Work From Home

Early in 2019, when we started working on the employee welfare policy, I advocated for flexible work arrangement such as work from home so personnel will not have to skip work because no one is there to look after the kids or there are circumstances that prevent them from going to work but could still work.

Then community quarantine happened where everyone is instructed to stay home. While this is in an emergency situation, it gave me the opportunity to think about possible considerations if work from home would become a permanent option for government employees. With that I'm sharing some of my thoughts on my first week of working from home:

1. We are all in a transition. Our routines suddenly changed. We did not have the time to prepare. All of a sudden we are all in our places setting up work stations and absorbing instructions from the office on how to proceed with this.
2. Our household members are also in transition. Suddenly your kids see you everyday but can't reach you coz you're working. Their routines are also disrupted.
3. Sudden changes to our routine could affect our mental health. People at home cannot relate to our work issues. After a few days of working from home, we might start longing for the people who would relate to your daily work stress.
4. There are competing priorities at home. This might be particularly challenging for single parents as they have to take care of their kids and household chores at the same time need to "report" to work.
5. This is an emergency situation and we cannot expect people to be in a normal 'working condition' immediately. Many of us might be occupied with stocking up (yung may pang stock up) because there is fear and uncertainty. Or yung iba nambroblema na lang kasi walang pang stock up.
6. We are not trained to manage people from home. How do we really monitor performance? While target outputs are set, how do we really know if people are delivering or not? How do we support people so they can better perform in such condition?
7. Not everyone is meant to work from home. Hindi lahat conditioned to work at home. Hindi lahat kayang i-manage yung mga distractions and stay focused sa mga task. Working from home requires certain skills and discipline for someone to manage work.
8. Access to technology limit participation and performance. Hindi lahat ng household may access sa internet, computer and knowledgeable sa productivity apps.
9. Not everyone has a space in their places where they could set up their workstations.
10. Dapat may debriefing not just staff meeting. This is to make sure that people are adjusting well and support could be appropriately provided.

Work from home is not for everyone, even if it is it will take a while before people gets the hang of it. In this challenging times, working from home is a luxury because not everyone could afford this set up. Let's continue to be grateful and uphold our country in prayer.