Although work from home isn’t a new concept, it really gained traction during the pandemic. Now that the serious health threat is nearly eliminated, the statistics show that this work model is here to stay and that things will never go back to the way they were two years ago. While 83% of business owners claimed that their transfer to work from home was successful, 30% of employees said that they would quit if forced to return to the office full time.

One of the lessons you may have learned in the Covid-19 aftermath is that you need to offer flexible work arrangements like more flexible sick leaves or work schedules, allowing your employees to balance out their work and private life. If you fail to do this, you may face higher turnover rates while struggling to attract top talent.

But, offering flexible work arrangements is only one piece of the puzzle. If you want to make work from homework for you and your business you need to focus on the following factors that affect your employees’ productivity and engagement.

Employees’ Mental Health and Wellbeing

Increased flexibility and autonomy to do things at their own pace may be one of the major reasons why employees prefer to work from home. But on the downside, they need to juggle numerous other responsibilities while working remotely, especially if they are parents or have to take care of an elderly family member.

When you add a sense of isolation or invisibility caused by the lack of in-person interaction that makes employees stressed and worried, it’s not surprising that 43% of remote workers have complained about depression, anxiety, or burnout over the past two years.

This is why you need to make employee wellbeing your top priority, fostering people-first culture.

You can work on the sense of community by organizing various virtual team activities where employees can get to know each other better by doing things non-related to work. In this way, they can connect on a more personal level sharing similar interests or experiences.

You can also create an Employee Assistance Program where you can offer free and confidential assessments, counseling, and follow-up to employees with personal or work-related issues.

This has become a common practice in numerous companies focused on keeping their work-from-home employees happy and healthy.

Training and Learning Opportunities

Transferring to a digital workplace requires a specific level of tech savviness from your employees. If you want to make your remote or hybrid work environment highly productive and functional, you need to rely on advanced digital tools for communication, project management, and software for employee monitoring to streamline your processes, get in sync with your employees’ workflow and avoid miscommunication.

But if your employees don’t have the specific skills needed to survive and thrive in the digital workspace, all your effort may be in vain.

So you need to offer them learning opportunities through organizing different training sessions regarding effective communication, time management, teamwork, or anything else that may improve their performance.

In this way, your employees may gain much-needed confidence to make significant work-related decisions independently. Furthermore, they will be less likely to think about leaving a company that offers opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Offering hybrid and remote work opportunities can be a great idea for the future of your business. But you really need to step up and meet the changed requirements of your employees, offering flexible work arrangements, and extensive learning and training opportunities, if you want to make it work, making their health and wellbeing your top priority.