With the coronavirus moving many positions from the business office to the home office, some employers are learning things they never thought possible. One of those things is how remote employees seem to have more time to devote to getting the job done.
I spoke to several employers about remote designers and asked if they had changed their mind about letting their people work part-time or full-time remote after COVID restrictions are lifted. Here are the top 10 comments they shared on the benefits and pitfalls.
- People have more time to work after cutting a daily commute and office social time. This allows people to focus, and they can manage their work and their time better. Plus, if you give them the flexibility to manage their time, especially overtime, you will likely see less griping about overtime and more bang for your buck.
- It depends on the employee, as in slackers will be slackers and hard-working people at the office are usually just as hard-working at home.
- Remote technology is great, and some home offices are better equipped and capable than their company office was. Still, you should have a designated remote office technical guru. Knowing who to go to and what the system standards are will help reduce set-up and tech support time.
- It still takes dedicated management and coordination, some of which can be remote too, but most must still be in the office.
- It’s just not true that everyone sits at home in their jammies, eating chips on the couch and watching soaps. Most still get up at a normal time, dress for work, and take a 2-step commute. They are then at work.
- Success for your remote employees comes from commitment, especially that your company is committed to supporting them with technology, communications, and personal interaction. Don’t assume they will just be at home, invisible, cranking out work. They are still human and need interaction to remain happy and loyal.
- Keep an open line to HR for remote employees to report lack of support or the feeling they are becoming a second-class citizen. Being a remote worker does not mean they become a commodity. Some managers do not accept remote and, just because COVID requires remote, doesn’t mean the manager is on board. Remember, HR is a neutral arbitrator and will solve many problems before they become major ones.
- Don’t have an open-door policy to the owner or GM, because it undermines the supervisor’s ability to manage their department. Let HR handle complaints confidentially. I have one client (a GM) who opened his door, but now everyone wants to step in (or call) and consume his day over petty issues that should be handled by HR or the supervisor, or some just want to chit chat and feel the open door is an open invitation, anytime.
- Have regular group video chat meetings, like you had meetings before. It’s not hard with the options out there, and anyone can learn how to video chat. Test run with your kids as they can teach you how to be a pro. Always communicating by text, email, or chat can lose the personal touch or be misconstrued. Face to face can reinforce support and commitment, as well as resolve problems without having one side feeling they were slighted.
- Remember this too shall pass. Start planning for how you will keep or return employees after restrictions are lifted, and not just when interim stages allow coming back with social distancing, as that is a partial option (note I didn’t say solution). Maybe full-time or part-time remote will remain a key benefit for your designers in the future.
- Bonus item. This tip comes not from a truss manufacturer but a relative who is a VP at a national health insurance company: “Consider where you can cut expenses with remote employees.” This health insurance company, at a level similar to BCBS, has decided to cancel a lot (yes, a lot) of leases, because they found their remote teams were more efficient working from home and they could eliminate facility costs by not returning them to an office. For truss manufacturers, reconfiguring space in the office where remote people once worked can not only free up space but it can be isolated from the cost of heating and cooling, returned to a storage or manufacturing area, or returned to the mobile office leasing company. I have seen designers placed in separate office buildings, offices carved out of production or storage space, built on a mezzanine, in office trailers, and even taking up space in what used to be sales offices. Yes, sales can be a remote job too, but having more space to repurpose can be profitable. Consider how you have carved out space as business expanded and see if some offices were separated and distant from where they should have been because of available space. Take empty space and reorganize your office to make the remaining workspace more efficient. Reduce square feet to heat and cool, and to insure. Return space carved out of manufacturing back to manufacturing as a break room, production and shipping offices, production space, or for storage.
Designers are not the only people working remote. Sales, admin, accounting, and technical workers are also working from home. When restrictions are lifted, will you be one of the progressive employers who has transitioned to using remote as an option to attract the best and most productive workers, or will you return to the way things were before COVID? Don’t wait too long to figure out your path, or your competitor may beat you to it.
Finally, remember your people, both remote and internal, as they can be a wealth of information and help in making remote and personal distancing work. Their feedback and assistance can be the difference between failure and success, increased expense, or a better bottom line. Make it a priority to have a team of employees tasked with identifying issues and opportunities to maximize your options as well as maintain the structure needed to manage your world, no matter the direction you take after this pandemic has passed. What have you experienced that was unexpected?