Every entity has its own unique value system that serves as the bedrock of its culture. Remote working seems here to stay, and organizations need to revisit their value framework to suit the new model. Redefining values and creating an ecosystem to inculcate these values across the organization will be the new mandate for HR.
That said, some values discussed here assume greater significance since their practice is sine qua non for aiding and augmenting remote working.
1] Trust: People use formal and informal channels to stay abreast of developments in their organization. With onsite connect out of bounds, leaders will have to take time out to regularly interact with the organization through virtual townhalls, webinars, and email updates to appraise the workforce about the business. Transparency engenders trust. Encouraging people to ask questions, raise issues, and clarify doubts in open forums or in one-on-one discussions goes a long way in assuring people.
Managers need to trust people working from home across geographies and time zones. Monitoring and micromanaging people goes against developing a culture of mutual trust. Trust begets trust. When an organization reposes faith in its people, people reciprocate manifold.
2] Empathy: Every individual working from home will have a unique situation – a small home, a large family, a noisy neighborhood, children and elderly parents, pets, power failures, internet downtime, to name a few. Managers need to recognize these genuine challenges and provide team members with solutions. Allowing people flexible work routines, providing tech support, and reducing the number of meetings are some examples of helping coworkers adjust to the WFH setting.
Managers must also regularly interact with their team members individually and collectively. Signs of stress, burnout, isolation, team conflicts, and disengagement need to be addressed immediately.
A compassionate manager can more than make up for the absence of the human connect in the remote workplace.
3] Acknowledgement: The cliché “out of sight, out of mind” applies very well to a remote work setting. Managers may fail to notice contributions made by their team members because it is not necessarily happening in front of them. And employees who are not acknowledged or recognized may start feeling sidelined and feel that their contribution is going unnoticed. Managers need to use interaction more often to acknowledge their team members for their support and contribution. Appreciation is one of the deepest human cravings. When people are recognized, it creates a sense of engagement and belonging with the organization, which is crucial to maintain when working remotely.
4] Communication: While working virtually, the need to keep communicating cannot be undermined. In fact, overcommunicating is key. People must be encouraged to keep communicating fast, frequently, and completely to make up for the lost benefits of onsite interaction and collaboration. At the same time, it is important to specify channels for formal and informal interaction and allow people the flexibility to communicate outside work hours.
5] Fun: Working within the confines of a house can become dreary. Recreating the lively spirit of the workplace virtually will allow colleagues to interact informally, participate in events, share common interests, etc. and draw comfort from the “presence” of their coworkers around them.
To make remote working workable, it is up to leaders and HR to set the tone for implementing and actioning values, which will then cascade down to employees and help create an org-wide culture in the remote workplace.
