In an exclusive interview with RHmagazine, Rui Reis, CEO of Mind Source, shares the results of this study and explains what the company plans to do so that in the future its approximately 200 employees can make the most of both work arrangements.

Most save time on commuting, but work more hours per day

According to the report, on average, each person saves 98 minutes on daily commutes, with this time being redirected mainly to work (36%) or personal purposes (34%). 64% of respondents said they save between 1 and 3 hours daily, considering the time spent commuting to and from the office or attending meetings. This appears to be one of the main advantages of teleworking, with 1 in 5 employees indicating they would give up part of their salary to work from home.

The study also shows that 52% of employees started working 1 to 2 hours more per day. Productivity increased for 61% of professionals, and this increase was greater for employees without children and non-managers. In contrast to the previous aspect, the increase in workload was more significant for managers and for employees aged 25 or younger. Overall, 54% of respondents reported an increase in workload. Motivation increased most in the 26-35 age group, although stress also increased more in this age group. Stress affected employees without children and non-managers more.

Increased Productivity and Better Relationships with Leadership

According to this internal study, 86% of Mind Source employees consider their relationship with their supervisor to have remained the same, 11% consider it to have improved, and only 3% consider it to have worsened. Leadership, however, has a more positive experience: of the 16% of employees who manage teams, 36% consider their relationship with their team to have improved, 60% consider it to have remained the same, and 4% consider it to have worsened. According to Rui Reis, using currently available technological tools, the company sought to establish best practices to maintain constant and effective communication between teams. All company employees, including new hires, underwent Microsoft Teams training to familiarize themselves with this tool, which facilitated communication and collaborative work. "Teams communicated with each other using Microsoft Teams, which allows teams to start the day with a daily meeting, maintain rituals and schedules, or keep Teams connected throughout the workday," he explains. In the report now revealed, 89% of employees indicate that they maintained daily contact with their teams, 40% of managers believe that productivity was maintained, and 56% even consider that it improved. To help managers lead in remote work – a reality unknown to many – and according to the needs of each leader, several e-learning training courses were conducted, namely: Leaders: Make Your Teams More Agile, Creative, and United; Virtual Team Management; How to Communicate in Teams; Collaboration between teams in Office 365; How to define goals and teams; How to plan communication during times of change; Communication in times of crisis; Collaborative leadership; How to give and receive feedback.

Almost 1 in 4 employees felt their psychological health was affected.

Data collected in this study shows that 34% of professionals at this technology company felt anxious about returning to in-person work, 24% felt their psychological health was affected, and 1% ended up seeking psychological support. Regarding physical health, 39% practiced moderate or intense physical exercise and 85% maintained a healthy diet. Although they didn't miss going to the office, employees indicated that socializing with colleagues is what most miss (71%). To maintain moments of interaction, the company also created a virtual coffee break, the "Mind Coffee Break," so that employees could meet during their coffee breaks and socialize a little, preserving team unity. “Our anniversary was also celebrated remotely. The day began with a video message from the board of directors to the entire company and ended with a meeting of the whole team on the Teams platform, so we could sing happy birthday together and share a bit of this experience with the team,” says the general manager.

Hybrid Format

For now, teleworking remains the best solution during the current pandemic, and the study reinforced the safety of maintaining this format. “Based on the study, as well as feedback from our clients, we were able to verify that productivity levels were maintained or even increased in the vast majority of cases. Given this evidence and with a view to preserving the safety and health of our people, we have extended confinement and the teleworking regime in the vast majority of cases, still without a scheduled date for returning to in-person work,” says Rui Reis. But in the near future, the solution will be to define a hybrid format. Now, at Mind Source, as in most organizations, there is no consensus on the ideal number of teleworking days in a model that also includes in-person work. With 90% of professionals stating they can perform all their duties remotely, when asked how many days they would like to work from home, opinions are divided: 32% mention 4 days a week, 28% indicate only 3 days, 32% say 2 days, and 9% say only 1. There is no consensus on this aspect, but there is clearly a desire to move towards this hybrid model in the future, with at least, according to the manager, 2 days of remote work per week. “We are studying which hybrid model of remote and in-person work will be most beneficial for both our clients and our employees. The goal in the future is to increasingly adopt this new way of working,” he concludes.

Published in RH Magazine | Edition 129 July-August 2020