Working from home is killing workplace culture

New research from The Global Payroll Association (GPA), reveals that the vast majority of people are now working from home for all, or some, of the working week, and while there is confidence that productivity isn’t being negatively impacted, it seems workplace culture might be suffering.

The Global Payroll Association has surveyed 1,006 UK office workers around the subject of remote working to understand how they feel about the benefits and potential downsides of leaving the office behind, taking in issues such as daily working hours and the importance of socialising with colleagues.

The survey results begin by revealing that the vast majority of people are now working from home for at least some of the working week.

Most of us know have a hybrid working arrangement

The most common model seems to be a hybrid split between home and the office which is the approach that 31% of respondents say their employer is operating.

21% say that they have a flexible arrangement which means they can work from home when needed, and 19% are working from home all of the time, which leaves just 29% of people working entirely from the office.

We believe we work harder and longer from home

Most people think they are more productive and work longer hours while working at home, and should, therefore, be paid just as much as they would be working from an office.

37% say they are more productive working from home, and 37% say a balance between home and office allows them to be most productive. Only 26% attest to having maximum productivity working in the office.

56% say they also work longer hours when at home than they do from the office, either starting their day earlier, or finishing later.

And as such, the vast majority (90%) believe they deserve to be paid just as much as they would be if working from the office.

We’re taking more time for personal tasks

This is despite most people admitting that, when working from home, they take more time during the day to relax (63%), doing things like watching TV or napping, and even more (70%) admit to being more likely to use their time to complete personal tasks, such as running errands.

This choice to carry out non-work-related tasks during work hours possibly explains why people are willing to clock on earlier and work later into the evening.

Working from home is killing workplace culture

While there don’t seem to be any concerns about productivity, people who work from home do have concerns about remote working’s impact on workplace culture, not least socialising.

When it comes to meetings, for example, people are split on whether or not online video meetings can suitably replace face-to-face meetings.

If it’s an internal meeting with colleagues, 46% believe they are better conducted face-to-face. But when it comes to external meetings with clients, stakeholders, etc, 60% think a face-to-face meeting is better than online.

Relationships and friendships are central to a good workplace culture, with 81% of workers saying that the social aspects of work are important to them.

61% also believe that socialising outside of work, such as after-work drinks, is important to fostering a good working environment and, as such, 78% of respondents believe that remote working has damaged the social aspects of working that mean so much.

Melanie Pizzey, CEO and founder of the Global Payroll Association, says: “Allowing people to work from home is clearly a positive for many employees, but it’s fair to say that we could be lying to ourselves about just how productive we are when we spend more of the day than we should nipping to the supermarket, or taking forty winks.

It’s also clear that the social element of the workplace is starting to become extinct and this is extremely important, both when it comes to internal bonding within the workforce, as well as nurturing those all important external relationships that can be so important in getting deals over the line.

Unfortunately, many employers feel as though they need to keep an element of flexible working in order to keep with the times, but in some industries this simply isn’t sensible and doing so could do more harm than good.”

Full survey results

The full survey results can be viewed online, here.