Companies like Facebook and Twitter have moved to a permanent remote working environment for employees who want it and number of HR leaders saying that their organization’s employees will be allowed to work from the comfort of their beds and sweatpants even after the vaccine rollout. At this point, it’s clear that remote working isn’t just tenable in the short term, but it’s becoming an increasingly popular way for employees to work.
Unfortunately, not every business at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was set up to allow for remote work. With HR managers thrust into the world of managing corporate compliance and relieving pain points in employees who weren’t in the office, many HR professionals are still wondering how to manage a workforce they can’t physically interact with.
So, let’s take a look at how you can organize your remote workforce, and minimize the risks that come with remote working.
Make Sure Employees are Equipped
Employees won’t always have everything they need for work at home. You can’t assume that every employee has a camera for virtual meetings or a computer powerful enough to run the software suites they need for their job role.
Having the right equipment to do the job can mean the difference between a frustrated employee who always has Boredpanda open in their browser and someone productive, happy, and cracks jokes in meetings.
Promote Communication
Employees who are working at home can’t just drop into the HR office when they need help or support, nor can they head over to their coworkers’ desks to ask a question. So, you need to make sure that employees know how to get in touch with others, that communication lines are kept open, and that there’s regular dialogue between themselves and their managers and coworkers.
A big risk for employees working at home is that they find themselves isolated, which can have a significant impact on their productivity and mental health. Helping them stay connected is just one way you can support your employees who are working remotely.
Re-Evaluate Working Processes
When you’re new to working remotely, chances are that a lot of your old processes aren’t going to work anymore. Your end-of-the-week Friday catchup will have a different atmosphere now that it’s not at your preferred coffee shop, and your employees will also be juggling other non-work responsibilities.
The significant risk here is that you could alienate your employees and introduce additional stress by forcing them to adhere to work processes that haven’t been adapted for remote working life. To avoid this, reconsider if you need to keep those processes in place or if, for the time being, it’s best to let them go.
Consider e-Learning
Just because employees aren’t in the office, that doesn’t mean their career aspirations are on hold, nor that they don’t need the same level of support. When employees aren’t physically present, there’s a greater risk of disengagement, lower productivity, and feelings of isolation.
Every employee has areas of improvement, which is why training opportunities are so important in the workplace. That’s why you should consider using a learning management system, or LMS, to help your remote employees access online courses to help them improve in their role while they’re away from the office.
Not only will this improve their productivity and efficiency, but it also offers a significant benefit to feelings of inclusion, mental wellbeing, and support, making your employees less of a flight risk.
Curious About Online Courses?
If you want to support your remote workers with e-learning, then look no further than Coursy. As L&D specialists, we’ve developed an all-in-one training tool that lets you build your own online courses. Whether you need your HR managers to build corporate compliance courses or you want to create learning tools that help your employees address areas of improvement, Coursy is the tool for you.
It’s also a brilliant tool for digitizing your review process. Whether you use 360 feedbacks or traditional performance reviews, Coursy’s overview feature gives you much-needed insight into your employees’ progress even while they’re working remotely.
To learn more about how Coursy can empower your remote employees, let our folks give you a quick demo.
