Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic back in 2019, many countries have imposed a lockdown in a bid to curb the spread of the virus. As the whole world is still fighting against the coronavirus and also minimizing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nepal could not remain an exception. The crisis has already put an enormous strain on the country’s economy and financial sector.
The outbreak of COVID-19, meanwhile, brought a few significant changes in the way banking operations are carried out in Nepal. Banks are ensuring the safety of their employees by amending their work policy amid the pandemic and adhering to maximum health guidelines. The banking and financial sector employees are at the frontline and making sure that all financial requirements for their customers are met, even if they have to impart it from the bank branches physically. Considering the pandemic condition, BFIs tried to put in place several employee-friendly policies so the concept of Work from Home has become the sole option for their operations during this unprecedented situation.
As Nepal is reeling under low economic activities due to the pandemic, the Nepal Rastra Bank issued a guideline permitting all BFIs to operate within a limited number of staff. A majority of staff across the country are working from home while ensuring unrestricted business continuity.
Many bankers agree that working from home has openedup a new range of possibilities for the way banking sectors can work and structure themselves. Following the outbreak of the coronavirus and health protocol adopted by the government, work from home has given most of the banking staff the flexibility they need to continue their jobs.
Bank staffs believe that with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, working from home was on the increase as many employers identified the benefits that it can bring to their job value and improvement in work-life balance.
The bank managements have the same opinion that work from home enables more agility and flexibility in working arrangements. They add that work from home has somehow retained employees like the flexibility of work from home helped them to fit their work around their personal life. Being allowed to work from home, bankers opine that work of trust from their employer can contribute greatly to staff loyalty.
In the course of time, savings on office space, office supplies, utility bills, and other facilities have considerably gone up, according to bankers. Safe internet becomes the demand of the hour to run operations from home. Social distancing and keeping the momentum at pace during the crisis in the economics, is emerging as the benefits of the model. Working from home also helped save employees ample time as they didn’t have to commute and instead were able to use that time for themselves giving the basis for a better work-life balance. However, working from home has not suited everyone’s personality or ability. Bankers preferred the routine and structure that working in an office environment provided them.
The coronavirus pandemic has given some employers a different perspective. Employers who may not have otherwise considered working from home as an option before, got a practical insight into how it affected their business and employees after having to adapt. It has enabled employers to have the first-hand experience of the advantages and disadvantages of working from home. This experience can be very beneficial in feeding into the future direction of employees’ working practices in moving forward.
A shift towards work from home doesn’t mean employees have to work only at home. Often splitting time between home and the workplace is the most productive solution to keep them fully involved and informed.
