On the 7th July, at a time when many restrictions were being lifted, we asked how many people had been back to their pre-Covid place of work.
And if they had, how did it make them feel and what did they miss or not miss!
Here are our findings.
Have you been back?
Quite a few have been back, 42% in fact, but still over half (58%) have not gone back yet.
How did you feel about it?
For those who had returned the outcome was really positive with 83% saying that they are either ok, quite happy or very happy about going back.
For those who have not yet returned, again the numbers were really high with 87% saying they are either ok, quite happy or very happy about not going back yet.
This shows a lot of us have adjusted and are enjoying the new working from home environment.
What do we miss or not miss!
The most interesting part of this mini survey is the comments.
What really jumps out is a large majority of us miss our colleagues and all the social and working interaction that goes with it. We miss the chat and banter and those water cooler moments.
And the things we don’t miss!!!
Commuting!!! The majority of us do not miss the commute to work for many reasons – including time and travel costs. With increased traffic none of us miss the traffic jams preferring to put that time to better use.
In conclusion
Unlike horses, elephants and wolves, who thrive and survive being a team and are happy to travel long distances, a lot of us are more akin to meerkats who need that social interaction but don’t want the commute. And, some of us will be like cats, moles or hedgehogs who love the solitude with no distractions to get the job done!
Therefore it’s all about balance; get the right balance of interaction without distraction for productivity. Get the right work / life balance especially in terms of travel, with a hybrid way of working you can minimise the number of commuting hours and costs and put that time to better use to benefit your company, your pocket and your family.
