Homeworking has facilitated continuation of the economy during this Covid-19 crisis. Malcolm Martin argues that in the long-term homeworking is not an answer.
We don’t go to the pub simply to drink alcohol, whack a piece of plastic round the countryside for the sake of it or even go to work just to earn money. The secondary, underlying reason, behind all these activities is the human need to be sociable.
There are innumerable benefits to sociability. One of them, ironically given the currently legitimate need for social distancing, is that “social engagement is associated with a stronger immune system”*. But when the need to distance goes, and I predict that it will, social distancing is going to be counterproductive.
An organisation’s effectiveness and competitiveness rests on the effective inter-relationships between individuals and departments in an organisation**. Large organisations move graduate trainees between departments. That way not only do they learn the business, but they build crucial relationships for their career. For any of us it may be less efficient to walk along the corridor, than to Zoom, but it could be much more effective in resolving an issue or in generating ideas.
Neurologists back the need for sociability. As a motivator it exceeds that of money! This what neurologist***, Matthew D. Lieberman, has to say:
“…our brains are wired to connect with other people. We evolved over millions of years to become a deeply social species.
” This means that a variety of motivational mechanisms predispose us to respond positively to signs that we are accepted by the group…and it also means that we are motivated to work hard for groups we identify with”.
For some, notably those working predominantly in the digital world, those groups may be virtual. But for most of us, I submit, picking up signs that we belong with others in an organisation will take place face to face. It will be in those informal encounters at the workplace or in the office, or even just working together on a joint task.
There are, of course, huge benefits to homeworking where it is possible and where those relationships have built already. Over years I have been happy to facilitate homeworking within Employer Solutions. There are productivity gains, environmental improvements and motivational benefits that arise from homeworking. These benefits are well extolled elsewhere, including in my blogs. But when it comes to getting the economy back on track, I submit that we will need some social proximity and homeworking will not be the magic bullet.
*Angela K. Troyer writing in Psychology Today.
**Michael Porter “Competitiveness of Nations”.
***Matthew D. Lieberman “Social: Why our brains are wired to connect”.
Malcolm Martin FCIPD
Author Human Resource Practice
Blogs are for general guidance and are not an authoritative statement of the law.