As companies re-think their physical structures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much to be learnt from those with an embedded remote or home-working culture.
Before the crisis hit, forward-thinking organisations had already embraced the opportunities that a remote structure delivers: broadening the scope of their business; allowing them to tap into a much wider employee base; greater diversity and innovation – all without being restricted by simple geography.
As companies re-think their physical structures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much to be learnt from those with an embedded remote or home-working culture.
Before the crisis hit, forward-thinking organisations had already embraced the opportunities that a remote structure delivers: broadening the scope of their business; allowing them to tap into a much wider employee base; greater diversity and innovation – all without being restricted by simple geography.
As companies re-think their physical structures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is much to be learnt from those with an embedded remote or home-working culture.
Before the crisis hit, forward-thinking organisations had already embraced the opportunities that a remote structure delivers: broadening the scope of their business; allowing them to tap into a much wider employee base; greater diversity and innovation – all without being restricted by simple geography.
Now, enforced working and societal changes have shown many more businesses that a remote or hybrid model can be as effective – if not more so – than a centralised, office-based structure.
Our own evidence from data we’ve obtained over several years backs this up and delivers compelling reassurance to those employers not yet experienced with a remote-working culture. Our findings show:
- Remotely managed employees (RMEs) are no less engaged than locally managed employees; if anything, they tend to be more engaged.
- RMEs tend to receive a good level of management; the employee-manager relationship doesn’t suffer just because individuals are not physically together.
- Regular structured check-ins between managers and employees are more likely to happen with RMEs, resulting in good quality conversations including a personal check-in as well as project-related barriers and successes.
So, what are the key considerations for organisations transitioning to a remote or hybrid model for the first time? We believe there are five key criteria to follow that will give leaders, managers and employees alike the best opportunities for success.
- Trust Is The Absolute Foundation
One of the most significant barriers to remote-working adoption is senior management resistance. There is an ongoing belief that employee and management success is best achieved when managers are physically embedded within their teams. However, our research tells a different story – and it all comes down to trust.
Successful remote working means role-modelling a positive approach, believing in and empowering your employees to do what needs to be done, rather than constantly providing oversight or micromanaging.
Managers also need to understand that remote workers may have different responsibilities and need to work alternate hours, or have set times when they are not available. Trusting employees to deliver on their objectives is critical here and must be demonstrated through clear, open communication. This needs to be demonstrated at every level, from the executive committee to line management.
- Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
One of the biggest challenges cited by many who work remotely is a loss of team camaraderie and support, particularly if there is no opportunity for social contact with colleagues and managers. Organisations need to spend time considering how they are effectively going to communicate and connect with their teams.
It’s easy to assume that all employees in the workplace will happily engage with their teams and managers through digital-only methods, but this is dangerous. A recent client survey we conducted revealed that, around 20% of their workforce were reluctant adopters of new technology – meaning 1 in every 5 employees could miss out on vital communications if digital-only engagement is used.
But it’s not just how you communicate that’s important. What you communicate and how often you do so is crucial and mangers must achieve a careful balance here. Regular check-ins at a team and individual level are critical to empowering your workforce, but communications cannot all be a one-way broadcast. Have a clear business agenda, keep plenty of time for questions, and make sure you leave space for the ‘water cooler chat’ – we are, at the end of the day, social beings.
- Show Visible Leadership
Positive organisational and leadership culture and behaviours are critical to the long-term success of remote working. Our statistical analysis shows that an organisation’s leaders play a much greater part in their overall engagement of remote employees than they do in the lives of those who are centrally located.
Employees without a local manager are even more dependent on higher level leadership to create a broader, engaging environment on a day-to-day basis. Leaders therefore need to make themselves visible, available and create a good level of interaction.
A great example we’ve seen is the CEO of a fast-growth, global Fintech firm, who has spent a lot of time in highly visible environments with employees to help reassure them and instil confidence in these changing times. This has been in all-employee townhalls, one-to-ones and in sessions with his own ExCo.
