“Don’t call us corona. The virus can’t be an excuse to be racist.” While these kinds of articles circulating in the newspapers to highlight the growing concern of minorities of the Northeastern region, the virus has abolished a racist idea in the corporate world. The racism against remote employees. The mainstream workforce, who had no idea of the pros and cons of remote employees, have been forced by the pandemic situation to work from their homes. A study reveals that around 41% of employees are afraid to go to work due to the worldwide spread of the deadly virus.  

Therefore, the remote work culture has become the new normal in this emergency state. Regular employment has become the minority. To handle even the most extreme business climates, devising a strategy that gives importance to both remote working and working from office is inevitable. Flexible and distributed workforce had always been one of the leading HR trends in the future of work. Instead of slowly becoming a standard of day-to-day work, the onus is endowed upon the HR personnel to instantly implement the remote working.   

“In today’s world, flexibility of where, when, and how employees work is no longer a trend but rather a requirement if you want to be competitive in the market.”  

-Patti Clarke, the Chief Talent Officer, Havas Group     

Clevertech, for instance, is 100% remote company, and its growth is not hindered by the distributed workforce even in this critical hour. Remote working or working from office, choosing one of the two options depends on your business needs, but being prepared for both ensure your business continuity and enable you to stay digitally and economically ahead of the curve.   

Handpicked Related Links: 

1. 6 Simple Tips to manage HR Challenges in (COVID-19 Effected) Remote Working 
2. Managing Corporate Communication During COVID-19 Crisis 

Challenges Confronted by the Remote Employees  

The mainstream workforce has started working remotely and instantly as the fear overtook business rationality. The primary focus is to ensure continuity rather than growth. As there was no time to formulate a concrete plan to make things work, organizations face many predicaments and come up with various solutions promptly to address the issues of the remote workers. Some of the challenges are,  

1. The adverse effects of isolation are felt by the employees notably during the core working hours.   
2. Management with no flexible work policies encounters difficulties in maintaining the company culture. People-obsessed cultures are able to smoothly sail through hard times.  
3. The team collaboration and morale of the remote workforce are diminishing, and the workers are losing their sense of belonging.   
4. The remote work nature, as the workers are not used to it for a long period, creates stress and weakens the focus of the employees.  
5. The employees tend to overwork for the purpose of satisfying the employers and convincing them that they work harder.   

Ways to Overcome the Adversities  

The solutions to overcome the challenges are as follows.  

1. Implement tech tools that allow the employees to collaborate and communicate. Virtual coffee break is the buzzword. Frequent video calls with colleagues assure engagement and synergistic teamwork.  
2. Allow access to the tools that the employees need to be more productive and also to build a strong and inclusive culture. Video conferencing and effective communication among team members lead to innovative ideas, which are also the need of the hour.  
3. Through chat apps and collaboration tools, set clear expectations and goals to the employees, take their inputs to overcome the issues, and work on their feedback or concern, to make them feel included and valued.   
4. Encourage employees to take online therapy sessions to cope with their stress and relax. Some organizations have provided gaming sessions during the employees’ work hours to help them relax and also not lose touch with their colleagues.   
5. The managers should coach his/her team members to follow the time schedule. The employees should not work more than the required hours, but they are supposed to work with more concentration during the work hours to meet the deadlines.   

Good leaders and ways how people connect within an organization make all the difference. Today’s leaders have many tools at their fingertips to develop a compelling design that suits their business needs. The efficient use of tech tools makes leaders more effective. It is crucial to building a sense of togetherness among the remote employees, and many digital solutions are invented to serve the purpose. 

It also published here.