How to Support Your Remote Workforce
There are many considerations to take into account when it comes to supporting remote workers. Here are just some of them.
The Home Office
First, there is the issue of physical office comfort. In order to maintain health and well-being, employees will need home access to quality, ergonomic desk furniture and accessories such as chairs, tables, keyboards, and computer mice. As there is no guarantee employees already had something like this available, organisations may consider providing employees with a stipend for purchasing the proper work from home gear.
Work from Home Technology
Further, there are issues of technology support and provision. Companies may prefer to provide computers and monitors of their own rather than allowing employees to use personal devices for reasons of security as well as quality and fairness. Questions of internet access will also arise. Does IT become responsible for home broadband? Can employers offer reimbursement for wifi bills?
Changes to Contracts
There is also the consideration of contractual terms and conditions. Working from home is a different type of agreement between employer and employee than in-office work. It’s likely that contracts will have to be adjusted to include clauses about issues such as where and when employees may work, the requirement of breaks, reimbursements of utility costs, supplying of necessary equipment, whose property that equipment will be, compliance with health, safety, and security regulations, and confidentiality.
Insurance
Another issue to consider is related to safety and liability. Will your employees home insurance cover business equipment and safety? Can you provide coverage for your employees’ home offices under your business’s insurance policy or will you have to take out new insurance policies to cover potential theft and damage to company property? What if an employee is in some way injured while working from home?
New Employees
Recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and training will also have to be adjusted to work virtually. Meetings with HR, introductions to team members and management, new employee orientation, check-ins with managers, and training on work tasks themselves will all have to be redesigned to work as smoothly as possible online.
Management
Managers who approach managing a remote team the same way as they did an in-person one will quickly learn that there is no avoiding adjusting one’s management style to these new circumstances. Remote employees require more communication, emotional support and authentic caring, clearer expectations, and more flexibility when it comes to issues like hours versus output. Managers will also have to be careful about treating employees fairly and equally.
Company Culture
Finally, there is the issue of how to maintain social ties virtually. Meeting culture will be changed and new norms will have to be established. Companies who had once prioritised trust and connection among teams and between members of the organisation will have to find new ways to facilitate, encourage, and offer activities for trust-building, team-building, and socializing. Being proactive about preventing employee’s feelings of isolation, loneliness, and burnout will be key.
Ultimately, there are no right answers to these questions and no single correct way to move forward into the new world of long-term work from home arrangements. Just as employees are adjusting and learning as the months go on, so are companies. What is sure is that it will require a healthy dose of flexibility, foresight, and commitment to making things work.