Remote work is just getting started
I think it's fair to say that the world has been turned upside down the past few weeks. No one would have predicted that a virus would shut down the world's economy. However, adversity brings opportunity. For many companies, this is their first time being forced into a remote-only working environment. Some might bemoan not being able to work in person, but companies that embrace it will not only survive this pandemic, but come out stronger than ever before.
It's not just my opinion that remote work is advantageous to your workforce, but the statistics back it up.
76% of workers would be more willing to stay with their current employer if they could work flexible hours.
Companies allowing remote work have 25% lower employee turnover than those that don't.
People who work remotely at least once a month are 24% more likely to be happy and productive.
Now, I'm not saying after the pandemic subsides you should close down all your offices and have everyone work from home, but if you don't have a remote-friendly HR policy, you should reconsider. Being remote friendly is a good way to differentiate yourself from other organizations by showing future employees that your company trusts the people they hire. Maybe I've convinced you to adopt an HR-friendly remote work policy. Where can you start?
Work from home once a week
An easy way to start is by telling workers that they can work from home once a week. As an employer, you can choose a specific day or give flexibility to your employees. Employees will love this because it'll also give them time to do activities that they might not be able to do during the week. This could be something like going to the doctor or spending more time with their spouse.
Forty percent of employees believe the biggest benefit to remote work is a flexible schedule.
Invest in digital communication tools like Zoom
It's important to upgrade your infrastructure and not just be relying on traditional tools such as email and phone calls. This means investing in digital communication tools like Zoom or Slack. If you want to be adventurous there are newer tools such as Threads and Around that have a unique, interesting value proposition. These tools don't just help your company communicate, but forces your team to be more intentional in the way they interact.
For the past five years, Don Pawlowski, chief technology officer of University Tees, has built a foundation that allows his team to succeed whether they are doing their work in the office or outside of it. He shared with me how his team has succeeded with this policy.
"One of the best places to get consecutive hours of uninterrupted concentration time is at home. The office is full of distractions. The fact is my team gets more work done when they are at home. However, we have to be deliberate about embracing work from home. That means deciding to always reach for your asynchronous communication tool instead of chatting with the people around you when you have a question or need to convey a piece of information. In addition to the tools above, we use Basecamp for asynchronous discussions. Forcing team members to communicate via the written word in a tool like Basecamp not only made for a better work from home experience, it drastically improved our ability to communicate as a team. Also, video calls are important. We are humans and we need to see other humans. But be careful how you embrace this. When there are six people in a conference room and one remote person tied to video chat, the communication is hard. That is one thing we have discussed changing on our team. We started talking about a one person, one screen rule. Meaning, everyone grabs a computer for the conference call, even if you are in the same room. We, of course, are forced to do that now and I can already tell how much better video chatting with a group of people has become. If you remember to make deliberate decisions about working from home, I trust you will have much success."
If you want to hire the next generation of talent, having HR policies such as remote-friendly will be a strong indicator to show that you not only trust your employees, but are embracing the future of work. For some people they might look at coronavirus as a thorn in their organization, but for others this could just be the catalyst needed to transform their workforce.