A number of property professionals, including estate agents, have made significant changes to their wellbeing offerings in the wake of the covid-19 outbreak, according to the early results of an industry-wide piece of research being carried out by tmgroup and mio.

‘The New Normal’ survey, running until 22nd November 2021, has so far attracted responses from more than 300 property professionals, including estate agents.

So far, 44% of survey respondents have stated they have introduced flexible working hours as a direct result of the pandemic and stamp duty holiday. Beyond this, regular wellbeing calls (20%), social events (21%) and encouraging time outdoors (20%) have also been cited as key initiatives being introduced to help support individuals.

Joe Pepper, CEO of tmgroup, commented: “It’s nice to see that property professionals across the breadth of the industry are adopting people-centric measures to support their teams through these challenging times. In a world where operating with reduced staff in the midst of the stamp duty holiday rush has led to increased working hours and high levels of stress, property professionals need this more than ever – especially with the Christmas rush already building up and keeping everyone busy.”

“The New Normal” follows the “Thriving in a Pandemic” report, conducted last year, which was designed to see how property professionals are faring as the dust settles in a Covid world. The research aims to capture a snapshot of industry thoughts and insight at these unique moments in time – including questions around operational challenges, homeworking, the future outlook of the property market, wellbeing and more.

Last year’s research attracted over 600 responses and highlights included delays, unrealistic client expectations and workloads being cited as the biggest challenges.

In addition, it showed growth, integration, and better use of technology outlined as key goals for 2021.

Flexible working was also welcomed as a key positive of 2020 events.