervision and accountability that physical presence brings.
If you are worried they are doing their nails instead of working in sales and you would like help reviewing the standards that you expect from home workers during office hours, we can help.
Have you heard of the Bradford Factor?
The Bradford Factor is a formula used to measure employee absence. It works by calculating how many instances of unplanned absence an employee has in a year. As the number increases with each instance of absence, rather than the length, it assumes that repeated absences are worse for business than long-term illnesses.
Here’s the formula:
S² x D = B
S is the number of instances of absence. You multiply this number by itself.
D is the number of days absent in a 52 week period.
B is the Bradford Factor score.
Staff scores are applied to a framework of trigger points for warnings and ultimately dismissal.
So is it helpful? It’s arbitrary nature has pros and cons, but there are too many nuances for it to be the sole reference for judging the significance of absence levels. Better to have it in the background to help inform your decision-making, alongside good line management, such as return-to-work interviews.
The Great Unretirement
We recently blogged about the opportunity to recruit over-50s, following the Chancellor’s Budget announcements to encourage this demographic back to work.
Boosted by the impact of the cost of living crisis, this appears to be a very real trend which you can harness to help meet your staffing needs.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in the 12 months to March 2023, the number of people younger than 64 who are in retirement fell by 93,000. It means the UK has the lowest number of early retirees since 1994.
From a strong work ethic to, some might say, greater resilience than younger generations there is much that over-50s hires could bring to your business. Give thought to how you might attract them, from what retraining might be required to where you advertise the roles.
For any help with recruitment, speak to your local HR Dept office.
You’re having a laugh.
Can laughing at an employee count as harassment? One employee recently thought so, after taking his boss to tribunal for laughing when he slipped on a patch of oil at work.
The employee lost the case, with the judge deeming his accusation “ridiculous”, putting the laughter down to the “slapstick element of a fall”.
A sense of fun in the workplace is important for helping to create an enjoyable and collaborative environment. But setting boundaries is key to prevent bullying or discrimination claims – avoid controversial or inappropriate jokes, and ensure your company has a staunch conflict resolution process and anti-bullying stance.