There is no denying that COVID-19 has changed the world and shows no signs of leaving any time soon. Since the pandemic started thousands of companies have had staff working from home and are now considering downsizing their offices, Capita have committed to closing over a third of theirs to offer staff more flexibility. If you’ve been weighing up whether downsizing your office space could be the right move, we’ve put together some ways it could work for you.
Increased flexibility
Whether you’re looking at having more people working from home or offering flexibility to work at different times, there has been lots of evidence to show employees would welcome the ability to be more flexible with their working arrangements. It could be the perfect answer to keeping staff both happy and safe. With our digital services there’s no need to worry about accessibility issues, we have a solution for every need. The best thing about having a great work from home set up is that if a local or national lockdown occurs again your business is already able to handle the change. Disruption to your business, staff, and customers is significantly minimised. Happy staff and business continuity sounds good to us.
Environmental impact
By having fewer people in the office you will be reducing your overall carbon footprint. More people working from home means fewer commutes for a start! There’s also the added benefit of having documents available without hard copies being printed out – by digitising your documents and granting access to the client portal. Everyone has the ability to access the documents they need wherever they are with our Client Portal and you have full peace of mind as an audit trail is created every time a document access request is made. Another thing that has a positive impact is reduced energy consumption as there’s no need to heat and light a huge office.
Increased safety
Unfortunately COVID-19 doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to go any time soon so keeping staff and visitors safe is key. By having staff working from home and only coming into the office when they need to you are reducing the risk to them. By installing safety features such as sanitising stations and floor markings to encourage social distancing for when they do need to come in, can keep everyone safe.
Increased security
Of course staff working from home can present security challenges but it can also solve some. There’s a reduced risk that someone will walk past a desk and see something they shouldn’t or that a computer will be left unlocked. Our client portal has the ability to set security preferences at an individual or departmental level so you never have to worry. We also provide fully secure drop offs to either offices or, depending on company policy, alternative sites so staff always have access to hard copies of documents without needing to collect and transport them themselves. Our drivers have been issued with face coverings, sanitisers, and gloves to ensure it’s not just the documents being kept safe.
Reduced costs
Having a smaller office site can mean reduced costs. From the cost of rent to the cost of heating and lighting by downsizing these will all be significantly smaller. Which means you have a bigger budget to spend on things like showing your staff you appreciate their hard work during COVID-19. Not only are the costs to you reduced but so are the ones to your employees. No more paying for their daily commute, they get to spend a little more time doing something they love and a little less time travelling to work. It’s a win win!
We know that downsizing isn’t going to be an option for everyone but if it is something you’ve been considering hopefully we’ve helped you make a decision. There’s also no need to worry about where to store your documents as we have two purpose built warehouses designed with ample space to securely store your documents. Please get in touch, 01603 720722 or via info@archive-vault.co.uk for more information.
