FEATURE : REMOTE WORKING
Finally , there is a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel . As countries get closer to the easing of lockdowns and social restrictions , many organisations are starting to look forward to welcoming employees and clients back to the office . But if enterprise organisations are thinking that this is the end of working from home , they need to think again . Industry experts look at the pro and cons of remote working and why enterprises in Africa should embrace a high breed model if they want to appeal to new talent , writes Manda Banda .
While working from home was initially a reactionary solution to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown restrictions that governments across Africa had imposed , now that it has demonstrated its value , it is here to stay . And as the need for organisations to reassess their remote work and learning capabilities , in order to create a digital workplace that ’ s ready for anything and ensures productivity from anywhere garners momentum , CIOs and IT teams on the continent have been grappling on how best to embrace the work from anywhere model for their organisations .
Matt Hancocks , Senior Director Analyst , Gartner , said there are many reasons why organisations in Africa should start to embrace working from home . Hancocks said these range from organisational effectiveness , productivity , employee experience in , but more importantly is the potential global talent war . “ One of the main considerations is what will this mean for accessing talent . Many organisations , especially in IT roles , are looking at sourcing talent from outside their geographies , via a remote research model ,” he said . “ But also , those companies that do offer greater flexibility are likely to be better attracters of talent and could pull talent away from those organisations that don ’ t offer remote work .”
Osama Al-Zoubi , CTO , Cisco Middle East and Africa ( MEA ), agreed with Gartner ’ s Hancocks and said : “ Last year , Cisco commissioned a Workforce of the Future survey , with over 10,000 workers across 12 markets in Europe , Middle East , Africa and Russia ( EMEAR ). The intention was to understand what was working well during the work-from-home phase , what was no longer fit for purpose and how to build a future workplace that caters to all .”
According to Al-Zoubi , the survey revealed that even in a post-pandemic world , employees wanted to keep hold of many of the positives that had emerged in the new way of working . “ These benefits include having increased autonomy , working well as a dispersed team and being able to keep hold of faster decision-making . Even though only 5 % of those surveyed worked from home most of the time before the lockdown , now an overwhelming majority hope to keep this increased independence ,” he said . “ 87 % of people told us that they want greater ownership in defining how and when they use office spaces – blending between being office-based and working remotely .”
Embracing a hybrid model
Ranjith Kaippada , Managing Director , Cloud Box Technologies , said COVID-19 is an eye opener for business to adopt transformation . “ In fact , we must put into place a system which businesses can reap many benefits . Firstly , the acceptance and adoption of new technology ,” he said . “ The speed at which this was put into place ensured that the normal employee resistance which one would have otherwise experience was not possible due to the circumstances in which the new business requirements were put
Embracing the work from home model
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