Teramind, which is US-based, says it won big new clients during the pandemic and has kept them. “Long story short, profits are up, morale is up, and expenses are down,” Teramind’s vice-president of global operations, Eli Sutton, said of the firm’s clients.
Edward Vong, a lawyer at PwC, says there is still some novelty being back at the office.Credit:Simon Schluter
But Ben Hamer, a workplace expert at PwC, said while productivity had risen at home, that would not last in many cases. “What we’ve heard from leaders now, though, is that the productivity uplift isn’t sustainable, people are working longer but they’re not necessarily more productive,” Dr Hamer said.
The lack of interaction with colleagues, endless video meetings and distractions from housemates and family were all factors, he said.
Stephanie White, an associate at Boston Consulting Group, said the firm had settled on letting her work from home, a client’s site or the firm’s offices depending on whether her day involved meetings or crunching through work solo.
“That’s been a good shift, both from pre-COVID when everything was in person and you didn’t have flexibility and during COVID when everything was remote and you didn’t have flexibility,” Ms White said.
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Chris Mattey, White’s ultimate boss as the local managing director of Boston Consulting Group, said he asked how bosses knew their workers were being productive in the office when they queried if staff were being productive at home. “Just because you can see them doesn’t mean they’re being more useful,” Mr Mattey said.
Like Dr Hamer, Mr Mattey is letting his teams choose where to work based on the needs of their day.
Edward Vong, a lawyer at PwC, where the staff also have latitude to choose whether to work from home or the office, said informal conversations happened over messenger or email to figure out when his team would be at work.
“At the moment it’s pretty organic, because working from the office still feels a little bit novel and a little bit new after being away for so long. When a couple of people mention they’re going in it turns into whole-team day,” said Mr Vong, who endured the Melbourne lockdown.
