By Katie Clarke – Marketing Associate
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way our world operates and has forced businesses to adapt quickly
to the changing landscape and necessity to work from home. Usually working out of the office, the
Grand HVAC Leasing team had to adapt by having all staff work from home.
We wanted to learn more and share what our staff are thinking about working from home,
how it has affected them as a whole and how they have had to adapt.
What is your favorite part about working from home?
Given our office is in the GTA, it came as no surprise that the consensus was no commute being a massive
benefit of working from home. Not only does this save time in the morning for our staff, but it also adds
time to their evenings to achieve more tasks within the day.
“I don’t live close to the office, so it’s been nice not having to spend 2
hours in the car each day. I feel like I have a lot more time to get things
done during the day.” – Jennifer
The convenience of being home has also had many benefits for our staff. It allows them the freedom to make coffee during the day or simply blend a smoothie for lunch! For many of the parents of GHL the flexibility of assisting their kids with drives or pick-ups has been an added bonus.
Some other positives mentioned were:
- Seeing their pets more
- Helping the environment due to less driving
- Taking time to enjoy their mornings
What is your least favorite part about working from home?
When asked this question, most of our staff say that their least favorite part is not being able to see their
teammates and having less office culture or human interaction in the workplace.
“I like the in-person training and camaraderie of the office environment
as GHL is a fun and motivating place to work” – John
For the parents of GHL another inconvenience they found is when their kids crash their video calls (however, we’re pretty sure the rest of us just find it funny)!
Some staff also added that it can be hard to separate work from their home life and that it’s much easier for work to spill into their personal time when they’re working from home.
Do you feel you are more efficient working from home?
When asking our staff whether they deemed themselves more efficient, we noticed a divide between our outside sales staff and our office staff! Across the board we found that our office staff feel they are very efficient without distractions of the office and with having more time to focus on their specific tasks.
“Working at home allows me to be more productive and use all my available
time to focus on my job. Avoiding hours a day in commute gives me time
to get more done.” – Andre
However, our outside sales staff feel that not being able to visit their clients face-to-face or being able to build in-person relationships with new clients is having an effect on their efficiency with work. They find that communicating with phone or email is just not the same!
“The biggest part of my role is meeting with clients and
I prefer to do that face-to-face. So [work is] not as
efficient as being out in front of people” – Steve
What do you miss most, working in the office?
Despite the convenience for most with working from home, there are still many interactions we miss out on. We asked our staff what they miss most about working in the office and the answer was the same across the
board. We learned that GHL staff miss the in-person communication, collaboration and 
interaction that the office provides. Although the digital work world is convenient, one staff member also brought up that we are less likely to ask for help and learn from each other in the same way we would in the office.
“[I miss most that] we cannot interact or connect with
employees the same way as we would in person.” – Celine
Another consensus of the staff was that we all miss the President, Bill Lane’s, hilarious antics. He always comes into the office with a huge smile and makes everyone laugh. Even when we find we can’t get any work done when he’s around, we always appreciate his sense of humour and fun and inviting attitude.
For our outside sales team, given their office is on the road, we learned that they miss most not being able to meet with their clients, have business chats and connect with them on a personal level.
Anything else you’d like to mention?
We wanted to grab any other comments our staff may have, and these are just some of the highlights we found!
GHL is proud of how we transitioned as a business and proud of how perfectly our staff transitioned to working from home. We look forward to seeing how these changes will positively impact our future!
Let us know your thoughts below on your experience working from home. We’d love to hear from you!