Although not surprising, the announcement that the UK government will be delaying the easing of lockdown restrictions for another four weeks (at the minimum), will undoubtedly throw a spanner in the works for many businesses preparing an imminent return to the office. The lifting of the remaining rules was due for June 21 but is now expected no earlier than July 19.
Among the variety of regulations that will remain in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus is the recommendation that those who are able to work from home, should continue to do so. For HR and employee engagement teams, this raises the issue of how to set out a roadmap back to the office, or even whether to do so.
Opinion is truly divided when it comes to the best way to work going forward, from the work-from-homers on one side to the return-to-the-officers on the other, and those who seek a hybrid approach laying somewhere in between the two. The only way to understand the thoughts of those within your organisation is to ask, and to help you to do that, we’ve highlighted some questions that should be on your to-ask list.
One important thing to note before surveying your employees is that not everyone will agree, and you likely won’t end up with one answer to suit everybody. The results of the survey will, however, help you to balance the needs of your employees, with those of the business, in a way that offers value for everyone.
Question 1: What is your preferred way of working going forward?
Make this question one of the first you ask, as it will set the expectation for the rest of the questions in the survey. Keeping it simple will allow you to easily analyse the results and get an overall insight into the preferences of your employees.
It’s a great idea to offer a free text box here for people to expand upon their answers. This will help you understand why employees prefer the approach that they selected (or the reasons they have against the one they didn’t select!). There are lots of areas in a person’s life that may influence their preferred way of working. This could be childcare, living with family members, long commutes and a whole host of other things that could be easier or harder depending on where your employees are working from.
Question 2: Is there anything you need in order to improve your working environment (whether you are working at home or the office)?
Again, the answers to this question will provide further insight into question 1. If everyone answers that they don’t have the required resources to work from home, that could explain why everyone wants to return to the office. If they were given the equipment needed, would remote work be preferable?
You can also identify areas for improvement and ensure your staff are well engaged with their work. As well already know, engaged employees bring a whole load of benefits.
Question 3: How would you describe the levels of communication between your team while working from home, compared to being in the office?
Communication is a core component for any team. Not only does it enable the completion of jobs and day-to-day operations, it also creates a sense of being part of a team.
Employee communication is an important factor to consider when deciding on how to work in the future. Open and clear communication increases employee engagement and morale and reduces staff loneliness.
As well as between staff members, it is important to facilitate open and honest downstream lines of communication from management teams. If you do choose to return to the office full-time, your employees are likely to have concerns. The more open your communication, the more informed your staff will feel, reducing their fears.
Question 4: How would you describe your productivity while working from home, compared to being in the office?
We all want productivity to be as high as possible, don’t we? Remember to talk about productivity rather than output, as a higher output isn’t always better. Employees are more likely to work longer hours while working from home, so increased output could be the result of over-working rather than productivity.
Question 5: How comfortable do you feel discussing any concerns with your manager?
This is always a worthwhile question in an employee survey, as it gives you an indication of how likely you are to hear about the concerns of staff, as well as the relationships between teams. In the context of evaluating future working methods, you can learn about how any issues that arise, may be raised.
“Annie in accounts” may express her readiness to return to the office before doing so, to later discover that the change makes her anxious. The more comfortable she feels with her manager, the more likely she is to raise any concerns or worries, which can then be dealt with without Annie suffering on her own.
There are plenty of questions you could ask, depending on what you are trying to establish, but try not to overload your employees, especially if the answers won't be used.
When making your final decision, remember to make the preferences a top priority. For example, if everyone wants to continue working from home or in a flexible way, but they’ve also indicated they are less productive working this way, consider how to address this. Could communication be improved? Would a task management tool help?
The return to work post-pandemic is currently a popular survey topic for We Love Survey clients. Our expertise in this area makes it easy to generate a feedback survey from a bank of available questions, which can then be tailored to each company’s individual needs. Depending on the requirements, this could be either a full survey or a shorter pulse survey.
We Love Surveys can create a bespoke employee survey for your business to drive your decision on how to work in the future. Get in touch to find out more.