JUST A THOUGHT

Tamsin Pond, group head of Cornwall-based recruitment agency TalentTide, on how remote working can still benefit your business in a post-Covid world.

WHY REMOTE WORKING ISN’T DEAD

Does having your workforce in the office really make a big difference to your business? It’s been a couple of years since we were all forced to re-frame our mindsets when it came to office working and close our doors to staff amidst a global pandemic.

At the time, the idea of employees working from home was almost alien to some and, I’ll admit, even I was a little old-school when it came down to it – worried that productivity would drop when I couldn’t physically see my staff working at their desks.

This couldn’t have been further from the truth, though. If anything, my staff worked even harder from home. Without the stress and added time of a daily commute, people’s lives became more balanced and the flexibility it afforded meant they were more enthusiastic about getting stuck into their work when they were on the clock. After all, with the average UK commute taking around an hour each day (and, here in Cornwall, likely being longer due to the rural nature of the county), the time and fuel savings alone had many jumping for joy.

It went so well, in fact, that even now my staff still reap the benefits of remote working, and I don’t mind one bit. Why? Because, for us, it’s been a game-changer for our business, our staff and our clients – and the facts speak for themselves. Today, we have two new staff members who we wouldn’t have been able to recruit without our flexible or remote working options, ensuring we have the best people on our team delivering real-time results. Even better, we’ve also dramatically reduced our carbon footprint, making us a more sustainable business and helping towards Cornwall’s goal to become carbon neutral by 2030. My staff are more than welcome to pick up their kids from school if it saves money in childcare because I know they’ll make up the time. As restrictions eased over recent months, though, other businesses – particularly big companies – have started to push staff back into the office lifestyle. For those employees, it’s officially back to the daily commute and added costs that come with working away from home. Whether it’s about filling an empty, alreadypaid-for office, or fear for productivity, we’re already seeing that rush hour traffic slip back into our lives as if the pandemic never happened. In my opinion, this might be a big oversight by these businesses. While I would advocate that each company should do what feels right for them, we’re seeing many indicators on the ground that the time of remote working is still very much alive and kicking. In an overly saturated jobs market, where recruiting the right people has become increasingly difficult, our team here at TalentTide is seeing a growing number of people

TalentTide is hunting for jobs with more flexibility. Sometimes, they’re even seeing a growing willing to sacrifice a chunk of pay for the privilege. number of people I’ll agree there are some limits hunting for to remote working (for example, it’s not always easy to gauge an jobs with more employee’s mental wellbeing over flexibility video call), but I would argue there are ways around this. Whether it’s through our fortnightly full-team meet-ups, or regular one-toones, it’s all about keeping those channels of communication open. So, whatever is holding you back, consider it again. Remote working is about trusting your staff and believing they will give back as much as you give them – and you might just be surprised by the talent you reel in with such a desirable incentive.