Working from home

Our traditional working week has come to be seen as being in the 'office' from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, for a minimum of 40 hours a week. But as nations went into lockdowns around the globe with Covid-19, organisations - both public and private - found ways to maintain services in the face of what was an unprecedented event in our lifetime (Randstad, 2020). We took the office home with us, and worked from there. 

Working from home (WFH) is defined as being the "worker’s own home[...] in which the work is performed. It rules out any non-home-based forms of 'Remote work'"(Holgersen et al., 2021, p. 3). Technology advances - such as Zoom, database access, apps - developed for remote or telework have facilitated more regular WFH arrangements (Karl et al., 2022).

As the pandemic receded, it seems that, for many, our attitude to work has shifted. The space gained during the pandemic meant we had the time to devote to non-financial aspects of our lives, so focused more on family, health and wellbeing (Gee, 2022). And we liked that. With the return to 'normality', our lack of desire for a five day, office-bound working week has not changed. We still desire more flexible work arrangements, with over two thirds (67.8%) of New Zealanders reporting that work location flexibility is important (Randstad, 2023).

There are benefits to be gained from flexible work arrangements. It provides organisations with workplace cover through job-sharing, split shifts, and part-time hours. It allows us more time to look after ourselves and our families, while allowing organisations to gain a wider spread of institutional and cultural knowledge (Noakes, 2022). We save personal cost and time through reduced commuting, while our organisations and society as a whole have the advantage of lower carbon emissions, traffic flows, parking congestion, and road accidents (Beck & Hensher, 2022; Public Service Commission, 2022). We also have lower peak demand for public transport (Public Service Commission, 2024). Staff can fit in personal tasks in breaks when WFH, and experience less stress (Aczel et al., 2021; Beck & Hensher, 2022); which should hopefully mean we have a healthier society overall (MBIE, 2025).

At home, many of us feel more productive due to fewer distractions. We don’t have colleagues swinging by our desks for questions or a chat; so we get more done in less time (Forbes, 2023). We also don't have our managers just popping in to ask us to do additional tasks, leaving us able to focus on our core work. Organisations can lower consumable and energy costs (Noakes, 2021), plus attracting and retaining a more diverse workforce, as - with the tyranny of distance being reduced - the employee pool deepens. Those unable to applied previously for jobs due to location may now apply (Public Service Commission, 2022). If WFH continues, it is conceivable that it may potentially reduce urban sprawl. 

WFH is redefining the traditional 'work day', and the 'working week' due to enabling more of a piece-work approach. Organisations can remain open for longer virtual hours. There are multiple benefits for society through WFH, "improving both wellbeing outcomes for people, and resilience and productivity for our local businesses" (MBIE, 2025).

And all that is something to be celebrated.

Sam

References:

Aczel, B., Kovacs, M., Van Der Lippe, T., & Szaszi, B. (2021). Researchers working from home: Benefits and challenges. PloS One, 16(3), e0249127. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0249127

Beck, M. J., & Hensher, D. A. (2022). Working from home in Australia in 2020: Positives, negatives and the potential for future benefits to transport and society. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 158, 271-284. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.016

Forbes. (2023, June 10). Navigating the pros and cons of hybrid and remote work. https://www.forbes.com/sites/glebtsipursky/2023/06/10/navigating-the-pros-and-cons-of-hybrid-and-remote-work/

Gee, S. (2022, May 19). Hybrid work lifestyle may be here to stay post-pandemic. Radio New Zealand [RNZ]. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/467412/hybrid-work-lifestyle-may-be-here-to-stay-post-pandemic

Holgersen, H., Jia, Z., & Svenkerud, S. (2021). Who and how many can work from home? Evidence from task descriptions. Journal for Labour Market Research, 55(1), 4, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2022.03.016

Karl, K. A., Peluchette, J. V., & Aghakhani, N. (2022). Virtual work meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic: The good, bad, and ugly. Small Group Research, 53(3), 343–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/10464964211015286

