Before 2020, remote work was far from the norm. But following the COVID-19 lockdowns, employers started toying with the idea of remote work. And many of the employees who tried working remotely for the first time quickly realized they didn’t want to spend 40 hours a week in the office.
Subsequently, employers had to rethink the traditional workplace. Many began supporting remote workers in a bid to attract and retain talent. As a result, about 5 million Canadians were working from home only a year after the pandemic.
The Problem with Remote Work
Talent attraction and retention aside, remote work only makes sense to the employer if working from home does not compromise productivity. The debate is still out on whether remote workers are more, equally, or less productive than in-office workers. Earlier surveys would suggest that remote workers were more productive, but more recent scientific findings seem to prove otherwise.
What’s clear is that hybrid work is the best overall compromise on matters of productivity and employee satisfaction. Also, the success of a hybrid or remote work environment relies heavily on how you solve these four pain points:
Communication and Collaboration Barriers
Communication and collaboration take a heavy toll in a scattered work environment. And it’s not just a matter of employees keeping in touch but also getting important work-related messages across. Also, gathering remote teams to collaborate on everyday tasks or projects can prove challenging.
Company Culture Erosion
Remote work can diminish your company’s culture in the minds of employees. It’s difficult enough to cultivate company culture in a regular workplace without worrying about remote workers.
Working from home creates a strong sense of individualism. This can lead to employees disconnecting entirely from the company’s values, mission, and professional standards. If left unchecked, the company culture permanently erodes as new employees join the workforce.
Protecting Employees’ Well-Being
Remote work is hailed for improving work-life balance and general well-being for employees. However, working in isolation can have the exact opposite effect. One study shows that working remotely for a long time can cause employee burnout, emotional exhaustion, and psychological strain, resulting in high turnover and low productivity.
Poor Accountability
Freedom is one of the main perks of working remotely. To some extent, the employee is their own boss, working at their own schedule and pace. But without responsibility, that freedom becomes counterproductive.
You must constantly remind remote workers of their role in the company and what you expect of them. However, manually tracking employee performance and work progress can be painstakingly tedious.
The Rise of Remote Work Tech
Tech is indispensable in a remote or hybrid work environment. The right assortment of digital solutions can streamline remote work by filling the gaps in a scattered workplace.
Once you have the basics covered — VPN connectivity, properly configured cloud services, endpoint detection and response — consider the following digital solutions to solve remote work challenges:
- Remote collaboration tools — Slack, Microsoft Teams, and many other virtual workplace platforms create highly interactive digital spaces where employees can connect, communicate, and collaborate.
- Digital wellness platforms — These are wellness solutions purpose-built to protect the mental and emotional health of remote employees.
- Project management systems — Such platforms unite teams to collaborate on work projects. Supervisors, project managers, and HR reps can also track employee progress on an individual level.
- Central data hubs — Centralized data hubs act as a single source of truth, allowing remote workers to access verified information in real time.
Tackling Remote Work with Highway 99
Highway 99 is your trusted technology partner. We believe in using technology to not only solve problems but also drive business growth. Let us guide you in adopting and running cutting-edge solutions to support remote work, streamline business operations, enhance security, and more. Our Managed IT Services are suitable for all workspace models: fully on-site, hybrid or fully remote.
Contact us today for a free consultation.
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