Should you require your employees to return to work in the office? Is a hybrid work-from-home/ work-in-the-office schedule okay? As an HR consultant, I often field this question from business owners who want to address the issue of unproductive employees working from home but don’t know where to start.
Are your employees productive when working at home? Let’s dive in…
Studies suggest that about 56% of global companies let employees work remotely. Roughly 16% enable them to work remotely full-time, while approximately 40% allow them to work this way at least part of the time.
Authorizing your team to work elsewhere at least part of the time could significantly reduce your company’s need for office space. This alone could save you money monthly without sacrificing productivity.
Before taking this step, be sure you know how to go about managing remote workers effectively. We’ve put together some tips below.
Outline Expectations for Remote Workers
Managing remote workers should start with you getting on the same page regarding your company’s expectations. If you fail to take this step, you shouldn’t blame your employees if they are confused about what is and isn’t allowed while working remotely.
Provide your company’s employees with an overview of your work-from-home (WFH) policy. You should also set them up with remote work productivity strategies to motivate them to work hard, no matter where they are.
Establish Clear Communication Plans
Working remotely is possible today because it is easier than ever for a company’s employees and their managers to keep in touch from almost anywhere in the world. Take advantage of this by reviewing virtual team communication best practices and creating surefire communication strategies specific to your company.
Invest in the following collaboration tools for distributed teams to make communicating simple:
- Slack
- Zoom
- Trello
- Microsoft Teams
- Google Drive
Come up with ways to check whether workers are communicating effectively enough. If they routinely skip virtual meetings or fail to participate during them, this might be sufficient reason to reconsider your WFH policy.
Figure Out Effective Methods for Monitoring a Remote Team
Monitoring remote teams might seem daunting for some companies, especially when dozens of people (if not more!) work from different locations. However, certain tools make performance monitoring and feedback possible.
Still, you don’t want to overdo it and make your workers feel like you’re breathing down their necks. This could cause issues with work-life balance for remote employees and leave them feeling burned out at times.
Rather than constantly checking up on them to ensure they’re working, give them goals to reach or, at the very least, hours they must work and trust them to do their jobs.
Continue Creating a Strong Company Culture and Include WFH Workers
Critics of WFH policies argue that they destroy the company culture of many businesses. However, you don’t have to let this happen if you allow employees to work from home or other locations.
Holding virtual or in-person events will maintain employee engagement in remote settings. They will keep workers more connected despite their distance.
Need Help Managing Remote Workers? Find Out How We Can Help
Managing remote workers presents its fair share of challenges, but that doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the many benefits it will provide for your company. If your company is deciding whether to require employees to return to the office or let them continue working from home, 45 Solutions can help. We will create tailored solutions for your RTO plan.
Book a call with me to get started.
