Fraunhofer IAO study: Home office is set for the future

Most respondents banally see the lack of labor law as the main obstacle to a work-from-home offensive – an indication that companies mistrust flexible forms of work in front of Corona. The companies simply did not have a home office regulation or a company agreement (58 percent of the mentions). Only after that are there expected arguments against the home office: The employees absolutely have to do essential work on site (51 percent), they lack the technical requirements for working at home or managers (28 percent) and management (30 percent) simply don’t believe in it.

With the corona crisis, the move to the home office was completed in a very short time, and there were positive surprises. The transition was usually not a major problem. Technical requirements such as mobile devices, the possibility of voice and video connections and the support of synchronous conferencing applications were usually already in place.

About three out of four users were already provided with communication software for email, chat and remote access via VPN. Even before Corona, 90 percent of the equipment with self-service applications for digitized processes, such as travel expense reports, was available. The pent-up demand for collaboration functions, video conferencing solutions and, above all, the digitization of working documents (e-signature) was somewhat greater.

It looks different, however, when attention is paid to ergonomic details. Up to a third of home workplaces were or still are not equipped with a height-adjustable chair, an adequate desk or a second larger screen. However, 58 percent of those surveyed do not consider the topic of office furniture to be a priority. However, market researchers expect that poor working conditions at home could negatively change the attitudes of employees over the course of the home office situation.

If work is to become a much-cited “new normal” from home, the workplaces would have to be reasonably equipped and the associated purchasing responsibility and financing should be adequately clarified. Legally, companies are operating in a gray area: the dividing line between “classic teleworking” and “case-by-case, mobile work” is not clear. The former gives clear rules for workplace design and the duties of the employer, the latter makes less detailed requirements and offers scope for improvisation. If a long-term decision for a home office scenario is made, the employer would probably have to set up teleworking stations, i.e. take on more responsibility for the workplace equipment and the well-being of the homeworker.

It is well known that video conferences are now part of everyday work. What is surprising, however, is the breadth of application scenarios in internal and external communication: companies conduct job interviews in this way, organize workshops, clarify order details, conduct employee reviews and much more. It is striking that the business models are now also changing. Around half of those questioned have developed concepts for virtual advice and services – Corona therefore also influences products, services and sales and marketing strategies.

According to Fraunhofer IAO, the devastating virus has at least made a difference. It is a catalyst for the digital transformation of companies. The “lack of alternatives” encouraged companies to be very creative and at the same time produced a “high tolerance for failure”. They are now forced to adopt an agile approach
and use new methods – an experience that “should be built upon” after the crisis. In fact, the managers surveyed seem to be planning to do so. After all, 42 percent are so satisfied with their home office experience that they want to expand their offering in this regard. About the same number are still thinking about it, so that in the end significantly more than half of the companies will also promote virtual forms of work to Corona. Not even one percent plans to reduce the options.

When asked about the learning experience regarding the corona crisis, 89 percent agree that home office can be implemented on a larger scale without any disadvantages. The answers to travel behavior are similar: According to 89 percent of respondents, business and business trips can largely be replaced digitally. Four out of five respondents also believe that their employees will be more active in working from home in the future and that it will be more difficult for companies to refuse this request. After the good experiences during the pandemic, many companies find this very helpful: They now want to plan with smaller office spaces in order to reduce costs. Over 60 percent report that they have learned to know and appreciate the “savings potential through flexible work”.

The study also looks at the perspective of personnel management. According to this, managers before Corona were reluctant to critical if “flexible working forms” were to be introduced. They placed value on the presence of the employees on site and feared limited childcare options. According to the Fraunhofer analysis, this is now changing. The statement that executives have reduced their reservations about working at a distance based on their experience in the past few weeks is in full agreement with 47 percent, and a further 17 percent affirm this, at least for smaller numbers of cases. Working in the corona pandemic had acted like a “boot camp for executive development”, the study authors state.

Just 2.4 percent of those surveyed report increased conflicts between employees and managers, which can be attributed to the increased proportion of home offices. And only twelve percent of those surveyed noticed that managers were overwhelmed by the new work situation. What is striking, however, is the large proportion of those surveyed who see a “definitive training deficit with regard to leadership at a distance” among management staff. This is often the case in 40 percent of cases. However, this problem can be solved: Training and further development approaches can be promoted if the will to do so is available.

However, there is a problem here: It is the company management itself that refuses to work virtually, at least 36 percent of those surveyed are critical of this. They also complain about the poor training of managers: the skills to delegate tasks, organize teams and fulfill care duties are not particularly well developed in times of distant work.

In addition, the respondents miss training courses on how to deal with each other in a media-competent manner and how to look after customers remotely using digital workshop formats. It’s not just about using technology, the employees want help with topics such as moderation and didactics in digital formats. And finally, many also miss the industrial radio, they want to be able to exchange information informally via uncomplicated digital platforms. What may seem banal is actually very important for the world of work: the exchange between door and rod represents the social glue in the teamwork of relationships.

Do people in the home office exploit more? Do you work more at unusual times, such as in the evening or on the weekend? According to the study, this happens, but it is th
e exception rather than the rule. 15 percent of those surveyed report that their employees now work more frequently at unusual times of the day, while another 51 percent believe that this only applies to a small proportion of the employees. Only four percent register overtime on weekends and seven percent more overtime – results that can be neglected overall.

If there is a loss of productivity due to the corona crisis and the special work situation, then this is most likely due to employee care obligations. Some employees have reduced their working time accounts or taken special leave to look after their children and support homeschooling.

So even though the issue of unrestricted work affects the employees in the corona crisis only marginally, there is obviously great concern that something could change – especially if the economy picks up again. Three out of four respondents miss a “company-wide strategy to adequately counter the effects of demarcation”. The study authors refer to a phenomenon that has already been identified by the AOK, according to which flexible forms of work harbor the risk that some employees will no longer be able to switch off and can only recover poorly.

Companies should clarify what expectations they have regarding accessibility, how they want to monitor adherence to working hours, how managers will behave when controlling remote teams, and what expectations they have of self-management among employees. Employees who are in a homeschooling situation in particular currently feel heavily burdened and sometimes also poorly managed.

The study shows particularly impressively that good cohesion and a strong culture can support companies through times of crisis. 94 percent of those questioned agree with this statement (70 percent “fully”, 24 percent “more”). In the entire survey, there was by far the highest approval rating on this point. There is also a broad consensus in the thesis that the corona crisis is definitely fueling the development of innovative solutions in the team. Fraunhofer IAO sees these statements as evidence that people can develop a common creative force in exceptional situations if the conditions are there.

Finally, the investigation also raises the question of what will pass into our normal working life after the corona crisis as a “new normal”. So the times when we “went to work” as a matter of course will inevitably come to an end. Collaboration at a distance works well and efficiently in times of advanced digitalization, which has now been proven in a “cross-national experiment room”.

It also shows that new performance processes, virtual customer interfaces and business models based on them can be developed in an agile, cooperative manner and without the “perfectionism typical of our country”. In many companies, overcoming an existentially threatening situation is experienced and shouldered together. This experience is positive, it welds the workforce together and can be useful for dealing with future crises.

It is more important than ever, however, that managers empathize with their employees, prevent them from being de-bordered and train themselves for the new work and management situation. According to the study, all participants are in a “jointly experienced training camp”, in which they have to get fully involved in collaboration techniques and get to know new forms of cooperation and leadership in the shortest possible time. Whether this opportunity can be used in the long term is also due to the fact that management personnel face the challenge of flexible, location-independent collaboration regardless of location.