MBIE. (2025). Ngā kōrero ohumahi o tō mātou rohe – Our region’s workforce story. Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment. https://www.mbie.govt.nz/business-and-employment/employment-and-skills/regional-skills-leadership-groups/nelson-tasman/regional-workforce-plans/regional-workforce-plan/nga-korero-ohumahi-o-to-matou-rohe-our-regions-workforce-story

Noakes, J. (2022, May). Work from anywhere: Make it work better. Norton Rose Fulbright. https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en-au/knowledge/publications/6e56c794/work-from-anywhere-make-it-work-better

Public Service Commission. (2022, September 28). Guidance: Hybrid working part 2: Factors to consider when designing a hybrid work environment. https://www.publicservice.govt.nz/guidance/guidance-hybrid-working/hybrid-working-all-the-detail/factors-to-consider-when-designing-a-hybrid-work-environment

Randstad. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on workers and organisations. https://www.randstad.co.nz/s3fs-media/nz/public/migration/nz-documents/covid-19-report-nz-updated.pdf

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Returning to the office

Apparently, to be productive in our work, what "we need from our workplaces are [the ability to] focus (a cognitive response allowing us to think and concentrate to complete our work), a sense of beauty (an emotional response, an essential, constitutive element of organisations which has important implications in organisation theory), and connectedness (a relational response that involves the extent to which the environment facilitates a sense of community and a feeling of belonging to the organisation)" (Sanders, 2023). Dr Saunders created a scale for measuring the attributes and requirements for our needs for these quiet spaces to think; unusual spaces to inspire us and for us to be creative; and communal spaces to get our relational needs met.

We need all three elements, at different times. However, working at work may not fit what we need to do. Why? There are a number of reasons. Our office spaces can be noisy (hard to think). We may be distracted by colleagues (hard to think). We may also get into a flow state, then be interrupted for 'information-only' meetings (feel anti-connected). It is also possible that we may "struggle to maintain energy or inspiration" because of "the sameness [of the office being] very boring to our senses" (hard to be emotionally engaged; Sanders, 2023).

We are generally social beings, needing to work with others to meet those social needs, to bounce ideas off each other, and to connect. It is possible that if we work from home too much, our kanohi ki te kanohi socialisation and social cue reading skills may get rusty; particularly true if we are an affiliative person where our work meets our identity, confidence and networks needs (McClelland & Burnham, 1976; Oxford Reference, 2023). 

Note that not all of us may be driven by a need for connection. There are two other key drivers; those of achievement, and power. There are tests so which we can use to could work out which elements drive us (McClelland & Burnham, 1976; Oxford Reference, 2023), though I am pretty sure that after Covid-19, those of us who have strong affiliative needs will have a clear understanding of the importance of that now on an individual basis.

However, working from home, or WFH, appears now dropping in the US. Apparently "72.5 percent of establishments had little or no telework, compared to 60.1 percent in July-September 2021" (US Bureau of Labour Statistics, 2023), while here in Aotearoa, 78% of respondents worked from home last year at least some of the time (Radio New Zealand, 2023). While the New Zealand data is a small sample of 1000, 54% of respondents said that - although they were theoretically able to work from home - they were actually unable to do so due to company requirements to be in the office (Radio New Zealand, 2023). Additionally, 53% of respondents would move cities for cheaper housing and better lifestyle, if they could keep their current role and work remotely (Radio New Zealand, 2023).

While we do need to be in the office sometimes, there is value in us NOT having to be there all the time. I had hoped that the WFH flexibility would be here with us for longer. 

But 'hoping' butters no parsnips. 

Sam

References:

McClelland, D., & Burnham, D. (1976). Power is the Great Motivator, Harvard Business Review, 54(2), 100-110.