In all of this, clarity is essential. Messaging shared across the business – whether it’s about tactical, day-to-day actions or longer-term, strategic planning – must be crisp, concise and consistent. It’s also important to tie the focus of leadership back to purpose. Having a clear, well communicated organisational purpose and meaning helps keep employees aligned during times of broad industry disruption and change, as well as driving business success in ‘good’ times.
- Listen To All Employee Groups
Understanding how your employees are doing and where they may need support is vital to success. But this can’t be a blanket, one-size-fits-all approach to gathering employee feedback. Your employees will have a variety of circumstances that impact their ability to work effectively on a remote basis – they can’t all be treated alike.
To get a true picture of your entire employee base, you need to segment your employees in exactly the same way as you do your customers –according to needs and preferences, as well as personal circumstances such as living arrangements and carer status.
For example, the CEO and ExCo of a FTSE 100 financial services organisation we work with have spent many hours listening to how their employees are feeling about the crisis and how they believe the firm is responding to it. This has helped them to iterate their responses, tailor their approaches to different segments of the workforce and then provide clarity to a workforce of over 11,000 employees about the way forward through the next stages, including working from home and return to work plans.
Essentially, you need to understand your employees in new way: what defines them and the way they act and feel? What is common and what is unique? Only by doing this can you tailor your strategies to their multiple different needs, while ensuring that collectively your teams are able to deliver the right outcomes.
- Remember Your Teams Are The Voice Of Your Customer
It’s an often-overlooked fact that your employees are the best source of customer insight. Customers themselves can only talk about their own individual experience, while your employees will see and hear customer feedback every day. This makes them perfectly places to recognise patterns in customer behaviour and opinion.
Listening to your employees gives you a much greater chance of delivering what your customers want, not what you think they need. Not only does this allow you to identify where the same issues may be arising time and again, but they can help to understand which underlying processes are working well and which need adapting.
As you move to a remote-working structure you need to ensure you have a dedicated approach in place to gather customer experience feedback through your employees. You won’t get the opportunity to listen to hearsay or chat about customers in the same way as you do in an office, but with a formal employee listening structure in place you’ll actually gather a great deal more actionable insight about your customer-facing processes.
Positive Action In, Positive Results Outs
There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the way millions of individuals work. But not all of that impact is negative. While we are all still learning how best to move forward, we know that effective management and leadership is vital to the successful navigation of the changes and challenges we’re facing.
We also know that done well, remote working can be very good for business. Well-managed and engaged remote employees enjoy the way they work. They feel empowered and trusted by their managers to do their job, without needing constant physical supervision.
Not only are they more engaged, they are also more likely to be advocates of their organisation, be more loyal to the business and their manager, and score higher than non-remote workers across most survey dimensions. All of which is very good for business.
About ENGAGE
ENGAGE is a consultancy that creates highly engaged and effectively led organisations. We know that businesses succeed when leaders understand how to engage employees with their vision, strategy and values. Businesses perform when leaders and employees are fully engaged with the role they play in delivering these.
As a result, we gather and integrate data from every level of the organisation and across every aspect of the employee experience. From this, we deliver research-led programmes for leaders and leadership teams, managers and employees, using bespoke insight tools to inform decision-making and drive high impact change.
About Andy
Andy is the Co-founder and CEO of ENGAGE. He has worked for ENGAGE since 2008 and, in 2013, co-led an MBO of the firm.
Andy leads all of ENGAGE’s strategic work with senior executives and heads the Leadership practice. He works mainly with CEOs, Boards and Executive teams in FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 firms as well as with fast growing entrepreneurial start-ups.
Prior to this, Andy has worked in the research and consulting industry for 25 years. He was previously a Partner at Mercer Consulting, a Global Practice Leader at The Empower Group (the strategic consulting division of Manpower), Managing Director of YouGov Consulting and Head of Research at The Gallup Organization.
Andy holds a doctorate in survey analytics from the University of Oxford where he also obtained his undergraduate degree in PPE and an MSc. in sociological research and statistics. He has also been a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University.
For further information contact:
Nicola Lockyer
Lockyer Marketing
Tel: +44 7976 777260
Email: nicola.lockyer@lockyermarketing.co.uk