New Normal to Employee Morale - Hits and Misses of Remote Working

One of the most significant changes brought about by the coronavirus pandemic is on the lifestyle of today's workforce. The entire country went under a lockdown and only essential front liners stayed out. Thus, there was a dynamic shift in the way businesses operated. There was a time when remote working or work from home was considered a privilege. Only people working in industries like information technology services or software development were privy to it. But that has changed this year. Remote working has become the new normal. Reports suggesting that remote working might stay longer than we intend.

This article highlights the hits and misses of remote working; how it has impacted productivity; whether it is here to stay permanently; how HR teams across the world will adapt to remote working and what the future holds.

The onset of a pandemic and subsequent remote working might have been difficult for many businesses that were mostly accustomed to brick and mortar operations. Yet, this concept is not new to companies in the technology vertical. The pandemic has helped technology companies to explore the depths of remote working. This majorly helped IT to understand the potential and feasibility of it, in the near future.

Thus, to determine how well remote working can work for companies -- even if they haven't optimized their resources and operations -- let's understand the difference between virtual and on-site working with reference to certain determining factors and their consequent hits and misses.

New challenges

One of the significant differences between on-site and remote working is that both the employees and the employer face entirely different set of challenges. This is especially different from what they would meet on-site.

Employees who have had to deal with soul-crushing work commutes and traffic jams, now have the onus to make sure they have a high-speed internet connectivity considering that almost everyone else in their family is also working from home. So, there is a high likelihood of more than one business is operating from the same household.

Employers had to ensure their employees had the infrastructure and resources in place at home to continue their work with ease. They also had to ensure on-time deliverables from people spread across the country; that, they can reach their employees using technology during work hours.

Productivity

Almost all surveys or reports around the feasibility of remote working have pointed to an increase in productivity among talent forces everywhere. A Cisco-sponsored study concluded that partially working from home resulted in a 12% increase in productivity. Additionally, a survey by Polycom inc rates that two out of three respondents admitted theat they were more productive while working remotely than when they worked at an on-site office. Closer to home, Indian FMCG brand CavinKare reported a 30% increase in productivity in the first 100 days of lockdown. The World Economic Forum is also of the opinion that workplace flexibility is directly related to employee productivity.

Cost-benefit

At the grassroots, any business opting for remote working will first work out the cost-benefit analysis. Remote working proves to be cost-effective not just for the employer but also for the employee. Employers do not have to deal with fixed expenses. These include leases, high electricity bills, office maintenance costs and similar operational costs. Similarly, employees no longer have to deal with expensive and time-consuming work commutes and public transportation issues. That being said, setting up remote workspace does require some investment. For example, cloud-based systems, collaboration tools, availability of power and a high-speed internet connection, virtual communication systems, secure virtual private networks, data security systems.

The flip side

While remote working might have its advantages, it is vital to examine the offside to the concept as well. There is indeed an increase in productivity, but at what cost? Reports are showing that employees are struggling to maintain their work-life balance. They are working at odd hours now that there is no commute involved. The gloom around the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown has also led to employees having anxiety issues, lower morale and an overall lowering of energy and enthusiasm while working. A probable reason for this shift in morale could be due to the fear of layoffs or pay cuts. It could also be because employees miss the camaraderie offered within a brick and mortar layout.

Adapting to the new normal

One of the business verticals most impacted by remote working is human resources. This is one department that has has to deal with the talent pool on face to face basis, With this talent pool spread across multiple locations in the country, or perhaps even the world, they had to make significant changes. HR teams have had to focus on various team-building tactics to keep the morale from dropping and design several new engagement measures that will help reach out to employees, wherever they are.

Human Resource functions around the world are introducing fitness activities, CSR activities, hobby building and skill development activities to keep employees engaged. They are also adapting to the norm that remote working could be a permanent solution and are strategizing their next moves as per this new normal. This includes onboarding new employees, helping employees transition to remote working and ensuring that employees remain mentally healthy.

Is permanent work from home a long-term solution?

Everyone expected that remote working would be a temporary situation until the pandemic blew over. But the second wave of the coronavirus is making its way around the world and there is a possibility of a second lockdown (like in the UK and some parts of Europe). Thus, organisations must be ready for a longer, if not permanent, work from home situation. Only time can tell if India, or for that matter, any other country can adapt to it. Or can successfully handle permanent remote working. But suppose businesses do plan on successfully adapting remote working.

In that case, they need to have the Human Resource function at the forefront. They will have to spearhead the transition in collaboration with the IT vertical of the business. This is because technology will play an irreplaceable role in the success of the HR function as well as remote working in the near future. In fact, many studies have shown that the HR function is likely to evolve with technology as a base and remote working could be one of the biggest reasons for such a change.