Expanding on post-pandemic changes to workplace ‘flexibility’ National Work from Hospo Week is aiming to bring employers to the party, by promoting more workers pull out the laptop at the pub rather than the office or at home.
October 16-20 has been declared National Work from Hospo Week, during which Australian companies are being encouraged to commit to a change of scenery for their workers, and for employees to set up shop during working hours in a pub or cafe.
The month of October was selected to align with the World Health Organisation’s World Mental Health Day, raising awareness of mental health issues in all cultures.
Third Place co-founder Paul Veltman, organising the event, says it’s all about improving the mental health, wellbeing and productivity of the workforce.
Third Place bills itself as where “co-working meets hospitality” – the name derived from what sociologist Ray Oldenburg described in The Great Good Place (1989) as the ‘third place’, being neither home nor the usual workplace, where people can be their most creative.
The company details over 1,500 hotels, cafes and pubs that it has ‘vetted’ as congenial to remote work. Venues providing suitable amenities stand to benefit from increased, trouble-free patronage during the day.
The ‘third place’ concept has demonstrable merit, with Swinbourne University associate Professor John Hopkins, regarded as an expert on the subject, reporting research on ‘laptop workers’ finds most believe the change in environment has a positive impact on their wellbeing.
A notable bi-product of the continued workplace disruption brought on by the necessity of remote work is employers crying to get staff back to the office, but Hopkins reports this is realistically more about having workers back in offices three days per week, not a return to the traditional five days, which he remarks is a “significant net gain in flexibility” for many people.
His recommendation is that an employer’s focus should be on results rather than mere attendance.
Third Place has partnered with a tap-and-order platform me&u to further the concept, inviting employers to put credit for food and drink on remote worker ‘package’ cards, with references to WFHospo Week menu offerings and promotions.
The companies are suggesting to employers that WFHospo Week has the potential to:
- Improve employee engagement
- Encourage a healthy work-life balance
- Promote employee wellbeing
- Foster communication and connection
And if the organisers have a say, employees doing remote work at their local will take place more than one week per year.
