HR experts believe that WFH is going to be new normal even after the restrictions are lifted. The main reason behind that is Work from home is cost saving on real estate and various other services. Earlier, many companies shunned the work from home policy as they were not aware of its potential. With the outbreak of novel coronavirus, the organizations were forced to adopt the remote working concept to ensure their business continuity. As the benefits of remote working have been revealed to both employers and employees, HR personnel will be asked to frame new policies to necessitate the new normal.   

What are the changes the new normal would bring in?  

Management experts who approved of foresight, experience, and humility as the traits of true leadership have now included resilience. In this time of adversity, resilience is the only trait that would help leaders to endure hardship and bring back their businesses. Working from home is novel to many employers and managers, and they would not have been trained to handle such a situation.   

What if the top management decides to have remote working in place even after the lockdown restrictions are lifted? Will managers be ready to handle the situation then? No. Proper training should be given to the managers on the leadership skill that suits this modern-day business need. The qualities that the managers should possess are,  

1. Resilience  
2. Ability to adapt  
3. Empathy  
4. Team leadership  
5. Ability to build trust  
6. Open communication  

The challenges the managers would confront in this new age of remote working are as follows.  

1. Different work hours  
2. Ineffective communication  
3. Employee-manager bond  
4. Loss of productivity  
5. Lack of direction to employees  
6. Increased employee attrition rate due to disengagement

Standard Core Working Hours with Flexible Work Hours  

When employees are working from home, they are expected to look after their home responsibilities too. In order to strike a balance between the work and personal lives, companies can embrace flexible work hours and also determine the core hours when the employees should be available. For example, in your company, if the employees should work for 9 hours, give the freedom to the employees to choose which 9 hours they are willing to work. But let them know that they should be available for discussions or meetings between 12 pm to 4 pm or 11 am to 3 pm.  

Technology is the Savior  

Since the lockdown began, technology has been the only friend to the companies that are striving to ensure business continuity. Frequent calls through Zoom, Microsoft Teams have prevented employees from feeling isolated and increased engagement through the strengthening of employee-manager relations. Productivity has also been maintained through digital solutions. As remote working is going to be the norm, consider this lockdown period as the golden period to experiment with different tech tools to foster collaboration and effective communication.  

Here are a few tips on how to revamp your performance management system to help you get on with your business when your entire workforce is working remotely.  

Objectives and Key Results to Recapture Your Market  

The goals set at the beginning of the year may not be relevant anymore. Analyze the situation with accurate data and set new goals that would help your business move forward. To move forward along with your employees, you need to adopt a powerful goal-setting framework, i.e., Objectives and Key Results (OKR). OKRs helps you to focus all your employees’ efforts toward a common business objective. Your company’s teams can align their goals with the organizational goal. Objectives determine what must be done, and key results help you to measure your progress toward the objective. When the goals are achieved, it is easier to recapture your place in the market and also realize goals that may seem impossible.

HANDPICKED RELATED LINKS: 

• OKR – Your Savior in Crisis Time 
• 11 Proven Strategies to Bring Back Your Business in 2020 
• A Glimpse into The World’s Best Guide to OKR 

Continuous Feedback to Guide your Remote Workforce  

When your employees are working remotely, they lack direction and guidance. As a manager, it is your responsibility to guide them through thick and thin at work. Feedback is your key. Deliver feedback to your employees after the completion of each project. The percentage of failure will be lowered if the managers guide their team members along the way because they do not allow employees to go astray. Continuous feedback will also provide insights to the employees on their performance and keep them motivated and engaged.  

360 Degree Feedback to Identify the Future Leaders  

Identifying the high performers with great interpersonal skills is difficult even when the employees are working on-office premises. How can we identify them while working remotely? The solution is a cloud-based technology. Implement a performance management software that has 360 degree feedback feature. 360 degree feedback mechanism allows peers to comment on an employee’s performance, leadership skill, and other work-related traits. The feedback will be helpful in taking talent-based decisions.  

Rewards and Recognition to Make Your Employees Feel Valued   

Employees are the soldiers on the frontline who will help your business to bounce back from adversity. Your employees will be putting in extra effort, given the current situation. Managers should appreciate and recognize their efforts to engage them. Engaged and satisfied employees make customers happy and also share innovative ideas to thrive. Reward your employees whenever they exceed your expectations for them.  

Learning Opportunities to Keep Your Workforce Ready   

Employees stay loyal and longer at a company that cares for their professional growth. Digital-savvy employees do not stay in a position, which has no growth opportunities. Instead of losing your high performers to your competitors, provide the training that your employees need to reskill and upskill themselves. The growing expertise of your employees will come in handy whenever you face a chaotic situation. Thus, your organization will be ready for any kind of storm, and your performance management system should be robust enough to manage a development-focused workforce.