Face covered with the blanket and arms reaching out towards the phone, she opened her dreamy eyes to welcome another day at ‘Work from Home’.
This is the story of an ordinary woman, Nisha. She is the HR head at a ‘Confidential’ company and stays with her daughter and a helping husband at a studio apartment in Pune. Just like everybody else, she cooks, attends meetings, works all day on an ergonomic work desk, talks to her family and friends over the phone, and somehow manages to remain cheerful.
Yes, she does crib about not being able to step out but other than that, it’s a happy place to be. She certainly believes Working from home has boosted her and her employees’ productivity. So, let’s look at the brighter side of COVID-19 through the eyes of Ms. Nisha. On our discussion with her, she narrated the following points:
- Family Time: “I still remember the time when I couldn’t make it to my daughter’s 2nd I had to attend a very important meeting and just like always, the meeting lasted longer than what was expected. But, thanks to the new ‘Work from home’ setup, this time I was not just present at her birthday rather, we had more fun than ever before. I baked a cake for her, our entire family attended on a zoom call and we all bonded so well,” says Ms. Nisha with a lump in her throat. Indeed, work from home has united families and has given rise to a culture of staying together. As they say, the love of family is the greatest blessing.
- Reduced Cost: “Yes, of course, my electricity bill experience a huge surge but at the same time I ended up saving on transportation, shopping, outside food (office’s pizza parties), and impromptu party plans. So, at the end of the month when I sat down to calculate my expenses, I was surprised to find out that my expenses had reduced drastically. Similarly, if I talk from an employer point of view, we deducted salaries by 30% keeping the market in mind and we also saved upon rent at office space, technological assets, electricity, food and other little elements that otherwise didn’t get noticed but do contribute towards the overall expense list of the company. So, despite gifting an ergonomic work desk to all our employees, we still witness a steep reduction in our overall expenses,” she says.
- Fewer sick leaves: “By god’s grace, our company is Corona free and I feel happy to share that to date I have not received a single update on anyone’s sick leave. Everyone is working from home and is taking care of themselves. I firmly believe that this setup is going to reduce the number of sick leaves people usually ask for”, she says with a smile. Undoubtedly, working from home makes it easier to take good care of your mind and body.
- The reduced problem of backaches- “Working on a desk the whole day without any break is tiring. So, here I would like to advise my fellow HRs to keep communicating with the employees and keep facilitating their WFH journeys. Let them know that you do care! This can be done with simple gestures such as an empathetic call or gifting them an ergonomic work desk setup. We recently gifted our employees an ergonomic work desk and trust me, the employees were so excited that, they shared pictures of their new, Work from Home setup on their social media. You can and should, think of creative measures like these to create a sense of belongingness amidst the scenarios of isolation and boundaries,” she further explained.
- Longer and more productive work hours: Remember the time when traffic consumed most of your energy? With changing times and work practices, it can be safely concluded that an ergonomic solution and a healthy work environment can foster employees’ productivity and can result in outstanding results for an organization’s growth.
We hope you too will think of some creative measures like Ms. Nisha to keep your workforce healthy, happy, and productive.