How Has COVID-19 Changed the Work-Life Balance HR Discussions; HR Management and Employers More Flexible and Supportive: Poll

The COVID-19 Pandemic has brought about several unexpected benefits to workers over the last few months, according to polls and employee feedback [Results below.] According to the polls,  HR Management and employers are prioritizing the well-being of their employees and are demonstrating unprecedented flexibility.

The data indicates that most HR Managers and employers are equipping their teams and benefits programs with health and safety enhancements that help workers to cope with the stress of COVID-19 — often turning to out-sourced HR Management and Group Benefits solutions. These benefits include flexible working hours, group enhanced medical insurance, compensation plan, among others. Although these changes are mostly positive, this dramatic change in work environments has significantly blurred the lines between work and home life and affected work flexibility.

Employees Consider Flexibility Important

According to studies, 49% of employees consider flexibility in the hours and location of their work more crucial today compared to pre-COVID-19 times (40%), while 45% consider work-life balance more important (as opposed to 44% who find it the same).

Based on a survey published by LinkedIn in September 2020, about half of men and women say that they find it hard to concentrate on their work while their children are home.

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Companies Are Now Open to Flexibility and Benefits

The COVID-19 Pandemic has demonstrated that employee well-being is crucial in HR Management. That’s why over 74% of companies have made several reforms to their employee assistance programs to put the various aspects of workers’ well-being front and center. Flexible work hours and location is one of the reforms.

Nearly two-thirds of employees in the software and IT industries say they now value the flexibility of the work location and hours more than they did before the pandemic. The same statement is correct for those individuals in public administration (61%), health care (51%), education (58%), media (61%), and finance (51%).

About 66% of workers said the flexibility of their work location had improved significantly since the onset of the pandemic, whereas over 52% said flexibility around when they worked had improved.

As the above statistics show, the HR management departments of most firms understand people’s needs, and they have developed a greater openness towards employee benefits, specifically those relating to well-being. Increasingly, employers are looking to outsourced HR Management and Group Benefits to quickly onboard demanded flexibility and benefits.

Family-Friendly Policies

Some companies have increased their family-friendly policies, particularly for caregivers, such as employees with young kids, while others have introduced additional benefits to help workers cope with the impact of the pandemic, including health care cover, increased salary, transferable skills, and paid leave.

About 40% of employees say work benefits like healthcare are more crucial post-COVID, while 50% say it’s vital today and even after the pandemic.

Survey of 1725 Employees

A survey conducted between March 13 to April 9 in Canada that involved 1,725 employees found out that work benefits are more important to employees in construction (47%), administration (48%), corporate services (47%), compared to 33% in manufacturing.

35% of the workers say developing transferable skills is more important today than it was before the pandemic started. This comes as no surprise considering how some industries have suffered because of the pandemic, forcing many employees to change their careers.

34% of employees consider salary and workplace culture more vital amid COVID, while 57% and 54%, respectively, find salary and workplace culture equally important today, even after COVID.

HR Management Outsourcing Increasing

Many organizations and businesses are taking advantage of HR outsourcing. Outsourced HR departments have helped firms manage the fixed costs of employees. At the same time, they keep the morale and motivation of individuals working from home high.

Work-Time and Personal-Time Differentiation

The current shift to remote work has eliminated the clear line that used to separate work-life from home-life. More employees, especially those with small kids, find it hard to balance work in a new environment with childcare. Others sometimes lose track of time since the working day no longer has clear boundaries.

HR on-site service and HR-offsite service have also been persistently trying to preserve the trend by continuously encouraging employees to stop working when they need to. HR leaders have made efforts to remind employees that they have complete flexibility in terms of how and when they want to work and that companies support them in their choices.

Remote Working Here to Stay for Many

Most firms are giving serious thought to the idea of permanent remote working. This means that all the additional changes, employee benefits, and support may be here to stay.

However, as more and more employees continue to work from home, healthy work-life balance and flexibility are now more important than ever. HR teams should aim to help employees find space, both physically and mentally, in order to adapt to this new shift in work culture.

Do you have a question about HR Management and Work-Life Balance? Ask the experts at Pivotal HR Solutions:

Sources and Citations

HR Reporter>> Flexibility and Work Balance >>

People Matters COVID-19 Good and Bad for Work-Life Balance>>

Research Gate: Effects of Covid-19 on Human Resource Management>> e

Work-Life Integration Covid-!9 People Matters>>