Depending on different conditions, every employee experiences working in the home office differently. But there are different basic types in terms of setting and dealing with working in the home office.
Mixed mood in the home office
New forms of flexible work are associated with the change in the world of work. Both their characteristics and the environmental conditions play a decisive role in the question of how the possibility of working from home affects the satisfaction and productivity of the employees.
The Steelcase company, which offers architecture, furniture and technology products for work rooms, has asked about 32,000 employees about their mood in the home office in various studies. While work-life balance improved in 37 percent and a good quarter appreciate the increased flexibility, productivity and commitment suffer from around a fifth. So 38 percent feel increasing isolation when working from home. Almost a quarter states that decisions are made slower. From these results, the company has identified five different behavioral patterns of employees.
Personal types in the home office
For type one, the isolated zoom user, HomeOffice is a lonely matter. As a rule, this person type lives alone. While the office makes it possible to create a clear separation between work and private life, he has no external structure in the home office that would require healthy schedule for the working day. Despite the permanent interaction via online meetings, this person feels isolated. The personal and professional interactions with the colleagues that make it easier for this person to deal with challenges.
Type 2, the person looking for autonomy, is enthusiastic about the work situation in the home office, which means freedom for him. This person type feels as productive at home as in the office and enjoys being able to work entirely in your own rhythm. Hence your own well -being increases, since working from home offers the opportunity to work in different attitudes in different places, prepare healthy meals and to incorporate activities into the working day. According to the studies, autonomy seekers like that they can make the working day independently, which takes into account both private things and work issues.
In contrast, type 3, the frustrated, creative networker, has more mixed feelings in relation to the work from home: for the frustrated, creative network ends, both private life and work are neglected. On the one hand, this person longs for the advantages of everyday office life, but on the other hand, does not want to return. Although it copes well with the digital tools, it does not really feel virtual technologies suitable for creative cooperation and spontaneous interactions. Accordingly, she feels cut off because the personal interactions that make their work and provide new impulses are missing.
Type 4, the revised supervisor, is exposed to permanent contradictory requirements in the home office. This person hardly manages to do justice to work tasks and family requirements, such as meetings, the processing of tasks, childcare and household. Exhaustion and feelings of guilt are the order of the day. Working in the office allows this person type to leave home responsibility and to specifically draw attention to work tasks. Nevertheless, this character enjoys the advantages of flexibility that the home office offers because family and work can be organized better.
The anxious type 5, the self -protector, would like to protect himself and his fellow human beings in the best possible way. In a safe environment and in a place where this person feels comfortable, she can concentrate on doing tasks, which also increases its productivity.
Personality features crucial
How strongly the personality influences productivity in the home office illustrates an IZA research paper in which the two authors examined the “Big Five” personality traits of more than 1,700 respondents in Latvia. Using the big-five categories openness, conscientiousness, extra version, compatibility and neuroticism, five personality types can be determined, which are documented by a variety of studies and are internationally considered the standard model in personal research: People who have a high degree of openness are therefore considered imaginative, curious and imaginative. Conscientious people are controlled, precise and determined. Extroverted people are considered sociable, active and talkative. Compatibility means that the people are compassionate, helpful and understanding. With neuroticism, researchers combine personalities who are anxious, vulnerable and self -doubtful.
According to the study, the respondents who are attributed to particularly strong conscientiousness are strikingly productive. People who perform in this category in the upper quarter report with around 25 percent more likely to be positive experiences in the home office. People, with the personality trait openness, are also considered to be extremely productive at home. In contrast, people who are compatible and extra version are pronounced than less productive – at least if there is no regular exchange in the team. According to the researchers, companies that offer more mobile work should pay attention to sufficient opportunities for social contacts among employees, for example through feedback talks.
Recommendations for action
This results in concrete recommendations for action: On the one hand, it becomes clear that managers must be aware of the different needs of their employees. The results of the study also show that rigid office or home office rules for a team are rather a hindrance. Instead, remote work should be designed flexibly so that employees can decide for themselves, on which days the coming together in the office and on what days the concentration in the home office is preferred.
Editor finance.net