Following the EPITOME Work-From-Home survey conducted over May-June 2020, ongoing support and resources emerged as a top concern for both employees and employers.

Employees indicated that they needed more resources, equipment, training and support from employers to cope with work-from-home arrangements implmented during the lockdown measures during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Employers recognised the need to provide support and resources but many felt their company was not able to provide those resources to a level that could sustain engagement and close and effective communication with employees.

Supervisors were least likely to support ongoing work-from-home arrangements compared to employees and business owners, based on Net Promoter Scores.

The greatest area of challenge for supervisors was indentified as keeping employees connected and engaged. This is reflected in the consistent responses from employees that they needed clearer communication from their supervisors while supervisors reported challenges in being able to communicate effectively with the employees they supervised.

Close to 70% of supervisors thought that employees’ productivity levels met expectations under Work-from-Home arrangements, compared to 60% of business owners.

The top areas for improvement identified in the survey include:

  • setting clear productivity and performance expectations for all team members
  • providing necessary resources and equipment
  • clarifying changes on processes and procedures or decisions on business continuity planning
                Click chart to open larger image.

212 responses were collected with an equal distribution of male and female respondents across Singapore, Malaysia and Mexico. Responses came from across various industries including consultancy, finance and healthcare.

Download the survey results and methodology statements for our Work-from-Home Survey here.

Read more about remote working in this article.