Employees Have Adjusted to the New Way of Work—What Happens Now?

2020 showed us that anything is possible. Collectively, people and businesses shifted, adapted, and evolved quickly—to accept new ways of living and working. While some companies were early adopters of the remote work model or a somewhat flexible approach before the pandemic—including implementing bring-your-own-device policies or a ‘take work home and respond to emails on the weekend’ mindset—when COVID-19 struck, we packed up our offices and headed home.

According to Statista, nearly half the American workforce had never worked remotely before the pandemic hit the U.S. Now, 44% of U.S. employees telecommute five days per week. Since the pandemic, employees have adjusted, learning to work, communicate, and operate totally online.

But now, as we get vaccinated and start to take off our masks, employers are ready for their teams to return to the office as business-as-nearly-usual resumes.

How Businesses and Employees Are Adapting

Once reluctant remote employees, who created makeshift offices at their kitchen table or a small corner of their bedroom, now feel an affinity for avoiding work commutes. Employees have also become more comfortable with the technology that made telecommuting possible during the peak phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. People have discovered that it is just as easy to log onto an upbeat video conference as it is to stroll down the hall to the conference room. Employees still hear new ideas, get the necessary support documents and materials, and enjoy some lively chat and camaraderie, even if virtual, and wonder if returning to the office is all that important after all.

Employers are searching for ways to merge pre- and post-pandemic attitudes to build a new, highly functional 21st-century work model. The post-COVID-19 world really is a case of “you can’t unring a bell.” Employees and employers realize that, in some ways, the old way of working is now a mere outdated construct—and, that it’s time to blend what worked well before the pandemic our newly learned ways.

You can bring things back to normal, or at least the new normal, by engaging employees in dynamic ways by leveraging automation and other technology advances—with the right strategy.

Embrace Tools to Help Your Employees Adapt to the New Way of Work

Do you feel like you have the tools to help your employees adapt to the new way of work? You might need to build more simplicity and flexibility into your strategy with tools and experts to help your business and employees adapt and grow. More businesses are outsourcing HR, or some aspects of their HR tasks, to avoid getting bogged down with the core daily duties, thus providing employers with the ability to focus on employees and their needs and driving growth.

Our team can help you get your business back up and running at full speed and capacity as your employees return to the office. We provide automated time and attendance tracking, payroll support; employee hiring and onboarding services; and much more to help make the return to the office more appealing for remote employees reluctant to return.