Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER October 19, 2015 18 FEATURES STAFFING Getting the most out of a remote workforce Long-term off-site employees present challenges – and opportunities By Melany Gallant R emote work is an increas- ing trend that brings with it numerous challenges and rewards. While a 2012 MIT Sloan Executive Education study reported signifi cant frustration among virtual team members, it also found remote teams can function even more successfully than their co-located counter- parts by providing attention to certain principles of good management. Here are some tips for managers to help get the most out of remote workers. Manage by objectives: When it comes to managing remote staff , the big question all managers want to know is "Are they work- ing or goofing off?" To ensure high-quality work is consistently delivered, spend time setting ex- pectations with employees. Engage remote employees in setting SMART goals (Specifi c, Measureable, Achievable, Rel- evant and Time-bound). When goal-setting is a collaborative pro- cess, employees are more likely to fulfill their responsibilities because there is a clear sense of ownership between the work be- ing done and the expected output. Connect individual work to organizational priorities: A challenge of working remotely is the potential disconnect from the bigger picture — the orga- nizational strategy, as well as long- and short-term priorities. Taking extra eff ort to make sure remote employees see how their work supports your organization's overall objectives will pay off in increased employee engagement and productivity. ink the process through: Shared processes for working to- gether are important for reducing misunderstanding, miscommuni- cation and misalignment. Discuss and establish best practices for work hours, sharing documents, monitoring progress and handling issues. Some fl exibility and tweaking should be expected, especially in the early stages, in order to es- tablish mutually benefi cial work processes. Use technology to enhance communication: ere are many tools available for facilitating proj- ect management, communication and collaboration, and they aren't too expensive. For example, an online perfor- mance management tool enables remote workers to keep notes and update milestones, which can be viewed and commented on by managers. Video conferenc- ing tools can make up for a lack of face-to-face communication. Instant messaging tools can fa- cilitate instant and real-time con- nections between colleagues. Build space for social interac- tion: Consciously compensate for the lack of daily informal commu- nication that builds the interper- sonal relations critical to eff ective teams. Consider spending a few minutes at the beginning of meet- ings to allow employees to "check in" with each other on non-work- related topics. If your organization is able, fi nding the budget for an occa- sional trip to headquarters or a team conference will pay divi- dends in team productivity. Insist on good meeting eti- quette: Bear in mind differing time zones as well as potential lan- guage diff erences when establish- ing a meeting. is is where video conferencing is preferred over teleconferences, especially when cross-departmental or nebulous projects are on the agenda. Remember to pause regularly to include remote participants in the conversation. Speak slowly and make use of shared documents or slides to assist team members in following along. e future of work With online access to informa- tion and collaboration tools so widespread for today's businesses, more and more of them are begin- ning to see remote work can in fact increase corporate produc- tivity and competitiveness. So it's important for organizations to build the right parameters be- tween employees and leaders. At the end of the day, managers will need to adapt certain man- agement practices to make up for a lack of face-time with remote employees. And remote employ- ees need to adapt so their manag- ers and colleagues have more in- sight into the work they're doing. Whether an organization is lo- cated within one offi ce, multiple locations or dispersed, it will only get to where it wants to go if ev- eryone has set clear, achievable goals that are linked directly to organizational goals. Clear goal alignment is needed to main- tain high levels of employee en- gagement and a commitment to achieving results. Melany Gallant is a certifi ed human capital strategist and public relations manager at Halogen Software in Otta- wa. For more information, visit www. halogensoftware.com. Telework a signifi cant job perk If an organization still isn't onboard with remote work options, it's in the minority: A full 79 per cent of workers currently work outside the offi ce at least one day per week, according to a 2015 global survey of 2,759 people. And workers are even willing to change jobs in order to get work-from-home privileges. More than one-half (60 per cent) say they would resign their position to get a job at the same salary level that allowed them to work from home, found the PGi Global Telework Survey. Even workers who currently telecommute say they would prefer to have the option to do so more often; one-half said they would like to be able to work from home more frequently. The ideal frequency would be two to three days per week, according to respondents. And not having to cope with a long commute time must be tempting for the 50 per cent of workers who spend 45 minutes to one hour commuting every day. "PGi's survey fi ndings illustrate a rising, global shift in knowledge worker demands: 'Let us work fl exibly or we'll go somewhere that does,'" says Sean O'Brien, PGi executive vice- president of strategy and communications. "With constant connectivity through mobile devices, WiFi and cloud-based communications… being away from the physical offi ce is no longer a barrier to successfully getting work done. In fact, the survey reveals that fl exible work offers tangible benefi ts for both employees and their employers." TOP FIVE COMPANY-ISSUED TECHNOLOGIES FOR FLEX WORKERS 1. laptop computers 2. email 3. virtual private network (VPN) software 4. unifi ed communications and collaboration (UC&C) software 5. corporate intranet Credit: 41 (Shutterstock) Managers will need to adapt to make up for the lack of face time. communication that says, 'Here's what we set out to do, here's what your bonus target is and here's how the year turned out for the company and what you accom- plished in the year and here's the reward.' So it just sort of elimi- nates that middle label, and so that simplifi es communication." Based on responses from em- ployers with an annual perfor- mance program in place, 81 per cent of professional and manage- ment employees received a bonus this year — up from 76 per cent last year, found Towers Watson. Many organizations are re- thinking whether it makes sense to link base salary increases pri- marily to last year's performance or if this should be the role of short-term incentive and bonus programs, she says. " e annual incentives by de- sign are meant to fl uctuate up and down with the results of the business and the performance of individual so, done right, they're very clear that they fl uctuate, that they're tied to performance, and so that ties people closer to what the organization has planned in terms of their results for the year and what the outcomes are." Annual bonuses or short-term incentives are an effective way of aligning performance with rewards without increasing fi xed costs, says Frost. And in 2015, 84 per cent of organizations had short-term incentive programs in place for at least one segment of the employee population, accord- ing to Mercer's survey. ese are usually targeted at the managerial level and above and al- low employers "to still recognize the top performers while balanc- ing it off with company perfor- mance," says Frost. The highest-performing em- ployees (seven per cent of the workforce) received average base pay increases of 4.6 per cent in 2015 compared to 2.6 per cent for average performers (57 per cent of the workforce) and 0.2 per cent for the weakest performers (three per cent of the workforce), found Mercer's survey. And while companies such as GE have announced they are do- ing away with ranking systems, performance rating systems are still very prevalent, he says. "Certainly, organizations are rethinking how they evaluate per- formance in today's environment but, at the end of the day, if they still want to be able to diff erenti- ate their rewards, to divert more dollars to their best employees, they're going to need a way to de- termine who those people are." e overall challenge, really, is trying to balance a really limited budget with employee retention, says Frost. "Organizations are trying to fi g- ure out how to make the most of a small budget, and then thinking about 'How can I focus my dol- lars on where my highest priori- ties are? So that might be on my high-potential employees or best- performing employees. It might be types of jobs where I have the hardest time fi nding new employ- ees…' So it's causing organizations to be a lot more thoughtful and strategic in the way they spend their dollars based on their orga- nization's needs and challenges." Employers trying to make the most of small budgets 'CAUTION' < pg. 15

• Cover