How HR Solutions Can Enable Your Remote Workers Both In & Out Of Office
Managers — along with the rest of the business world — found themselves in uncharted waters when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The challenges of managing the needs of a large and diverse office were made only more difficult by the fact that virtually no one was in the same place. Even though many employees adapted to remote working with no trouble, others struggled to cope with the new reality. HR representatives had to deal with a new set of issues as their jobs shifted from dealing with their traditional duties to keeping the virtual office together.
Now that restrictions are being relaxed, however, business owners and management are faced with the new challenge of dealing with a hybrid structure. This means some employees are in the office while others continue to work from home. What follows are some tips HR professionals and managers can use to help maintain a harmonious workplace even though it may spread outside the confines of the traditional office.
Stay in Touch
With numerous coworkers in so many locations, communication is more important than ever. Human resources representatives and managers need to be able to check in with all employees, regardless of where they work. Adopting a “no news is good news” outlook could result in people feeling abandoned or disconnected from the rest of their team.
Stress Work-Life Balance
One of the early concerns about remote working was that employees would be tempted to slack off during work hours. However, without the normal boundaries between work and home, many people reported feeling burned out because they tended to keep working around the clock. Therefore, it’s important for HR to remind employees to punch out at the designated time even if they don’t need to commute. This is necessary for them to recharge so they can come back to the job refreshed and enthusiastic to contribute.
Centralize Employee Relations
In the traditional office structure, many leaders relied on spreadsheets and email chains to manage employee relations issues. This won’t work in the new hybrid system because it means important information remains siloed and can’t be analyzed easily. Adopting a centralized human resource solutions platform can solve this issue by collecting information about all employee cases in one place. It also provides tools for analytics so leaders can make more-informed decisions. It all adds up to providing professionals with a simple way to organize everything they need to deal with employee issues, no matter where they are.
The traditional model of the office experienced a tremendous upheaval in 2020, and it’s currently going through another. Business owners and managers who follow these tips stand a better chance of keeping everything running smoothly no matter what comes next.