How is remote working affecting wellbeing?

Research shows that a typical office week now runs from Tuesday-Thursday, with people choosing to work from home more than ever. Working from home brings benefits for employees such as an improved work-life balance, cost savings from avoiding the commute, and greater flexibility. However, it also raises new employee wellbeing challenges for HR.

Employees are less visible to managers while working from home, so signs of burnout are harder to spot. Working from home can also cause employees to work longer hours, out of guilt or a desire to prove they are working just as hard. Studies also suggest that hybrid work has led to a rise in cyber bullying which impacts employees’ mental health and resilience.

To design an effective wellbeing programme for remote workers we can reflect on what worked well during Covid-19, when many organisations first moved to remote working. Below we’ll share seven lessons from the pandemic, to inform your 2023 employee wellbeing programme.

Seven ways to support the wellbeing of remote teams

1. Consult staff about their wellbeing needs 
2. Normalise support for financial wellbeing 
3. Tackle loneliness and isolation
4. Consider managers’ wellbeing needs, too 
5. Establish proper boundaries between work and home 
6. Create a sense of belonging 
7. Find the right balance of wellbeing and workload

1. Consult staff about their wellbeing needs

Of course, employee listening is top of our list. Before you put together an employee wellbeing programme, consult your employees about the challenges they are facing and the support they need. This will help tailor wellbeing solutions to your staff.

For example, London South Bank University ran a series of monthly pulse surveys during Covid-19. They were keen to measure and understand their employees’ experience of remote working, assess organisation wellbeing, and understand how this varied by circumstance.

LSBU’s pulse results revealed some really interesting themes, including:

• Tech Poverty – While some colleagues had studies and technical resources such as laptops and unlimited broadband, others were sharing workspaces and using older or slower devices.
• Digital Literacy – The switch to remote working required a familiarity with online systems like Microsoft Teams, with tech ability varying amongst employees.
• Social Isolation – This was particularly felt by those living alone, but across the organisation people were struggling with the lack of contact and connection.

LSBU responded swiftly to their survey results, introducing virtual training courses, a comprehensive menu of engagement activities and regular communication from the VC updating and reassuring employees about the future. A virtual staff conference was delivered offering staff the opportunity to engage in a variety of sessions including wellbeing and social activities.

Learn more about LSBU’s employee feedback successes.

2. Normalise support for financial wellbeing

Colleagues face uncertainty and challenge during the cost-of-living crisis, and wellbeing support must extend to financial wellbeing too. When staff feel worried or stressed about money, they take more time off work, struggle to concentrate, and their performance suffers.

Employers can support their people’s financial wellbeing by working with third-party partners like StepChange debt charity, who provide free advice to help people cope with problem debt. StepChange recently joined us for a webinar where they shared advice for organisations looking to support people through financial uncertainty.

Other financial wellbeing initiatives include offering financial literacy training; subsidising childcare costs; membership and discount schemes, and signposting support and resources available. Often people feel embarrassed to ask for help with financial troubles, so make it easy for colleagues to access help without necessarily having to talk to their line manager.

Listen to how People Insight client StepChange are supporting financial wellbeing during the cost of living crisis: 

3. Tackle loneliness for remote workers

Despite having more ways to connect than ever before, the rise of remote working has left UK adults at risk of loneliness. In fact, more than half of UK workers report feeling lonely at work in the last 12 months. The cost of living crisis also means people are scaling back on socialising, leaving people more at risk. Loneliness has a negative impact on employee wellbeing. It increases levels of stress at work, and can lead to anxiety and depression.

So how can leaders and line managers reduce loneliness and isolation? Firstly, by spotting the signs. Check in with team members regularly to ask how they feel and give them the space to share. Encourage remote workers to switch their cameras on so you can get a sense of how they are doing.

Secondly, create opportunities for colleagues to reconnect and socialise. This might mean the return of virtual quizzes or after-work socials via Zoom. For hybrid teams, consider alternating between virtual and in-person events so everyone has the opportunity to join.

