‘We were surprised how little we need the office to operate’

At last Thursday’s press conference, Health & Social Care president Deputy Heidi Soulsby said that while phase five marked a return to the ‘new normal’, some businesses might change their practices on the back of lockdown having found that remote working works better for them.

‘For some individuals, working from home might suit them and their own life requirements so it is a opportunity for businesses to see how they work and support their employees as well.’

She said there was no public health risk of having people go back to the office now, particularly because the island has seen 46 days without a new positive case of the virus, has strict border controls and a successful test, track and trace regime.

Civil Contingencies Authority chairman Deputy Gavin St Pier agreed, saying in the context of the island’s Revive and Thrive recovery plan, it was a chance for everybody to think about how they can capture some of the things learned from this experience.

‘Employers might decide with their staff that it makes good business continuity sense to have some people working at home, particularly in periods of influenza or for those with underlying health conditions.

‘This is all part of taking the learning experiences and applying it into the new norm.’

At RAW Capital Partners, an investment fund company based in a relatively small town office, staff began a trial of working from home before it was advised by the States, given news about how the virus was spreading.

Half worked from home, giving the other half in the office more space to practice social distancing.

By the time they all had to work from home, the inevitable challenges had been ironed out and video calls were the norm to maintain good communication across the team.

‘I think we have been surprised by how little we need the physical office to run our business, sure it’s more efficient to be together for most tasks but I think people have valued the

opportunity to be a little flexible,’ said managing director Tim Parkes.

‘For instance those with young children have been more flexible in their working pattern, people have taken breaks when they needed to attend to other things more easily than they might do from the office and as a business we have benefited from additional effort our team have made to ensure they get things done even if that meant working earlier or later than they normally would if they were in the office.’

Clients have been understanding, too.

‘We’ve used video calls to pitch to new clients when we would have otherwise travelled to meet them and they have been quite comfortable with that.

‘The one thing we could really benefit from is much faster broadband, though.’

Mr Parkes said he had been delighted with the way the team responded to working remotely. ‘Inevitably many were missing the personal interaction of being with colleagues but I am pleased we managed to maintain a strong team ethos through the period.’

One third of the team went back to the office on 8 June, and will rotate with another third week by week with the remaining few continuing to work from home.

‘We plan to maintain a flexible approach as we’ve learnt that our employees have different needs and a little trust in them to work effectively from home goes a long way, I think that we are a better team for the experience despite its challenges,’ he said.