DIGITAL FACTORY
“Interestingly , the greatest challenge is not something that HR had to contend with before , and that is loneliness ”
MATTHEW BRAGSTAD GLOBAL VP AND HEAD OF VISION AND STRATEGY AT INFOR
Having said that , there are commonplace benefits and challenges for manufacturers looking to adopt a hybrid working approach . “ As workers compare how they thought remote work would affect their lives versus what actually happened , a surprising realisation has come to light around an increased sense of community . Most employees anticipated that as they moved into their homes to work , they would feel disconnected from their peers , but 18 months after the start of the pandemic , the opposite has happened .
“ Because all of us were going through the same experience , with the same challenges , we all had something in common , and with the magic of video conferencing , we were all invited into each other ’ s homes . We now know more about our coworkers than ever before … their spouses , their kids and their pets all came into focus as the chaotic days of working from home unfolded . People created deeper , more lasting and more accepting connections , which has turned out to be one of the greatest benefits of the impromptu work from home move ,” explains Bragstad .
“ Interestingly , the greatest challenge is not something that HR had to contend with before , and that is loneliness . While for some , the challenges were around managing kids , barking dogs , and crazy
schedules in overflowing houses , for others that do not have all of those distractions , the silence became deafening . More people adopted dogs in the last 18 months than during any other span in the US , mostly tied to needing a distraction beyond working all hours of the day or trying to break the silence . People bringing the baggage of loneliness and depression into work was the major dis-engager of an already stressed workforce , and HR organisations that took it upon themselves to tread in this previously foreign territory saw positive results .”
46 October 2021