Due to the impact of the Corona virus most workers unexpectedly found themselves working from home and this has required many to transition to a new way of working. Both employees and employers have had to adapt to these new circumstances.

Employers have needed to rapidly facilitate remote working which in theory would be staightforward but prior to the Corona outbreak, few employers offered the option of working from home. The Savills What Workers Want survey from October 2019 revealed that only 39% of office workers were able to work from home. Furthermore only 14% of the respondents worked from home on a regular basis, compared to 61% who worked from home occasionally, if at all. The main reasons for not working from home were the lack of support for it in the corporate culture, and the lack of the right technical support.

What can employers do now, to increase employee satisfaction remotely? International real estate advisor Savills offers 5 practical tips, based on the 20 workplace factors that employees rank most important (according to the What Workers Want survey):

1. The most important factor for workers – workplace comfort – can be supported by the employer to some extent. Employers could offer to move amenities like a screen, keyboard, mouse and an (ergonomic) office chair from the office to homes.
2. Cleanliness is an important factor, but the responsibility in a home office lies with the employee. However, employers could share tips & tricks for a clean workspace through an internal newsletter with a step-by-step plan for a healthy home office, interesting facts and an example image of a home office.
3. The quality of the internet connection depends partly on the strength of the WIFI connection at the employee's home. Offering a WIFI amplifier can offer a solution. However, if the capacity of the corporate network defaults, this leads to frustration among employees. Therefore, employers should ensure that the capacity of the company network is as strong as possible and optimize where necessary.
4. Employees find the proximity of relevant departments and the availability of meeting rooms important. This indicates that employees like to be facilitated to work together. Employers can respond to this need by providing digital meeting tools for employees to connect with each other and their clients through video. Good instructions for video conferencing are key, not only from a technical aspect, but also in terms of do’s and don’ts. In addition, stimulating online social activities can contribute to employee satisfaction.
5. At the moment it is also essential to keep the conversation going with your employees. Many workers (62%) find it very important to be heard when it comes to their workplace. Listening carefully to what your employees needs, and wishes are when it comes to working from home, can increase job satisfaction by more than 50%, which in turn is very positive for productivity.

About the Savills What Workers Want (WWW) survey

WWW is designed to take the pulse of employees' wants and needs on a yearly basis. The findings are based on a survey of 11,000 office workers in 11 European countries. The survey was last conducted end of 2019, for this special Covid-19 edition of the report we zoomed in on the specific results around working from home.

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