Across the board, preparing and protecting the workforce during this period of remote operations is critical to sustaining business continuity. (Photo: Shutterstock)
For some workers, the flexibility of working from home is a relief–a way to make sure the kids get picked up on time or avoiding the usual commute. For others, the comforts of home make working more enjoyable and more productive. For others, it can be difficult to get past the distractions of home, be it pets, kids or just a lack of comfortable seating.
But in our current situation, non-essential workers have been mandated to adopt a work from home model as the world practices social distancing, and it is widely unknown how long this period will last. This has created a business continuity challenge that is proving stressful to employees and employers alike. A few of the most pressing challenges including keeping yourself and your teams engaged, maintaining communication and managing security risks that could appear with online systems–especially those designed without considering the eccentricities of remote work.
It's important to remember that work-from-home transition isn't easy for all employees, and most are unprepared to work remotely. HR managers will need to think of ways to keep employees engaged, productive and protected in a time where there is so much background noise that could get in the way, our new remote reality is challenging business as usual. These are a few tips and best practices that can help you (and your team) get through this flux period:
|1. Communication/managing remote teams
Working remotely can make communication a challenge. For most, a mindset change will be necessary for effective online collaboration. A recent survey revealed that more than one in five employees feel their team members lack the skills and habits need to work from home effectively. However, strong management can reduce these qualms and set teams on a path to successful collaboration.
HR managers should implement an appropriate communications policy to ensure employees are aware of company changes and updates and set clear remote work expectations. These should all be administered in the most secure, traceable fashion. Messages shared via a Learning Management System provide an update on who has opened it, and many email providers will allow you to share a setting that alerts the sender if the email has been opened.
It is equally critical to touch base with employees versus multiple means of communication (face-to-face and voice-to-voice) to frequently check in with employees and foster a sense of connectedness. It is easy for employees to start to feel distant or disconnected from their teams. According to research firm Gartner, loneliness is a major factor in employee burnout and increases an employee's likelihood to report being exhausted by work. This is why it is critical to engage employees in more social, conversational manner. Simply asking about their day, family or dinner plans can serve as a reminder that we are all people before employees.
|2. Security risks
The increase in remote workers can also lead to heightened security risks and vulnerabilities. HR managers should work with the IT department to limit corporate network access by deploying secure cloud applications.
Employees will be using their personal Wi-Fi networks, which are more susceptible to attack. Additionally, for employers that do not provide devices to their teams the risks increase as people begin using personal devices. The best advice to combat these threats is to invest in secure cloud apps and leveraging technologies that allow organizations to securely manage company-owned and employee-owned devices. For example; Mobile Device Management technology can allow organizations to support a "bring your own device" strategy, while still providing mechanisms to lock down and erase proprietary company data from a lost or stolen device.
If possible, companies should see if they have access to any advanced security like biometric authentication, locking out workers on leave and audit trails. These features are often available in a "common place," like an LMS, where teams can store resources. Ensuring your organization is equipped with a space like this will not only improve the security of your business, it will provide more granular control over versioning, allow for less conflict and chance for miscommunications between team members and give employees a sense of comfort that they are keeping things where they need to be and can be held accountable for completing things on time and having a transparent receipt of it being done.
|3. Training, learning and development
HR managers should work with directly with employees, over phone or video chat, to identify opportunities for new skills training, as well as learning and development. Investing in reskilling employees to handle technology advancements and work in a remote environment. Research from Skillsoft actually found that thought millennials spend on average 35 hours a week on digital media, 58 percent of them report having low skills in using technology to problem-solve. With time and investment, this skills gap could be remedied. In fact, the same study found 85 percent of companies who invest in a modern learning and design strategy see almost immediate improvement in productivity.
It is equally important to put the time and energy into showing employees you have their best interests in mind and work with them to find a career path they are interested in and provide the resources to bring that dream to life. A study by Gallup even revealed managers invested in taking the time to build trust and authentic relationships with their employees contribute 48 percent higher profits to companies. Taking the time to will not only increase morale and upskill your workforce, it will encourage retention.
Across the board, preparing and protecting the workforce during this period of remote operations is critical to sustaining business continuity. Communication, risk management and training are just a few of the challenges mangers will run into during this time wide-spread remote work. If managed properly, this could be the beginning of a new era of work that provides employees and employers more autonomy than ever before.
Dan Boccabella is vice president of product management for SumTotal Systems, a Skillsoft Company.
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