A view from up here by Georgiana Head

I saw a post on social media this week that really caught my imagination it read:

‘’You’re a burglar…

But you only steal things that mildly inconvenience your victims. What are you taking?

I’m stealing the plate that goes in the microwave …’’

So obviously then I went down a ‘wormhole’ thinking of all the things that it would be inconvenient to not have such as tea spoons, the sugar, the malt vinegar, the tomato ketchup, the Branston pickle, the bath mat, and the hand towel in the down stairs toilet. As you can see the possibilities are endless.

Anyway it got me thinking about all the minor inconveniences that build up in one’s working life and prompt us to bite the bullet and make a move. Over the years I found that the smallest of things in a work place have pushed people to move jobs, whether it be the fact that the kettle and tea making facilities were in the gent’s toilets so a female candidate felt really uncomfortable ever taking a break, or the fact that a firm wouldn’t allow a tax professional paper copies of the legislation and insisted they use online versions. Another memorable one was where the office toilets were out of commission for months and so staff had to go outside in the rain in all weathers to use a portaloo.

I think becoming deeply annoyed by a small thing can be a sign that there is a deeper problem, it’s like any relationship really, if you really love your partner and they still make you smile 95% of the time you can cope when they eat too noisily or snore too loudly. However, if you are already unhappy in that relationship those late night snores will be the final straw that sends you to the divorce lawyer.

I think Covid-19 has made a lot of people reassess their lives, being forced to stay at home, work from home, home school, get home deliveries and become self sufficient has fundamentally changed British Society. It’s why people are moving out of city centre flats in to the countryside, why there has been an increase in pet ownership. People want more work life balance – and are wary about going back to an office environment. Others suddenly realise they don’t want to have to commute for hours to get to an office, now the systems are in place for remote working it seems stupid not to use them. They have enjoyed time with family, time in their garden or seeing changes in nature around them as the seasons go by, or simply getting another hour in bed in the mornings. Others would do anything to be able to get back in to a city a couple of times a week so they can get to a gym, climbing wall etc. In fact I don’t know anyone who wants to go back to the way that they worked before 2020. Maybe something good has come out of this pandemic – maybe we will all appreciate the little things a bit more, a good cup of coffee with a client, a glass of wine with work colleagues to celebrate a success. I just hope we also don’t loose out on the things that we gained this year such as new hobbies, cookery skills and an appreciation for the nature around our homes that we perhaps didn’t have time for when we commuted.

If you are dreading going back to a fulltime office environment then there are opportunities out there that can be worked remotely or with a minimum amount of time in the office. Different accountancy firms and in-house teams have different rules, despite Covid and Brexit the tax market is busy and buoyant so don’t let the little things get you down, you can make a change.

Georgiana Head is a Director at Georgiana Head Recruitment specialising in recruiting tax professionals. She trained in tax and is an ATT Council Member. In her spare time she is a school governor. georgiana@ghrtax.com