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How Do You Get the Most Out of Remote Work?
When the pandemic unexpectedly pushed employees out of the office in March 2020, many employers believed they’d be back at their desks in just a few short weeks. Over time, however, it became clear that companies would need to adjust to a new reality and adopt a new way of working if they were going to survive.
From economists to CEOs, everyone wondered how it would all work out. Would productivity drop drastically? Would employees be distracted and disengaged? Would work hours get longer now that commutes were cut out? There were so many questions.
Now, the results are finally in. Since remote employees have been working offsite for more than three years, enough data has been collected to draw statistically significant conclusions about the efficacy of remote work.
In most cases, workers are more productive when working from home. Employees have a better work-life balance, and report feeling less stress and improved morale. Absence rates and sick days are lower amongst remote workers–and employees are more engaged overall.
For employers (and HR professionals), remote work means a larger talent pool (since you can hire from anywhere) and lower overhead costs.
Due to these overwhelmingly positive results, some estimate that 70% of the workforce will work remotely at least five days a month by 2025.
Thankfully, as a result of those three years of data collection and experimentation, there is also a blueprint for setting up a successful remote business. Now, there is plenty of information out there about what works and what doesn’t when it comes to managing a virtual workforce.
Read on to find our tips for getting the most out of remote work at your organization.
Figure Out Which Policy Work Best for You
Every business is unique, which means that remote work setups look a little different at each company. Some organizations opt for a “remote-first” model in which working remotely is the primary option for most or all employees. Instead of working from a centralized office, employees are expected to work from another location, such as a home office or coworking space.
Other organizations take the opposite approach with an office-first or office-based model. Companies that operate on this model tend to believe that physical distance is an obstacle to successful team collaboration.
Finally, some organizations fall somewhere in between, working via a hybrid work model that supports a blend of in-office, remote, and on-the-go workers. Be sure to carefully explore each model and choose the one that best fits the needs of your business and employees.
Click here to find out how.
Create a Clear Communication Strategy
When employees work remotely, it becomes more difficult for team members to communicate about deliverables, project scopes, deadlines, and more. And, it becomes especially challenging to have those organic, impromptu conversations that only happen in the office (and that play a key role in relationship-building and culture).
To build a successful remote work program, it’s not only critical to provide employees with the tools necessary to do their jobs and communicate effectively (i.e. Slack, email, Zoom), but it’s also important to create a clear policy around how each of those tools should be used. Ultimately, it’s about carving out pathways for employees so they can have the interactions they need to be successful (even those casual “watercooler” chats).
Honor the Weekly Team Meeting
Even though it might seem excessive, weekly (or even daily) virtual check-ins between managers and team members can drive positive outcomes when it comes to remote work. Consistent interaction and collaboration like this have been proven to make employees feel more motivated, included, and valued—and create a dedicated space where employees can flag issues or get answers to their most pressing questions.
Virtual team meetings also help employees build connections and learn how to cooperate with one another. Be sure to mandate recurring meetings of some kind on every single team to get the most out of your remote workforce–but do so tactfully. Employees can develop Zoom fatigue if they spend too many hours in video meetings.
Focus on Onboarding
Employees’ onboarding experiences are reliable indicators of their long-term relationship with a company. That means, creating a quality remote onboarding program could be the difference between keeping or losing key remote employees. When hiring remotely, you can’t be there in person to answer new employees’ questions or help them acclimate to the new company culture, making effective onboarding more important than ever before.
Prior to day one, be sure that new employees get any technology and tools necessary so you can get them up and running (and comfortable) on company systems as soon as possible. Over the course of onboarding, be sure to create opportunities for them to form new, strong relationships across the organization, and ensure they have an understanding of the culture and how work gets done. A great remote onboarding program sets clear expectations around company policy and connects the individual’s work to the broader organizational mission, vision, and goals.
Click here for more tips on setting up a successful remote onboarding program.
Screen Candidates More Thoroughly
Hybrid work makes it more difficult to screen candidates effectively and retain candidates over time–both of which increase overall HR risk (i.e. threats to workplace safety or turnover). As a result, companies across the country are bolstering their defenses by intensifying their pre-employment screening processes. Employers are turning to best-in-class background screening services, like S2Verify, to confidently hire remote employees and protect their brand, people, and assets.
Get In the Habit of Measuring Everything
When managing a remote workforce, you can’t monitor productivity, engagement, and effort via in-person interactions like you used to. Simply put, working from home makes it more difficult to spot a dysfunctional team and the impending threats they pose to the organization.
Instead, employers should encourage managers and their team members to create measurable goals with clear metrics around everything they do–and share the results publicly within the company. This practice creates a sort of heat map around what teams are thriving and what teams are at risk–so you can focus your attention where it matters. Plus, it creates more accountability for all remote team members and gives them something tangible to work towards.
Amplify Recognition
Recognition motivates employees and offers an example of positive behaviors for other coworkers to emulate. Recognition doesn’t always have to be monetary; public acknowledgment, tokens of appreciation, high-visibility development opportunities, and low-cost perks go a long way in keeping remote workers engaged.
Address Burnout
During the pandemic, employee burnout reached an all-time high across the country due to the increased working hours (and fewer boundaries), hours spent on video conferences, loneliness, and more factors associated with working from home. In order to drive a successful remote work program at your organization and prevent burnout-induced turnover, it’s essential to create a healthy work environment for your employees. Though there are many ways to do just that, consider sprucing up your PTO offering, creating a mandatory hard-stop at the end of the day, or even shortening the work week to give employees some much needed rest.
For more best practices for getting the most out of your remote program, tune in tomorrow for another episode of America Back to Work: Expert Interview Series.
Our very own chief strategy officer (and former U.S. Secret Service agent), Arnette Heintze, sits down with Shane Spraggs, CEO of Virtira. For more than 25 years, Spraggs has been driving successful projects for a variety of notable media and software startups, and some of the world’s largest brands, including Disney. As CEO of Virtira, Shane’s focus on process improvement has generated immense value for our Fortune 100 clients, and he plays a vital role in developing and implementing cutting-edge systems and strategies that consistently boost the productivity of their remote-based teams.
During the last two years, Shane and Virtira executive chair Cynthia Watson have been working together to develop and document remote workplace best practices. Their transformative research is featured in their book “The Power of Remote,” published through Forbes Books in 2023.