Oxford Reference. (2023). Needs theory. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100227873

Radio New Zealand. (2023, March 7). 'An employee drive': People still keen on working from home, survey finds. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/485435/an-employee-drive-people-still-keen-on-working-from-home-survey-finds

Sanders, L. (2023, June 8). ‘Disastrous experiment’: Real reason behind hated return to work push. Site. https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/at-work/disastrous-experiment-real-reason-behind-hated-return-to-work-push/news-story/6f377ea396388a531de6cedf89936fe5

US Bureau of Labour Statistics. (2023, March 22). U.S. Business Response Summary [Economic News Release]. https://www.bls.gov/news.release/brs1.nr0.htm

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Virtual onboarding

Covid-19 changed our corporate practices, almost without notice. I was thinking recently about how many things suddenly had to change during the pandemic, and how nimble our organisations had to become in developing new ways to get things done, including what happens when we need new staff. Everything from recruitment, to interviewing, to how we onboard our staff had to change. Working from home, WFH, changed our working lives.

There has been some interesting research into virtual onboarding, ranging from library work to the public service to corporates (Alexander, 2021; Martyniuk et al., 2021; Petrilli et al., 2022; Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023). Sound onboarding practices generally mean that employees will stay longer with the organisation (Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023), but that the real non-negotiable is communication (Alexander, 2021). 

We can define onboarding as a "process that allows both the candidate and the company to get to know each other, understanding fit and expectations" (Petrilli et al., 2022, p. 1), filling a socialisation need for both parties. Socialisation is more fragile when we try to do it virtually (Petrilli et al., 2022). Making one on one connections, and having a go-to person for IT help makes a difference - coming into "a new work team is a nerve-wracking process under almost any circumstances but doing it virtually while trying to master new software on the fly can be absolutely terrifying" (Alexander, 2021, p. 209).

New employees not only need a digital and hardware pack to facilitated their work, they need a guide to help their organisational "introduction to technology" which "can help a new employee feel less self-conscious about asking questions" (Alexander, 2021, p. 209). We need an IT buddy, a work process buddy, a resources buddy, and a company culture buddy: "one on one meetings are an enormous help in facilitating a [new employee's] comfort level" (Alexander, 2021, p. 209) to "establish belonging" (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 6), and having a team who can "engag[e via] mini-tutorials and conduct[...] regular one-on-one check-ins" (Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023, p. 709).

New staff may feel "apprehensive about the precarious work environment", feeling that the pandemic and the strangeness of the new adds to reduced cohesion and lack of certainty. Staff may well feel "nervous, apprehensive, and [potentially be] experiencing imposter syndrome" (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 4), so delivering clear feedback (Petrilli et al., 2022), showing how new employees add value, and meeting the social aspects of work (Petrilli et al., 2022) become even more important in virtual environments. 

Research seemed to show that companies were either good at all their staff welfare processes including virtual onboarding, or they were poor across the board. More planning needed to go into delivering good processes, due to the complexity and "unanticipated levels of coordination" (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 6). Accidental networking and collaboration reduced due to a "lack of social interaction and water-cooler conversation"; an unexpected by-product of WFH (Martyniuk et al., 2021, p. 6).

Overall, developing a communicative, supporting and non-judgemental community of practice (Martyniuk et al., 2021) is a key element in bringing new members into the team (Alexander, 2021; Martyniuk et al., 2021; Petrilli et al., 2022; Yarbrough & Ramos Salazar, 2023), regardless of virtual or face to face environments. However, it becomes more essential in virtual onboarding; as does allowing mistakes to be made, and providing clear, regular and timely feedback.

Not rocket science. 

Sam

References:

Alexander, A. (2021). Virtual onboarding: Lessons from the pandemic. Public Services Quarterly, 17(3), 208-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228959.2021.1915913

Free Icons Library. (2023). Helping Hand Icon #309445 [image]. https://icon-library.com/icon/helping-hand-icon-8.html

Martyniuk, J., Moffatt, C., & Oswald, K. (2021). Into the unknown: Onboarding early career professionals in a remote work environment. Partnership, 16(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.21083/partnership.v16i1.6451

Petrilli, S., Galuppo, L., & Ripamonti, S. C. (2022). Digital onboarding: facilitators and barriers to improve worker experience. Sustainability, 14(9), 5684, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095684

Yarbrough, J. W., & Ramos Salazar, L. (2023). Virtual onboarding and socialization, an exploration of employee discussions and experiences. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 28(5), 707-723. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCIJ-12-2022-0158

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