The pandemic has changed workplace culture, probably forever. As events unfolded over the last few years, many employers shuttered their doors completely or scaled back to using only essential workers at their regular workplace. Remote workers became a commonplace occurrence rather than an unusual situation, even for traditional work-on-site businesses.
Now that health conditions have generally improved, should your operation return to pre-pandemic business as usual? Some company leaders are advocating for a complete return while others are comfortable with a remote workforce. Still others prefer a hybrid.
On one hand, traditionalists with "production paranoia" maintain that output suffers when employees work remotely and that there are substantial benefits to keeping all workers on the premises. On the other hand, some businesspeople see productivity rising with work-at-home employees and have even expressed concern that they're working too hard and may experience burnout. These two schools of thought appear to conflict with each other — but they actually share a common objective.
Traditionally, supervisors have been reluctant to allow employees to work from home mainly because they feared workers would be distracted or simply goof off. How could you be sure that they weren't watching TV, doing household chores or taking a nap?
The problem was that the office couldn't monitor the work being performed at home. Now, however, it's possible to track keystrokes, mouse movements and onscreen activities to determine exactly what a worker is doing and when. Some jobs that aren't heavily connected to computer functions are more difficult to monitor but tracking other functions may be possible. Monitoring may seem like an acceptable compromise for some workers motivated to continue working from home. But many employees are likely to push back on monitoring as a form of surveillance and indication of distrust. Is there a better way?
A new wave of managers has embraced the concept of remote workers. In fact, some supervisors expect their remote workers to deliver even more than they did before the pandemic hit. After all, the reasoning goes, at-home workers no longer spend time commuting. Usually, their "commute" involves no more than walking from one room of their home to another room. So they have more time to devote to work.
Also, workers aren't distracted by social interaction with coworkers. There's no one to chat with around the water cooler. They're not dissecting last night's big game or their favorite TV shows. Again, this leads to a greater focus on work — the ultimate goal of many managers.
But it does create a different set of problems. Breaks from the daily grind are still necessary. Keeping employees in constant work mode while they're home — which means they're putting in even more hours than usual — isn't necessarily the answer, either.
A general desire for a greater work/life balance has largely driven the "Great Resignation." In the past two years, many workers have jumped ship when they felt dissatisfied with their work environment. How then can managers retain current employees and attract new talent? Consider these practical suggestions.
There are challenges ahead for employers that choose to use remote workers in some capacity going forward. You may have to tinker with arrangements to find the balance your company is seeking. However, if you're willing to remain flexible, you should be able to develop a solution that accommodates your businesses — and your employee's — needs.
Get in touch today and find out how we can help you meet your objectives.
