By Khadijah Suria & Nur Zulaika Shahuddin
Introduction
As many people know, the COVID-19 pandemic is causing havoc in the workplace. Because of their two-year separation, teams are completely changing how they communicate. COVID-19 has revolutionised businesses, and flexible work arrangements have become a norm for many employers. With the redesign of workplace arrangements, many advantages and issues arise. One of the issues is businesses' difficulty in communicating with frontline and deskless employees. In keeping the company running smoothly, employers need to set up additional virtual check-ins with managers to help employees maintain their productivity levels in this challenging world.
Stress from Working at Home
Working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic has increased loneliness and mental distress, particularly among those who live alone. Researchers discovered that people who worked from home and lived with others also experienced a significant increase in loneliness (Savage, 2021 ). One reason could be the long hours spent on their computer at home, which harms their mental and emotional health. Experts believe increased screen time is associated with depression, suicidal behaviour, and a general decrease in one's ability to interpret emotions (Baird, 2021). Furthermore, excessive screen time can lead to poor posture, resulting in chronic neck, shoulder, and back pain. As a result, the employees will experience more stress (Mosley, 2021). Besides that, there will be common areas of concern in work-life boundaries, such as parents who may need to do housework or run errands between working. Sometimes, parents give up sleep hours or early mornings to concentrate on work and avoid frequent interruptions. This ongoing conflict may result in emotional exhaustion.
One of the solutions to this problem is to provide coworking space. By providing a flexible workspace solution, such as a coworking space, employers can give a safer workplace while reminding employees of the importance of teamwork and hard work. Coworking can also benefit client-staff meetings to run more smoothly (Paramount Property, 2019). Another option is for a company to consider opening satellite offices, which combine the benefits of working from anywhere with the opportunity for inspirational face-to-face interaction. It allows a company to grow by opening another office in another region. Hence, this would increase companies' customer reach while reducing employee commute time (Mindspace, 2021).
Lack of Collaboration between Team Members
During the pandemic, most companies adopt work rotation, and this causes a lack of collaboration among team members. Maintaining social relationships has become even more apparent during the epidemic, as many isolated coworkers connect solely through the internet. At the same time, in the office, spontaneous socialising strengthens friendships, and "huddle time" allows employees to learn from one another. As a result, it demonstrates that office workers will gather to discuss the contents and projects, providing feedback on ideas and early iterations. However, it would be difficult for those who work remotely to provide and receive early feedback. As a result, the company should think about ways to strengthen team member bonds (Maurer et al., 2022).
Leaders can do this by giving encouraging speeches, boosting employee morale, and creating a safe and open environment where employees can speak up if they are having problems. Leaders must use multimedia wisely to communicate with all of their employees effectively. A clear policy should be in place so that employees are not stressed about their jobs and can perform them well (Subramaniam et al., 2021). According to (Kohont & Ignjatović, 2022), emotionally invested employees are more productive in their work and company. Employees who are engaged are more dedicated and committed to their work and the organization.
New Team Members Unable to Understand the Company's Culture
According to Savage (2021), a successful organisation must have a culture founded on deeply held and widely shared beliefs supported by strategy and structure. Strong company culture will inform employees how top management expects them to respond to any situation and that employees will receive a reward for demonstrating the organization's value. As a result, if new team members are unfamiliar with the company's culture, they may become demotivated as they lack direction on what to accomplish in the company. Hence, it can impact a company's productivity. To overcome this issue, the company must redesign its values for all employees to strive for the same goal.
Conclusion
To summarise, workplace redesigns can have a significant impact on a variety of factors that contribute to an organisation's success. Redesigns are a worthwhile corporate investment that can result in positive workplace outcomes by providing a high-quality, less stressful, and more productive work environment. It can help boost productivity and engagement, reduce costs, and improve talent attraction and retention of employees (Kohll, 2019).
