By: Allison Sikes of Strategy Performance, LLC
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In an effort to cut costs, as well as retain key employees, many companies today have provided opportunities for employees to work from home or from another remote location closer to their home.
While there are many benefits to this working arrangement, it can also come with its own unique challenges.
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1) Be careful in your consideration of which employees are selected to work remotely. If you have an employee who is challenged to stay on task at the office, most likely it will be even more challenging to do so remotely. Choose employees with a good work ethic, who exhibit good initiative and self-discipline, who are able to work with minimal supervision.
2) Evaluate the team and / or customer impact of the employee’s absence from the office. Does this employee directly supervise the work of other employees? If so, can he still do so remotely? If face-to-face interaction with customers is required as part of his / her role, will he now be required to travel more to meet customer’s needs?
3) Modify communication and performance management routines to insure a successful transition. Leverage technology to establish more structured reporting routines regarding completion of work tasks to timelines and to keep the employees in touch with the team at the office. Dial them into staff or customer meetings by telephone or through the use of remote meeting technology such as GoToMeeting.
4) Explain your decisions regarding remote working arrangements with employees and customers to minimize concerns. Be specific in your communication, emphasizing your reasons for the decision and how the requirements of their role have been modified to minimize the service impact to both external customers and other team members.
5) Inspect what you expect. Employees in a remote working arrangement usually require more consistent and sometimes more frequent oversight from their manager. Once these routines are established and it is determined that this is a good working arrangement for all concerned, everyone will benefit—the customer, the employee, and the company!
Allison Sikes has gained international recognition as a leading authority on the development of human potential as well as highly productive, customer-oriented workplaces. Known as the "Accountability Coach," Allison is a highly sought after consultant, speaker, trainer and coach. Her dynamic & unique personality combined with over 25 years of business experience in consulting, corporate training, sales & marketing has served to bring forth transformational change &
measurable results for both corporate, business, & individual clients.
Strategy Performance serves clients throughout the U.S. & Canada, providing over seventy unique business services including information, resources, and accountability, to help businesses, executives, and their employees, perform at their best.