Since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, having hybrid working locations has become the norm. While there are many benefits to working from home, such as increased flexibility, improved productivity and cost savings, it is not without its challenges.
Establishing work-from-home policies and procedures is important to effectively manage employees remotely. In this blog, we will delve into the benefits, challenges and best practices employers can implement to keep employees engaged and productive.
Benefits and Challenges of Working From Home
Benefits of WFH for Employers and Employees
Increased Flexibility and Productivity:
Studies show that employees who work from home benefit greatly from the increased flexibility that working from home gives them. In turn, this increases productivity as employees can work during their most productive hours and have higher focus.
Cost savings on office space:
Moving to a hybrid or permanently remote office helps employers reduce costs on office space. With a hybrid model, employers can implement ‘hot desking’ which allows for multiple employees to utilise the same desk. This helps save costs as companies can share office spaces with another company or have a smaller office.
Broader talent pool access:
When employers implement remote working, it opens them up to greater talent as they can hire the most suitable candidates regardless of where they are located. This will attract a more diverse workforce.
4 Challenges Employers Face with Remote Work
- Ensuring accountability and productivity: As managers are not able to physically manage their remote workers, it can be difficult to maintain and monitor output. Ensuring that tasks are completed on time may also pose a challenge.
- Maintaining team collaboration and engagement: Often maintaining team collaboration and engagement is a crucial part of the company culture and productivity. Without face-to-face interaction, fostering a collaborative environment might be challenging.
- Adapting to legal and operational compliance: Organisations must remain compliant even in remote home office setups and ensuring these are upheld may be challenging.
- Potential cybersecurity risks: Managing secure systems and implementing data protection in remote locations can pose a challenge.
6 Tips to Manage WFH Employees Effectively
1. Setting Clear Expectations
When implementing remote working into a company policy, clear expectations of workers must be set. This ensures that employees know what is expected of them. For example, outlining the work hours, expected response times, KPIs and reporting systems all help to streamline working from home. Outlining how many days they can work from home and how issues can be resolved if any come up is also helpful.
2. Ensuring Compliance with Employment Laws
In Australia, organisations must adhere to workplace compliance laws to ensure workplace safety is upheld even at home. This can look at maintaining the Fair Work Act compliance, work-from-home Policies and workplace health and safety policies.
3. Cybersecurity and Data Protection
There is an increased risk of cyber security threats when organisations have employees working from home as they are not in one centralised space. Here is how organisations can protect themselves:
- Secure Systems: Use VPNs, multi-factor authentication, and endpoint security to protect company data. Storing passwords on a protected third-party platform also adds a layer of security.
- Employee Training: Regularly train staff on identifying phishing scams, safe file-sharing practices, and password hygiene.
- Data Handling Protocols: Outline procedures for accessing, storing, and transferring sensitive information securely.
4. Performance Monitoring and Feedback
It is important to create a culture of accountability without assuming distrust of employees. One way to tackle this is by focusing on results rather than time output or working hours from employees. Another way is to have employees give regular feedback on how they are doing or what they need help with. As an organisation, it is also important to avoid micromanagement as this can create resentment among team members. Instead, organisations should schedule regular meetings to ensure everyone is aligned and check in on the progress of tasks.
5. Supporting Employee Wellbeing
Supporting remote workers’ well-being is key to retention and productivity. As people are working from home, it is important to encourage employees to take breaks and discourage working overtime. Employers can also provide access to mental health care resources.
To create a company culture, having virtual team catch-ups or activities can be one way to engage employees. Alternatively, scheduling outside-of-work activities that employees can attend can also help foster company culture, helping build social interactions and communication across the team.
6. Training and Development
Implementing regular virtual workplace training and development programs is also beneficial for employees who work remotely. This can take place face-to-face or have remote training sessions to improve workforce skills and development.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Managing WFH Teams
Overlooking Employee Wellbeing and Engagement
Failing to prioritise mental health and employee satisfaction can result in burnout, reduced productivity, and increased turnover from remote teams. As such, organisations should make wellbeing a core part of their working-from-home strategy.
Failing to adapt management styles to suit remote work.
Managing employees remotely is very different from in the office. As such, organisations must adapt their management styles, and implement effective human resources to provide support and encourage autonomy.
Neglecting compliance with legal obligations for WFH setups.
Not adhering to health and safety standards or employee entitlements as set out by Australia’s workplace laws can lead to costly penalties. Having regular check-ins and updating policies to ensure compliance is best practice.
Conclusion
Working from home is a great perk organisations can offer employees. It is important when implementing working-from-home policies that organisations take employee wellbeing and productivity into consideration. Businesses can optimise their WFH arrangements to achieve productivity, engagement, and long-term success by clearly outlining expectations and maintaining support.
At EL Blue, as outsourced human resource experts, we understand the challenges and complexities of managing remote teams. Whether you need guidance on creating compliant WFH policies or optimising team performance, our WHS consultants in Sydney and WHS consultants in Perth are here to help.