Why hot desking is both a hot topic and an emotive one

Home from home

Let’s just consider for a minute what the market has been trying to do for a while now. The sense that you are at home when at work, from the early days of making buildings shaped like houses, food on tap, rest and play areas, support at work, extracurricular activities with the team. 

Playing devil’s advocate for a minute, are we now saying we don’t want that? Are we saying that we really want employees to come into a sterile desk with nothing personal on it? Perhaps nowhere near the employees team and a different one each time?

Health and wellbeing

Let’s also think about all that work you have done with your health and wellbeing programmes that have improved attendance, reduced claims on healthcare and made your employees more productive. 

Are we saying, that when an employee hot desks, their work area is take it or leave it?  Presumably you won’t have their chairs stored somewhere for their use or have memory seats? Are you considering workspace calibration so they know what their setting is? 

If they are now working from home, what is the environment like for them there? Is it their kitchen or lounge or do they have a dedicated room for working from?

If the employee has not worked from home before they should be trained in how to discipline themselves to not do things around the home, be distracted by their other half and to work effectively.

There is an argument that hot desking can increase claims for muscular skeletal problems or optical issues through irregular seating and screen positions. Consequently, any reductions in productivity as a result may offset any savings made through hot desking.

The question is not whether hot desking works. It’s whether you have thought it through.  Like most things, just because it’s a good idea, doesn’t make it the right idea.

This article is provided by Mazars.