The Covid-19 pandemic continues to affect our professional and private lives to an unprecedented degree, changing many aspects of the way businesses and public sector services operate. In its latest report "Defining the New. New work models and approaches in the BSS sector" Colliers presents the results of a survey conducted among 76 members of the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL) – executives from the BSS sector.

The questions asked in the survey concerned the impact of changes in the work environment caused by the pandemic on perceived employment and productivity, financial issues and office space, health and safety measures, various aspects of employee wellbeing, future talent, location strategies.

Nearly 71 percent of the survey respondents indicated that their organization currently deploys a hybrid work model. Where the hybrid model has been introduced, nearly 72 percent declare that their employees spend on average 4 days per week working remotely. Among organizations working fully remotely or fully on-site during the pandemic, as many as 82 percent would like to implement a hybrid model.

However, relatively few companies decide to define the rules and scope of remote work at the organizational level.

“An organization is much more than a collection of individuals performing specific tasks. One of the key areas requiring attention will therefore be to ensure that the organization retains cohesiveness on a social level –maintaining a sense of belonging among dispersed employees. Many studies conducted during the pandemic have also revealed work-life balance disruption. Working from home blurs the boundaries between work and home. The inability to turn off the computer and leave the office makes us work more, often until late hours,” Grzegorz Rajca, organizational psychologist, Senior Associate, Workplace Innovation, Colliers, said.

“Employers who offer remote-only or remote-first positions can access a much wider pool of talent, often in a relatively cost-effective manner. However, managing a dispersed workforce effectively requires a major effort of transforming processes and practices, something not every organization is ready for.  Employees who are able and equipped to work remotely have access to a broader range of opportunities, but also face increased global competition. The situation further contributes to an already prominent gap between those who possess the most desirable skills and those who are simply reasonably good at their profession, further widening the salary gap and compounding income inequality problems,” said Dorota Osiecka, Director of Workplace Innovation, Colliers. 

(WBJ)