HRSZ survey, Sept. 2021:
Return from the home office

We from the cantonal trade association HR Services Zug asked companies from the Zug economic area about the topic of returning from the home office and their individual handling.

Following you can find the responses from an SME (approx. 50 employees), two medium-sized companies (approx. 1500 employees) and a global corporation:

• What concepts are used in the return from the home office in your company (individual days, percentages of employees)?

SME: At the moment, we still stick to the home office recommendation of the federal government and leave it up to the employees to decide whether to come to the office or not. Only a basic team has to be present in the office, which mainly deals with hardcopy work, which is hardly feasible in the home office. Their presence in the office is recorded so that we can react immediately in case of infection. The current goal is for each team to see each other once a week so that the team spirit, which has inevitably suffered in recent months, is not lost or can be rebuilt. But this is also on a voluntary basis. As soon as the home office recommendation of the federal government is dropped, we will introduce an update of our current home office policy, which provides for an increase of the maximum home office days per week to 3 days.

Medium-sized company 1: We never had complete home office solutions. We set the occupancy to max. 50% of capacity, with the teams determining themselves how to divide and organise this. Recommended was 1 day/week and 1 face-to-face contact per month with supervisors. Post Covid; currently we are in the process of elaboration, the goal is a high degree of flexibilisation, which is aligned with the team / operational needs / effective collaboration and the needs of the MA, less with fixed % numbers or days.

Medium-sized company 2: In agreement with their superiors, employees are allowed to work from home for a maximum of 3 days per week (with a 100% workload). Of course, home office is not possible in all areas, e.g. in logistics, reception team, etc..

Global corporation: Flexible handling, i.e. depending on role and possibility, a mix of on-site vs. home office can be agreed between employees and supervisors; this is based on our guideline on "Flexible Work" and due to Corona we also have a working from home guideline. This is supported by the management (Global) and also communicated; furthermore, many locations or areas have formulated additional recommendations and/or expectations (or examples), as well as tricks and tips, e.g. how to have a hybrid meeting, etc.

• How was the implementation carried out, what were the reactions of the employees? (Willingness to return, keeping home office)?

SME: We are currently still in a special phase and have not yet been able to implement a long-term solution. In general, however, there are people who would very much like to stay in the home office. However, these people tend to be the exception. The voices of people who would like to come to the office regularly were louder and more numerous. In general, however, the feedback on the possibility of working more in the home office in the future is positive. The bottom line is that the prospect of more flexibility (more home office than before, if desired, but also the possibility of being able to return to the office completely) prevails.

Medium-sized company 1: The employees were generally very satisfied with this solution. Occasionally, we notice people who find it difficult to return, but the majority are very happy to return, especially if there are hybrid models.

Medium-sized company 2: Our employees very much appreciate the fact that they can continue to work from home in the future.

Global corporation: Very different reactions: There are employees who are really happy to be physically on site again and others are still mostly in the home office; it also varies greatly between the units; or see above for implementation/retention -> full flexibility.

• Can statements be made about the efficiency of the employees in the home office versus the office (experiences, findings)?

SME: Most of our work can be done paperless, so there is no noticeable loss of efficiency in the home office, as long as the work that requires printers etc. can still be done in the office. We also do not have the feeling that our employees work less at home - in some cases even more, since the commute is no longer necessary and the boundaries between office and free time are becoming more blurred. On balance, however, the recording of working hours does not show any major difference compared to "before Covid". Only during the lock-down 2020 were some employees no longer able to work the same amount because, for example, children had to be looked after during working hours, which we of course fully understood. From HR's point of view, the trust in the employees, a good team spirit and good management contributed to the fact that the personal responsibility of all employees did not suffer and thus the same amount of work was done as in the company office.

Medium-sized company 1: The number of hours worked has increased, but in terms of efficiency we are currently looking at how we can make this more measurable.

Medium-sized company 2: Most employees can work more efficiently in the home office, as they are more undisturbed at home. In some areas, however, it is still necessary to digitalise processes because certain documents cannot be accessed from the home office. Up to now, all our employees have had a fixed workstation. From November 1st we are doing a pilot with two departments, the offices will be newly set up. There will be some fixed workstations, but the majority will be desk-shared. If the whole thing proves successful in the pilot phase, we will then set up more workplaces according to "modern workplace approaches".

Global corporation: After initial problems (dealing with technology, getting used to the new situation), working from home has worked extremely well; there are various topics where improvements have been seen (e.g. meeting efficiency, more contributions from different people (the hurdle is lower to contribute virtually, tools for exchange)... what has been missing most are personal contacts and also spontaneous meetings/interactions for problem solving or innovation...