Building an internal culture is particularly challenging for remote managers, who may not be able to see their team in person on a daily basis. But human resource managers can mitigate this by using video conferencing, for example, to hold team meetings and check in with employees, hosting virtual happy hours, and creating other opportunities for team bonding.
Evaluating compensation based not only on cost of living, but based on the cost of living by geographic area for a dispersed workforce. While we may want to be able to adjust salaries based on location, compensation is much more likely to be driven by our competitors. Because many companies, especially those in the tech sector like Facebook, have shifted to a remote work model, retaining and recruiting highly skilled employees is going to depend on what you have to offer. From an employee perspective, they’re performing their job just as well and just as productively as they did when in office. If their position becomes 100% remote and they choose to move to a location that has a lower cost of living, how will this be received? This can directly impact retention and recruitment, which is already challenging in our current labor market.
Although the remote work environment has provided employees with increased flexibility, it has been difficult for HR departments to keep company employees actively engaged. Without proper communication policies and technological resources in place, companies are seeing less face to face contact with HR departments and senior leaders, along with lower productivity overall. To combat this, companies should consider developing a workforce mobile application that will allow employees to consistently connect from any region or location.
Human resource managers accustomed to working on-site can face challenges transitioning to new processes that accommodate the remote workforce. They need to adjust how they source, interview, and retain top talent in a remote environment. Human resource managers must also consider time zones, technical issues, and how to assess if candidates can work effectively in a virtual setting.
Performance management across hybrid and remote teams may be challenging. Performance is one of the most important metrics to follow within any business size. It reflects not only the quality of work but also employee engagement and satisfaction. 360-degree feedback helps individual employees gain insights into which aspects of their work they need to improve upon. This anonymous feedback typically comes from those working around the employee, including managers, teammates, and direct reports. However, in a hybrid-remote workspace, gathering insightful feedback will require HR managers to use a more holistic approach by including quantitative and qualitative answers. The questions you can ask should range from how well the team member prioritizes their workload to whether they embody the company values. A well-structured 360-degree review is a more holistic approach to helping employees know what actions to take to improve their performance and find more fulfillment in their work.
Having both in-office and remote employees means that your methods of communication have to be worked out to a tee. The last thing you want is for important information, notices, and meetings to be lost somewhere along the way so having multiple ways in which to communicate these important notices is the way to go. Technology can really be used to your advantage, allowing you to communicate in one of the several work communication platforms out there, through email, a company digital calendar, and diligent calendar invites. You want to make sure you provide your employees with the tools they need for success whether their remote or working in person.
One of the biggest obstacles human resource managers face with the rise of remote work is creating a sense of camaraderie, community, and cohesive company culture. Often, work from home employees report feeling lonely and disconnected from coworkers and the company. Luckily, facilitating ongoing virtual team building through methods such as Zoom events and asynchronous Slack icebreakers can help breed a sense of belonging and employee loyalty. Here are suggestions for virtual team building activities: https://teambuilding.com/blog/virtual-team-building-activities
Burnout is one of the biggest obstacles human resource managers may face with an increasing amount of work-from-home options. Remote employees are most apt to feel isolated, and there is more of a blurred line between work and free time. When employees don't feel the same connection and support from their coworkers, they can lose motivation and burn out. Finding ways to support employees create boundaries between work and home life and utilizing creative ways to help employees feel connected will be the key to preventing burnout.
Employees want more flexibility than ever before. If your company does not offer the option to work from home, you might limit your pool of candidates. In this case it's important to set up good systems and processes to handle remote employees. It does not have to be more difficult than in-person management.
CMO at The Ridge Wallet
Answered 4 years ago
Employee engagement has become a top challenge in the world of HR. With employees working from home, it makes it much more difficult to make employees feel like they're part of a community and getting involved in the company culture is much more difficult as well. Virtual engagement is a relatively new thing for those in HR, so finding the perfect engagement tactics may take some time and effort. It is a challenge to keep remote work as satisfying as possible when you cannot meet with people in person and discuss how they're feeling. Even over a Zoom call, it is not the same as meeting in person.
A sense of connection can be one of the biggest obstacles for HR managers in today's remote work-from-home environment. There is no true replacement for face-to-face interactions despite the leaps and bounds in technology. In face to face environment, you can read body language, hear inflections and get a better understanding of how a person is doing and who they are, which is still limited by screen interaction.
While work from home has a number of benefits for employee wellbeing, there's no denying that it certainly dampens engagement rates, at least in the beginning. HR managers and team leaders need to work twice as hard to keep employee isolation at bay and come up with new and innovative strategies to keep their teams connected and motivated. The initial transition may lead to employees feeling out of touch with their peers or not as accountable as they used to be, which in turn affects their productivity too.
As we see more employers transitioning to a long-term work from home culture, we are also seeing a new level of burnout among employees that inevitably impacts the workflow of HR managers and the resources they can provide employees. Today’s employees are experiencing heightened burnout due to increased work hours and more limited childcare options, leaving the need for HR managers to place greater focus on employee mental health, the integration of inclusive but potentially costly Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), and employee retention efforts. While burnout has long been an issue in the American workforce, the integration of hybrid and remote workforces is changing how HR professionals must approach and manage employee needs and the human resources available to them.