Five Practical Tips to Enable Remote Work and Work from Home in Your Organization

Businesses are forced to re-evaluate the way they do business amidst the global pandemic.  Most companies are transitioning their operations, implementing an indefinite work-from-home or remote work scheme as a precautionary measure, and ensuring that work will still progress amidst this health issue. Other companies who came in prepared however are forced to shut down until they are able to cope with the situation.  

For companies that are in the process of formulating and implementing their work-from-home policies, and for those fine-tuning their existing ones, this pandemic is an eye-opener on the inevitability of the future of work: remote work or work from home setup is indispensable which gives rise to concerns around productivity, time management, and effective collaboration. 

In a recent webinar we conducted, we consulted with experts on best practices in setting up remote work.  

Trish Surema, International Recruiter for Microsoft Asia Pacific; Nikkie Parnala, HR Lead of Tech One Philippines, and Lars Jeppesen, CEO and Co-Founder of Tech One Global weigh in on this topic and share their learnings in a recent informational webinar that can be accessed here. 

Here are key takeaways from their talks: 

Tip #1: Educating and Engaging Employees Requires HR Strategy  

The Role of HR is changing from administrative to strategic. More than just processing payroll, prioritizing recruitment or drafting a policy, HR is a business partner balancing stakeholders and employee interests. 

There is a need to bring in human resources to give clarity and support to employees. HR practitioners should expand and begin the conversation on how to make sure that everyone in the organization remains motivated. Giving updates on how the recent happening can affect their roles and the organization as well. HR practitioners should have the “employees first” mindset. 

Keeping the employees and the entire organization informed of management directives can reduce the feeling of uncertainty.  

Tip #2: Position Work from Home as an Employee Benefit 

Today’s workforce sees flexible work arrangements as a plus to taking on a job offer. For employees, this provides less stress on commuting and gives them more time with their families. This attracts the millennial workforce and increases the brand reputation of the company. Not to mention, this remote work setup can also increase savings on operational costs such as electricity, office space rent, transportation, etc.  

In times when full remote setup is required, organizations that have these policies in place are able to adjust with agility without compromising productivity. Eventually, this can increase the morale of the employees and lead to heighten employee retention and job satisfaction. However, this remote work setup may not be applicable to all industries. Management and HR must be hand in hand in evaluating the feasibility of this setup.  

Tip #3 Keep the team’s trust and let them feel empowered 

It is vital to keep the trust of both employees and employers in this remote work setup. HR personnel and department heads should consider a weekly goal or target and be more goal-oriented to give the employees the opportunity to show their impact. So long as tools are available and tasks are well-defined, productivity and quality of work should never be a concern. Giving the employees the flexibility to have an output-based set up instead of a day-to-day provides fulfillment and satisfaction to the workforce while also having quality outcomes for the company. 

Tip #4 Digitize HR Functions in The Work-From-Home Scheme

While it is true that in HR there are functions that can be done better face-to-face but there are facets that can definitely be done digitally. There are still facets of HR that cannot be digitize, but for those functions such as administrative, records keeping, recruitment, there is a compelling need to digitize. The future of HR is digital.  

HR Documents should be digitized and securely accessible through a document management system. Processes such as approval routing and requests can be automated through workflow automation. For recruitment, interviews, and screenings can actually be done through virtual calls or emails. It’s a win-win situation for candidates and HR. It cuts down travel time for candidates, and recruiters are able to alleviate the administrative burdens and reduce recruitment costs. 

Learn more about Enadoc, a document management solution for HR here. 

Tip #5 Communicate Well Crafted Work-From-Home Policies from the Top

Communication is a must in a remote work setup. Town hall meetings or daily huddles via teleconferencing are a way to start this off and set the ground for the entire workforce. During these meetings, it is essential to discuss the initiatives that the company is doing, what are the policies in place, insurance, and the expectations from the employees and clients. There is a need to make the employees understand that there is also a mission to do. Employers must send the impression to the organization that this situation is manageable. 

It is also a must that the policies and plans in place are fully evaluated by the management based on industry, and business type to ensure the sustainability of the business. Cascading should include equipment for the employees, software, tools, and applications. 

If you don’t have the right communication app yet, check our MS Teams, they’re giving our free 6-month trial for organizations here. 

Bonus Tip #1 Check in with partners and clients 

If your business is service-related, the relationship is the key to success! Have a check-in with clients to see how they’re doing and how the company can be of help to them. As for Tech One Global, a technology solutions company, the best practice is that management and associates assist their clients in moving applications and documents to the cloud or provide them with collaboration tools and solutions needed for the workplace.

Bonus Tip #2 Start your Digital Transformation Roadmap 

Use technology to drive employee engagement even in a remote setup. While there are authorities who are taking care of mitigating the spread of the coronavirus, it is also important to consider that natural or man-made disasters may also strike like fire or earthquake. Technology is there to make sure employees are utilizing this and productivity is at hand. Tools like Microsoft Teams, Enadoc, Flowdoh, and MiHCM can help organizations shift to work-from-home.  

The transition may not be as easy, for sure. Worry not! We’d love to guide you in this digital transformation journey. Click this link and let’s get this started today!