Canadian HR Reporter

www.hrreporter.com 3 tracking that overtime, there could be a dispute down the road about money owed, says Lindner. "Employers may not have turned their mind to how they're going to track time worked now that employees are no longer coming into a physical office or there may not be an obvious time in-timeout taking place." It's also important to set expectations around hours of work, particularly if a flexible schedule is involved, she says. "It is very important to have clear, unambiguous expectations that are set out in writing about hours to be worked, when employees are to be available, if that's going to be an issue." Boosting innovation and productivity Another big concern that's been expressed about the rise of remote work is potential declines when it comes to innovation and Work-life balance and overtime Another challenge with remote work is people may be working longer hours, but it's not evident like it may be at an office. That can lead to stress and burnout — and potentially overtime claims. When the lockdowns first started, a lot of people were working extra hours at the Conference Board, says Benjamin. "We monitored that very carefully and, if someone was doing a lot, there was a check-in immediately to say, 'Is it workload? Is it because you no longer have a 45-minute commute on either end so you're now filling that with extra work?' And it was a very individualized piece; we spent a lot of time talking about it at our company, just to really encourage our managers to make sure that they're checking in." The organization was very deliberate in how it approached the issue and helping people who were struggling and unable to create boundaries, he says. "That is going to be an ongoing balancing act for the foreseeable future." When an employer moves to an outcomes-driven approach, that can inspire efficiency in the organization, says McClellan. "If your employees can figure out a way to complete a certain task in a certain amount of time, then that also gives them the incentive to have free time. But it is also about creating boundaries, allowing your employees to have discussions around boundaries and allowing your employees to have discussions about team norms and creating an environment where they can bring their whole selves to work." It's also important to note that many employees who are salaried are eligible for overtime, and if an employer is not productivity. How can those levels be maintained with everyone so spread out? PwC has found that technology tools can enable innovation and inspire many different ideas through sharing venues, says McClellan. "I don't see that actually as a barrier at all... We have wonderful collaboration tools available out in the market, and it's more about teaching teams how to use them and how to how to make those work." At Twitter, Burns says he has been a part of countless brainstorming sessions and innovation sessions over the last several months and "they've been significantly more powerful than they would be in person." "People often talk about these seren- dipitous moments or casual walkbys with office colleagues that lead to innovation, and while that may be partially true, the push to remote work has forced employers to put a bit more structure around how people think about those things," he says. "What it is doing is adding discipline to the process that may have come organically [before]." The Conference Board of Canada is boosting its investment in technology to ensure greater productivity and innovation when people are not physically together, says Benjamin. "It's not just using it for calls; you can use it for breakouts and productivity and brainstorming and some of those components," he says. "We work really hard to embrace technology. So, we're able to do great brainstorming sessions, we have lots of cross-functional groups that we've put together. In fact, we're thinking more WHAT MAKES FOR A GOOD REMOTE CHECK-IN? "The core of this is about empowering people to work where they feel the most creative, the most comfortable and the most safe." Paul Burns, Twitter Canada broadly than we did even in the office in terms of: 'Who do we want to involve in this group? How do we have open brainstorming sessions? How do we use breakout groups so people can move pieces forward?'" Cultivating culture and connections Building and retaining culture and connections among new and existing employees in the move to remote work is another big consideration and something that employers are having to rethink, says McClellan. "There is no replacement for human connection, and you can get some of that over a screen, but… what we're seeing through this pandemic is how much human connectivity and wellness is actually built through the workplace." Employers need to think about how they're going to create those connections, she says. While large in-person meetings are out of the question, longer term, people potentially could come in periodically to meet face to face or small groups could meet for drinks. "That's something that you probably 60% Leaders asking how they can help the employee 51% Leaders sharing updates on the state of the business 47% Leaders creating employee development plans and suggesting learning opportunities Source: TELUS International Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco

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