Benefits of returning to the office instead of working from home

Working from home has become the norm during COVID-19 but returning to the office when it’s safe actually has some huge benefits.

Workers are urged to get out of their trackies and T-shirts and go back to the office for the sake of their health.

While it has been fun to work in pyjamas, have a snack (or wine) cupboard within reach and not deal with crazy drivers in the commute, there are longer lasting benefits to be had from leaving the house and returning to a workplace.

Schiavello Group organisational psychologist Keti Malkoski says there has been a great need to focus on physical health and socially distance this year but there also must be concern for people’s mental health.

“While some people have thrived, others have struggled and will continue to struggle if we do not realise now the potential longer-term social and financial impact of this pandemic,” she says.

SOCIAL BENEFITS

A SEEK study has found working from home may not have been all that it was cracked up to be.

While more than 70 per cent of people say they would look to work from home in the future, it is coming with a cost.

About 30 per cent of people have missed human interaction and face-to-face collaboration with colleagues.

Sarah Kelly says has missed the office dynamic while working from home and has returned to work at her office. Picture: Daily Telegraph/Gaye Gerard

Malkoski says social distancing and lockdowns have increased feelings of loneliness and isolation, as humans are social beings and have an innate need to interact and connect with each other.

She says already there has been an increase in contacts made to organisations such as Lifeline and Beyond Blue, while the University of Sydney forecasts a 50 per cent increase in the number of suicides this year.

“In considering this data, there is an opportunity to look to our workplaces and understand the role that they can play in helping Australians to move forward and ‘recover’,” she says.

BETTER FOR WELLBEING

Having a place of employment to go to each day also helps meet people’s inherent need for purpose and connection, and positively affects an individual’s sense of belonging.

“Many people identify work – and the workplace as extension of this – as an important, or even the most important, source of meaning in their lives,” Malkoski says.

“Simply having a place and being employed has been found to be associated with lower levels of depression, high self-esteem and greater life satisfaction.”

Metlife communications director Sarah Kelly had mixed feelings about her return to the office post-lockdown but says she has found benefits for social and mental wellbeing.

“It’s turned out to not be quite as simple as being an ‘at home’ or an ‘office’ person,” she says.

“I’m ad hoc, I’m going into the office as required.”

A third of Metlife staff nominated to return to the office in the first wave, which they are doing on a week-on, week-off rotation to maintain initial social distancing requirements.

“One (benefit) is the obvious interaction with people, that dynamic that happens in the office – the corridor conversations,” Kelly says.

“The other obvious benefit, from spending so much time at home, is there is something different from getting up in the morning and putting on your clothes and leaving the house.

“There’s something interesting about change, having that variety and that mix of working from home by myself, and managing my time.”

Some workers find the blurring line between work and home life has been a challenge while they have been working from home.

FEWER DISTRACTIONS

The SEEK study also reports more than 80 per cent of workers believe they are equally or more productive than they are in the office.

But there also have been distractions.

“People in the ‘feeling less productive’ camp found the distractions of home life (TV and

chores) a major roadblock, and the blurring lines between home and work was a challenge,” the study states.

“Tech issues, managing equipment and bouncing between video conferencing calls presented hurdles for some, and had a direct impact on productivity.

“More than 30 per cent of parents said the distraction of children was a major problem.

“Nearly half the respondents also reflected that they worked longer hours and took on extra

tasks than before they transitioned to working from home.

“About 40 per cent found it much harder to switch off at the end of the working day.”

PHYSICALLY HEALTHIER

Exhaustion and burnout can be a serious physical health issue, Malkoski says.

“Difficulty juggling and separating our professional and personal demands, a forced lack of control over work, an unmanageable workload, and job security concerns have all been recently identified as key drivers of burnout in employees in the wake of COVID-19,” she says.

Then there is the physical toll of dining rooms and laptops not being set up ergonomically.

“Even before COVID-19, working from home posed potential risks to employees’ physical health due to poor ergonomics and a lack of products that are appropriate for long-term use,” she says.

“For many, the return to the workplace will have a significant, positive impact on their physical health as they will have access to suitable spaces that are designed to support the way that they need to work.”

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