Blog 2 - Overcoming the HR challenges of a remote workforce
Overcoming the HR challenges of a remote workforce
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| Figure 01 - Remote workplace |
What is remote workforce?
A remote workforce is a group of employees
within an organization who primarily work off-site from a location other than a
traditional office. In some companies, all employees work remotely, an approach
sometimes referred to as “remote only.” Others allow most employees to
primarily work from another location, but still may have a few people who are
regularly required to perform their jobs from a centralized office. This
approach is known as “remote-first.”
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| Figure 02 - Remote workplaces |
What are the challenges of managing a remote team?
Many of the challenges involved in managing
remote employees are rooted in the lack of physical, in-person interaction. This
makes it more difficult for team leaders and others to "read the
room" and spot warning signals of typical workplace difficulties like poor
morale, burnout, interpersonal conflict, miscommunication, and lack of
communication.
Common remote workforce management challenges
include:
1.
Boosting
employee engagement and happiness
2.
Communication
3.
Maintaining
optimum productivity
4. Maintaining company culture.
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| Figure 03 - Communication challenges |
1.
Boosting
employee engagement and happiness
Managing and increasing employee engagement can be difficult enough, especially given the wide range of personal characteristics among employees as different people want different things from their employer. When your workforce is remote, this adds an extra layer of complexity. For example, remote working can cause:
- Employees to feel disconnected from their employers
- Managers may find it more challenging to detect when their direct reports are struggling
- Employees may not feel like they’re receiving the right level of support
- Managers may struggle to offer the right level of support
2.
Communication
Over-communication (such as constantly checking in on a project status),
miscommunication or people being left out (even incidentally) of an
information-sharing loop.
3.
Maintaining
optimum productivity
Remote workers may be more likely to deal with interruptions or other
distractions in their daily routine, especially if they work from home. These
could include children or family members, home maintenance or chores, street
noise and many other possible sources of distraction.
4.
Maintaining
company culture
Cultural differences are pretty common amongst remote teams, and they can broadly impact the organization and its outcome. Since the hiring process isn’t bound by location, employees will often find themselves working with people of all different backgrounds. Therefore, developing a sense of cross-cultural awareness becomes crucial while working remotely (Kutsenko, 2020).
Best practices for managing remote employees
3. Invest in technology: Giving remote workers dynamic, easy-to-use tools for meeting, sharing information and all other aspects of their daily routines.
4. Celebrate achievements.
5. Make time for social interaction: Virtual game nights or happy hours, are relatively easy to put together on the same platforms that use for business.
6. Trust people: Focusing more on results than on “desk time.”
References
Kutsenko, A., 2020. HR.
[Online]
Available at: https://www.hrcloud.com/blog/6-hr-challenges-to-managing-remote-teams-and-how-to-avoid-them
[Accessed 27 4 2022].
Chow, J., 2022. Remote team management: How to combat communication challenges. [Online]
Available at: https://www.sorryonmute.com
[Accessed 28 4 2022].
Remote working is good practice. But some job function it can not applying. Like marketing, recovery.
ReplyDeletePrasad I think remote working can be applied very easily for marketing and recovery using digital platforms. Isn't it ?
DeleteManaging a remote workforce has seldom been a simple task. Particularly for HR directors and managers who have to consider policies and procedures alongside personal conflicts and changes to office culture/dynamics.
ReplyDeleteNicely explained.
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ReplyDeleteManaging a remote workforce has always been a challenge. Your article clearly describes the challenge and best practices that can be adopted by organizations. Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteRemote working expands the range of possibilities for how firms might operate and structure themselves. With the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, home working has allowed some employers the flexibility they need to keep their businesses running while prioritizing employee and customer health as part of their public health responsibilities.
ReplyDeleteRemote workforce is the best practice and its benificts and challenges explained in this article. Good points to any organization .good luck
ReplyDeleteRemote working practices started in Sri Lanka with effect of Covid 19 pendamic where other countries already started considering pros and cons of same.
ReplyDeleteWell discussed.
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ReplyDeleteIt's never been simple to manage a scattered workforce. Especially for HR directors and managers who must strike a balance between legislation and procedures and human conflicts and shifts in business culture and dynamics.
ReplyDeleteTo encourage remote workers and engage in modernization, corporate leaders can employ a variety of tactics. Such as adopting a new perspective on security, developing a strong virtual company culture, helping employees achieve a healthy work-life balance etc.
DeleteIn the prsent context most of the organaization are used the method of work from home.Remote working is likely to the same process in some extent.Adopting new methods to achive organizational goal is very important and you have clearly expained challenges and remidies for those challenges.well done.It is a great atricle.
ReplyDeleteThis article clearly explained what is remote work place and how to handle challenges involve with it. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteThis blog clearly described how HR is facing to managing remote workforce, especially in the current pandemic situation. Through this article I have identified several facts to overcome the HR challenges of a remote workforce such as Increasing employee satisfaction and engagement, consistent communication, maintaining peak performance, training and development should be priorities and maintaining the corporate culture. Excellent article.
ReplyDeleteManaging a dispersed workforce has never been easy. Especially for HR directors and managers who must find a balance between legal requirements and human disputes, as well as changes in business culture and dynamics. sticle does a good job of explaining how to deal with such supervisors.
ReplyDelete