Mass use of home office reduces companies’ productivity by as much as one-third; cybernetic security is an issue as well

The lasting relocation of all personnel to a home office mode of operation has resulted in lower performance for certain Czech companies. Employees’ productivity decreased on average by 10%  during the first month; after two months of working from home, the decrease reached about 30%. Such are the findings of an internal analysis undertaken by Moore Czech Republic among its clients. In addition, clients often use unsecured applications such as Zoom for communication. Home office represents a risk for cybernetic security and it is often formally out of the question for working with sensitive data or organising confidential conference calls.

Many employees of Czech firms had to get used to tackling their usual agenda from home in early March. This is why, two months later, Moore Czech Republic has mapped the impact of protracted home office on work productivity. “An analysis made among our clients shows that employee productivity decreased by about one-tenth in March. Despite the expectations that employees would get used to a standard mode of operation at home, efficiency continued to decrease in April – on average by one-third compared with the normal situation,” says Petr Kymlička, Partner at Moore Czech Republic. The principal reason is that entire teams had to migrate to home office regardless of whether this mode of operation was suitable for their work.

Not all office workers were able to use the recommended option of working from home. One of the reasons is the absence of suitable software for remote work, which requires tighter security. Due tothe generally lower cybernetic protection, the home environment increases the risk of compromising sensitive information and  documents. “Commonly used software for communication between team members is relatively vulnerable. While there are special programs with strong security, their deployment in companies is operationally difficult. An insufficiently secured home WiFi connection can also pose a risk,” Petr Kymlička explains.

Government employees are another example of people who cannot work from home in many cases. Either they are not allowed to take their assigned notebook home, or they use a desktop computer, or they are not allowed to leave the office building with specific documents. “Whatever the company or government authority, working from home efficiently requires setting up suitable processes. With them, employees will know what to do and how in the event of an unexpected occurrence such as the current pandemic,” says Petr Kymlička and adds: “It shows that where an entire company needs to work remotely, the home office mode can be efficient for shorter periods of time. In turn, it is often untenable in the long-term perspective. In addition, adapting corporate culture to an entirely new way of working can take several years.”