19 Apr Return to Work Comes with Career Opportunities and Personal Benefits
When there were just 700 COVID-19 cases reported across the U.S., Centrinex had a Preparation Plan ready that same night. Four days later, a U.S. national emergency was declared, and our call center’s executives already had created a business continuity plan (BCP) the day prior. Just one week after our Preparation Plan was in place, our call center representatives and staff were sent home with equipment should working from home become necessary. Soon after that, Centrinex, a leading call center in the nation, went to remote work.
All this is to say, we moved quickly and efficiently to protect our employees. Once it was deemed safe to return to the office, we welcomed staff back slowly and carefully with all known, best-practice precautions in place. The vast majority of employees came back to our call center when local, state and federal guidelines allowed.
Our management team and employees were responsive and flexible throughout this crisis. Working closely together allowed Centrinex to stay in front of the pandemic restrictions, and it helped our call center and employees return safely to a more normal work environment.
Return to Work is a Thing
The phrase “return to work” refers to employees once again working from a workplace, rather than working from home.
Now, more than two years after offices went remote, many companies are still struggling with return to work. Some are hybrid, some are still remote and some are fully back in office.
Centrinex’s staff is fully back to our office for non-immunocompromised staff and new hires. No, we did not rush in to it. We evaluated our environment, our culture, our staff’s best interests and our clients’ needs. In doing so, it made sense to embrace our office culture where being on site provides the best career opportunities and personal benefits.
What are the Career Opportunities and Personal Benefits of Going Back to the Office?
There have been a lot of articles written debating the pros and cons of returning to the office. However, those articles aren’t written specifically for Centrinex, our culture and our staff. Rather than guess, we verified the career opportunities and personal benefits of going back to the office with how our staff feels via an employee satisfaction survey.
We asked Centrinex employees to rank the reasons they enjoy working from our office from 1 to 10, 1 being the most and 10 being the least.
The number one reason they enjoyed working at the office was separation of work and personal life. Working from home led to pandemic burnout. Some reports estimate that working from home added approximately three hours to a workday, largely due to distractions at home that prolong the time it usually takes to get work tasks done. Returning to the office allows you to leave work at work and be present at home.
Reason number two was friendships with co-workers. In studies dating back to pre-pandemic times, the vast majority of employees reported having workplace friendships essential to having a happy work life. Those working from home have noted loneliness and feeling disconnected.
Centrinex is a very people-oriented culture, so that loneliness was especially felt among our staff. The hustle and bustle of our call center environment, as well as the simple act of saying, “Hello” are important to mental well-being.
Reason number three was having a dedicated workspace. This is related to separation of work and personal life. Working from home often meant turning dining tables or other shared spaces in the home into a workspace. That means working alongside others working from home and being interrupted with homework questions, not to mention having to clear off the table for meals and other activities.
Reason number four was having more visibility and exposure to leadership. We know our customer service representatives and staff worked hard and were productive during our work from home time. Yet, nothing compares to leadership seeing your efforts when it comes to promotions, professional growth and skills development, especially for those early in their careers.
Reason number five was missing the commute to the office. Centrinex is located off I-35, making it an easy commute from anywhere in the Kansas City metro. What we learned from this survey was that our staff uses their commute time to relax and decompress.
There are many people very concerned that returning to the workplace full-time is risky. Centrinex takes every precaution to keep our employees safe, and your health and safety matter. We are as careful as anyone can be right now and will continue following CDC and local guidance.
Ready to Return to Work? Explore Career Opportunities with Centrinex
We take our work culture seriously, which is why we surveyed our staff about their needs and how our workplace can support them. What matters to you is important to us. We’re a large company with hundreds of employees, but our leadership team is dynamic and open-minded. We know this because we ask, listen and put a lot of time and effort into creating a culture that supports career opportunities and provides the personal benefits for well-being.
Apply for a call center job with us. We’re hiring motivated and talented people who are ready to return to work. Our culture is worth experiencing in person.