15 Things Companies Are Doing That Aren't Really Benefitting Employees During WFH

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the work from home culture has been continuing. Employees have been raving about how it's so great to be able to work remotely, independently, and on their own schedules, among all the other benefits of working from home.

However, when we try to look at the bigger picture, there are still quite a few disadvantages us employees are facing during working from home. Everything in the world has its share of pros and cons. The work-from-home option is no different.

So, here are a few things that are not benefitting the employees while working from home even though they think it is the best :

1. Distractions At Home

Being at an office means you're completely focused on your job and work. However, at home, there are several distractions. Some of these factors include screaming children, noise from passing traffic, ringing doorbells, dogs barking and household chores. If employees continue to work from home, it's important that they have a dedicated workspace, access to childcare and a schedule and the company they are working for should help with that.

2. No Work-Life Balance

We all know how our work has slowly crept into our personal time just because we're at home only. It can start as something simple, such as responding to an email after clocking out for the day. But if workers aren't careful, that can turn into multiple emails or putting in extra work after hours. For some, this turns an eight-hour day into a 10-hour day or more. Companies need to apply a strict policy to withhold work after logging off.

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3. Increased Zoom Meetings

While we were working in the office, we didn't really have as many meetings as we have now. But to keep tabs on us, managers make sure to keep several meetings a week. While digital meetings can be less disruptive than in-person meetings, they are rarely the highlight of the workday. And having too many meetings often causes frustration among employees.

4. Extremely Difficult For A New Hire

New hires to an organization might feel overwhelmed if they are going from a traditional office to one primarily based at home. Not only do they have to learn how to perform in their new role, but they must also learn to navigate new technology. They also may have a tough time having a rapport with the team since they don't know their working style.

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5. Home Office Costs

Big companies are somewhat offering a working setup to employees but that is not the case with most of the jobs. Extra costs of electricity, table, chair internet is something that is going out of the employee's pockets and that is not at all benefiting anyone.

6. Difficulty Maintaining Confidentiality

Organizations also must contend with the possibility of confidentiality breaches. This could include someone overhearing a confidential discussion or seeing sensitive documents on an employee's computer. Businesses must stress the importance of maintaining confidentiality, and consider limiting work in public spaces.

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7. Lack Of Teamwork

While some employees do enjoy working alone without the distractions of the workplace, some might find it difficult. Spending long hours and collaborating with only a computer screen and no face-to-face interaction and communication with team members can be challenging. Moreover, this leads to burnout because there is no outlet to get a break, it's just the computer screen.

8. Lack of Motivation

Working at an office with fellow employees with a common goal and purpose, or having a pep talk with a senior at work, can be great sources of external motivation. Whereas working from home lacks that kind of environment. You can feel like not working all the time while working from home.

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9. Isolation

This is especially bad for people who are living alone. Spending the entire day working alone is not only saddening but also not great for one's mental health. Man is a social animal and not having anyone at all or not having human interaction can be really difficult.

10. Low Productivity

Working from home often leads to several breaks. This makes it difficult to concentrate and be interested in work for a long. Furthermore, working remotely can make one feel isolated and not motivated enough to work productively. So, it can be said that all of the various disadvantages discussed above can lead to a loss in productivity when working from home.

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11. Waste Of Time Waiting For Answers

You need to ask a super quick question or have to get something done urgently which will impact how you do something for the next hour or even the rest of the day. But there¡¯s no response and you keep waiting for someone to respond to your mails or pings. This is not only wasting your time but also shows a lack of teamwork.

12. Low Reliability And Retention

When a team is working from home and you remove the presence of an authority figure or manager from the equation, things can turn catastrophic as there are few people who either don¡¯t work and/or don¡¯t let others work. Many times you also lose work as the people working with you have not finished work on time and you have missed your deadline.

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13. Access to Documents

While the majority of documents these days have virtual access or a soft copy that an employee can access, many still prefer to keep access to sensitive company documents paper-only or want to make sure that its safe in virtual or electronic format so they keep it on a Virtual Private Networks (VPN) or secure cloud access which can only be accessed via registered office computers.

14. Burnout

The lack of work-life balance where one is working for the office while taking care of household chores leads to burnout. It gets even more difficult when the line between work and personal life is diminished and an employee is working for more than 8 hours. It causes extra stress from the office and from home leading to burnout.

15. Cybersecurity Concerns

Before the idea of remote work is even mentioned, businesses must be sure they can meet or exceed security expectations to minimize a cybersecurity disaster. An employee shouldn't have the onus to keep complicated things in mind all the time.

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So, hope this can be managed soon.