Finally, consider whether your policies or ways of working may be preventing meaningful connections between colleagues. For example, your organisation may encourage colleagues to cut down on meetings. However, this could leave people working in isolation with fewer chances to interact. Or flexible working hours could mean that team-members are rarely online together, so you may wish to introduce drop-in sessions where teams can chat to one another and recreate the spontaneity of workplace chats.

4. Consider managers’ wellbeing needs, too

As the people closest to employees, line managers are pivotal to any employee wellbeing programme. The pandemic marked a shift in how we talk about mental health at work. Conversations between managers and colleagues started with questions like “How are you?” and “How are you coping?”, which encouraged people to open up about their wellbeing.

Post-pandemic, employees expressed a wish for this to continue. While a positive change, this adds a new aspect to the role of line manager which few are properly equipped for. To help your managers provide the best employee wellbeing support, first invest in their training and development. Research shows that just three hours of mental health training motivates managers to promote wellbeing at work. Training also ensures manager feel confident discussing mental health issues with their team and understand their role in supporting employees.

Importantly, your wellbeing programme must also include how to support the wellbeing of managers. Growing workloads and the challenges of leading remote teams have left managers at risk of stress and burnout. For managers to role-model good wellbeing behaviours and help their teams reduce stress, they must also feel empowered to finish on time, take time off when unwell, ask for help, and reclaim their work-life balance.

Find more ideas to support wellbeing this year in our 2023 trends report.

5. Establish proper boundaries between work and home 

Without the physical boundary of the office and time to decompress on the commute home, it can be difficult for remote workers to separate work and personal time.  

Communication apps mean that work is always close by. Remote workers often feel the need to be responsive outside of their set hours to prove they are working hard from home. This pressure to be “always on” can further increase stress levels and leave remote workers feeling frazzled and fed up. 

Encourage remote employees to create boundaries between their work and home lives. This could mean adopting behaviours like taking a short walk before and after work to simulate a commute. Or your organisation could provide employees with an allowance to use a local co-working space a few days each month in order to put a physical distance between home and work.  

Most often, helping employees switch off is a question of trust. When employees feel confident they are being assessed by their outputs rather than the time at a desk, they are comfortable about taking breaks or making time for personal commitments without feeling guilty of being ‘caught out’.  

Managers should also look out for signs that people are working or sending messages outside of their working day. Check in with them to understand what’s going on, and whether they need more support. In some cases, they may prefer to flex their hours to accommodate caring or parental responsibilities. While in others, they could be struggling with their workload and unsure how to raise their concerns. Either way, speak to colleagues with compassion and reassure them that you are trying to help, not catch them out.  

6. Create a sense of belonging for remote teams

Almost half of employees working from home feel a reduced sense of belonging to their organisation, which highlights the challenge employers face in ensuring remote workers feel part of their company culture.

To help staff feel connected, ensure that they understand your organisation’s vision and the part they play in achieving it. The sense of sharing an ambition will help people feel that they belong. Events can also help keep employees connected to the vision. For example, staff award ceremonies recognise colleagues for behaviours that align to your company values and celebrate individual achievements. Whether held virtually or in-person, these events also serve as a social occasion where colleagues can connect with one another.

7. Find the right balance of wellbeing and workload

When teams are working remotely, it can be harder for line managers to keep track of their workloads. This means that employees may end up working longer days or skipping lunch breaks in order to complete difficult tasks. On the other hand, if remote workers feel disengaged or bored by the work they are doing they can struggle to focus and lack the motivation to get jobs done.

To improve motivation, managers should work with team members to set SMART, achievable goals that align with their interests and ambitions. Also check back in with employees regularly to see how they are progressing and adjust goals if needed to ensure healthy working behaviours. This could take the form of formal 1:1s, as well as informal check-ins.

Managers should also lead by example and encourage team members to take regular breaks. Block out time for breaks in your calendar, and decline calls or meetings during these. Organisations like Headspace have introduced no-meeting blocks every day at 10am and 3pm which team members can use to take a break, go for a walk, or focus on a task.

How are your employees doing?

People Insight’s employee wellbeing surveys help you assess organisation wellbeing and understand how energised, resilient, and productive your people feel, and what they need to flourish. We’ll help you recognise any pockets of burnout or stress at work so you can act to create a healthier workplace wherever your people are working from.