Home alone?

Workplace stress levels in the UK have reached an unprecedented high and as a result, stress is now considered to be the biggest health and safety challenge in Britain's workplaces. Pressures of working long hours, ever-increasing workloads and the lack of a ‘work-life balance’ are all contributing to the growth of workplace stress.

Whilst homeworking offers an abundance of benefits to both employer and employee, it can (if not managed properly), be a cause of workplace stress. One reason for this is that working from home on a long-term basis, means communication with peers is lost and therefore stress inevitably heightens.

Prolonged homeworking can also lead to the blurring of lines between personal lives and work, as staff find it more and more difficult to ‘turn-off’. As a result, hours are extended, eventually resulting in a disengaged, unhappy and stressed member of staff.

So what measures can we take to prevent the stress caused by lone-working in the home?

Virtual contact

Without the ability to release steam, discuss issues, receive advice or just see a familiar face- stress levels can inevitably build. Employers and managers that supervise remote staff should always encourage homeworkers to maintain interaction, so that staff feel close to their colleagues, even when at home. Encouraging the use of the vast array of professional social media network platforms, instant messaging tools and intranet software products can be useful, and some tools even allow for the sharing of documents and collaborative working.

Maintaining face-to-face interaction is also incredibly important and can still be easily maintained in the home. One recent study by the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) found that up to 93% of communication effectiveness is determined by non-verbal cues, which validates exactly how much is lost in messages, texts and emails.

Supporting and encouraging the use of regular video conferencing tools- or even simple video communication via phone apps such as ‘FaceTime’ or ‘Google Duo’ – allows for quick access to face-to-face communication. In addition, managers can organise group conferences, webinars and encourage home-workers to log onto a conference platform and contribute to work meetings.

If you have a number of staff members that are working from home it’s a good idea for them to all link up for a morning ‘scrum’- or even meet in groups or pairs- so that they actually stop, have a virtual break or lunch together, and share some face-to-face time.

Another possible solution is to introduce a live feed to workers in their homes (which some companies in America are already practising). Back in the office, the home worker will be accessible at any point in the day, via a designated screen, allowing staff in the office to communicate at any time and contact their homeworking colleagues, as if passing them or approaching them in the office.

Learning to turn off

Unum’s ‘The Future Workplace’ report 1 claims that 73% of British workers believe that they are always expected to be available to for work. All organisations should do their best to create a working culture that perceives ‘overworking’ negatively. As a home worker, it can often be misunderstood that the hours worked in a home must increase to compensate for the fact that you are not in a conventional office for a period of defined hours- so availability is a requirement.

Organisations can prevent this by implementing rules for homeworkers such as introducing a cut-off time, that restricts when calls, emails and messages are sent. Some organisations encourage their line managers to monitor homeworking activity, or assign staff homeworking partners, who have the responsibility of checking on one another, to ensure they adhere to check-out times, and do not overwork.

Heading back to the office

Encouraging remote staff to occasionally return to the office by providing an environment that attracts them back, caters well for the average agile worker and provides a host of activity based environments will also reduce isolation. This can be further encouraged through fortnightly or monthly team meetings, and frequent social gatherings- all of which can take place in the office.