The Covid-19 pandemic led many companies to adopt a work-from-home policy, but the debate on returning to office rages on.
Earlier this year, companies like Flipkart and Amazon asked employees to resume working from the office. Recently, Google also tightened its ‘Work From Anywhere’ restrictions, prohibiting employees from working at offices in other regions/countries.
On the other hand, the state of Victoria in Australia wants to make working from home a legal right for two days a week. Premier Jacinta Allan, who’s a mother of two, said in an interview that WFH saves time, money, boosts productivity and is thus, good for the economy. There has been backlash from the business community to the proposal though.
While we do need flexible policies, the world is moving back to a work-from-office scenario. There are roles that work best when the employee is physically present, as it can ensure better participation and training. In-person meetings also remain crucial to generate trust within networks, build rapport, demonstrate receptiveness, and maintain open lines of communication with clients or partners.
But companies also need to understand and fix what’s broken in the system to make employees less averse to returning.
As we experiment with work models, tweaking the work week may actually yield better results. While average working days can be 10-11 hours in some organizations, it doesn’t necessarily correlate with productivity, and can instead lead to burnout and stress.
Here’s my formula for an ideal work week:
→ Mondays–Thursdays: 7 hours (inclusive of 20 minutes for breaks)
Additional 2 hours can be optional for meetings and commitments outside office.
→ Fridays: 6 hours
→ Saturday: 2 hours
This equals a 36-hour work week, but it can be extended further based on individual preferences and the work requirement. Since you are not putting in excess hours, this can ensure optimum work-life balance as well.
Employees today want work to be enjoyable and their talent to be rewarded, irrespective of the hours they spend at work. Employers would do well to frame policies that focus on working smarter, but not necessarily longer to maximise productivity.