How can HR overcome Remote working challenges?

Remote work, also known as teleworking, has grown in popularity in recent years, especially because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Only 6% of employees mainly worked from home before the pandemic. By the end of 2023, 25% of professionals are expected to work remotely. Though pandemic situation is controlled to some extent, we can see a emergence of a new trend of hybrid work modal. Long-term expectations about where and how people work have shifted as a result of the pandemic(Howarth, J. 2022).

Research and survey results have proven that many employees prefer a fully-remote work environment. The Pew Research Center reported in early 2022 that 60% of workers prefer to work from home all or most of the time. When compared with year 2020 it is a 6% increase.(Howarth, 2022, Parker et al, Pew Research Centre, 2022). However, many businesses are uneasy with this setup because there not fully adjusted to remote work culture and practices. But many companies seem to be accepted by many companies due to high demand of employees when it comes to work from home culture and also after certain time, businesses identified overcome their insecurities of remote working and identified the advantages.

Employees can certainly benefit from work from home opportunities to balance their professional and personal lives. Employees can concentrate more effectively on plans and make better use of their commute time. Businesses benefit as well because they have to spend less money on office rent and maintenance.

                                           Source: https://explodingtopics.com/blog/remote-work-trends

Employers must prioritize employee well-being in this new work environment as remote work becomes more common. According to Dhandh (2021) and Montclaire State University, here are some HR strategies for promoting employee well-being in a remote work environment:

     1. Create infrastructure to support human capital management.

Human Resource Management(HRM) practices must be adjusted and reshaped  to align with the company remote working culture. One most effective way is installing and utilizing HCM (Human Capital Management), cloud solutions. The set of HR functions in a business can be handled by software called ‘Human Capital Management’.

When it comes to remote working, HR must choose the best suited HRMS system to manage the complete employee life cycle from onboarding activities to resignation procedures. HR software can facilitate cross-company collaboration by allowing managers and employees in offices to easily exchange resources with remote workers. Companies can improve their ability to manage and serve a remote workforce by implementing a variety of HR initiatives.

By using a cloud based HRMS employees can handle many HR activities including following:

• payroll & assistances platform
• Travel and expense management
• Performance appraisals
• Information and analytics management
• Career development training

    2. Providing tools needed for work from home setup.

Even if the employee works remotely, the company must take responsibility of providing necessary tools and devices needed for work from home setup. For a company, providing their employees with the tools they need to complete the task is critical. Some modern companies give facilities to reimburse the entire cost the employees had to spend on setting up work station at home. Cooperating and synchronizing with the remote employees can be difficult and different. Therefore, there should be proper communication methods and tools.

     3. Monitoring Performance of the employees

Companies are often reluctant to enable their employees to work remotely or hybrid work environments due to productivity concerns. This is where the HR department can intervene, and they should establish metrics to assess the performance of remote workers. They should also strategize the remedial action that can follow in order to correct and take them into the correct path.

             4.   Provide a clear work schedule.

When it comes to remote working many employees complain about excessive working hours and having to work overtime. Therefore, HR should provide the employees with a flexible work schedule and should clearly define their working rosters. To support employees' personal responsibilities and needs, provide flexibility in work hours and expectations. Employees should be encouraged to take time off to refresh and distress. These communications can be done when the employees are recruited. When working with international clients there can be different requirements. Therefore, it is ideal to communicate the employees to stay available for clients during defined hours. It is also critical to convey to employees what level of flexibility they have. Employees must notify their managers as soon as they become ill.

         5. balance working culture.

For some employees working from home can be an isolated and confusing experience. If there is a lockdown this can get worse. According to O.C. Tanner's 2022 Global Culture Report, one in every three remote employees has reported feeling disconnected from their leadership teams since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, HR can come up with some events and sessions to make employees engaged with their colleagues more often. Also, HR can organize informal one-on-one meetings with the respective managers in order to distress the employees and understand their mental conditions. Also, HR can organize team building activities often which can be conducted through online communication platforms to make a good bonding between teammates. Employers can encourage workers to feel supported, connected, and involved in their work by putting employee well-being as a top priority, which will increase productivity and retention.

HR management can promote socialization in a remote working environment by making employees engaged in the following activities.

• Having casual video conferences with the colleagues in addition to stressful business discussions
• Organizing virtual concerts with the talents of employees
• Having Virtual Yoga sessions, cooking and crafting classes

          6. Balance between in-office and remote employees

Many industries including the IT sector now promote hybrid working environments. Therefore, they have a mixture of both in-person and remote workforce.  HR should make sure to treat all the employees equally regardless of their current location, nationality, race, in order to make the day-to-day business run effectively.  

            7.  Upgrading Technology of devices

When it comes to IT sector and many other sectors which promote remote working, the devices provided play a crucial role in employee effectiveness and efficiency. Therefore, the companies have to make sure that all the devices, including the computers, mobile phones and tablets are up to date and with the latest software installed. To make sure that all the equipment is examined and can access the internet and any job-specific internal networks while off-site, HR can coordinate with the administrative and IT staff of the company.

Also, when the employees are switching to fully remote or hybrid working model, HR management must assist and guide employees through a remote transition so that they can start the work productively. HR should make sure that all the necessary equipment including laptops, chargers and printers, high-speed internet connection is supplied by the business.

             8. Effective communication

When the workforce is dispersed, it is important to establish a detailed plan for developing culture and transmitting company values. Therefore, HR can send regular updates and reminders via creative emails and also update employee handbook if there are any changes. It's also critical for HR people to make sure they're responding to employee emails and phone calls, because employees don't have the luxury of walking into a physical HR office and seek for immediate solutions. Additionally, HR can send out surveys to employees to better understand their concerns about organizational changes.

By considering above facts in daily work, HR management team can make a change in remote working environment and improve employee productivity and efficiency.

References: 

1. Howarth, J.(2022). 7 Remote Work Trends for 2023-2025. explodingtopics[Online], Available at https://explodingtopics.com/blog/remote-work-trends, Accessed on 2nd March 2023.

2. Dhandh, D.(2021). Remote Work Strategies for Human Resource Management. Manilarecruitment[Online], Available at https://manilarecruitment.com/manila-recruitment-articles-advice/remote-work-strategies-for-human-resource-management/, Accessed on 10th March 2023

3. Montclaire State University, Feliciano Business School. 10 Challenges Faced by HR as a Result of Increasingly Remote Work Cultures, Available at https://onlinemba.montclair.edu/10-challenges-faced-by-hr-as-a-result-of-increasingly-remote-work-cultures/, Accessed on 3rd March 2023.