As of the moment, an overwhelming 82 percent of companies have already implemented some form of a remote work policy. In theory, this sounds encouraging, given what the digital future has in store.
However, reality paints a much different picture.
According to the same study, the current remote work policies may be at odds with what the employees actually need. The participating workers mostly agreed that the current policies enable neither the flexibility nor the option to choose remote work.
In other words, lots of companies don’t make it easy for their employees to proceed with a WFH setup, consciously or not. Most of the time, their HR might even decline their remote work requests.
Simply put, performative measures alone aren’t working.
Why This Spells Trouble For Companies
It’s easy to see why this can prove discouraging for many employees, especially with 41 percent singling out work flexibility as their reason for applying in a company. Otherwise, they will simply look elsewhere.
On the other hand, many organisations are now offering remote work as a signing bonus to take advantage of this demand.
A company is only as good as its employees. Stubbornly sticking to outdated practices or refusing to change archaic ones will greatly imperil your chances of hiring and retaining the right one.
How Companies Can Address The Issue Effectively
So, where do we begin? How can we best enable remote work for all compatible positions?
To approve all requests properly, companies need to have the right technology and adequate IT support in place.
But to truly hire the best remote staff possible (and to approve their flexibility demands) for your company, your staff need sophisticated tools and capabilities.
Three Critical Software Capabilities to Develop
Whether you have a remote work policy in place or are planning to implement one, here are three critical software capabilities that you need to consider:
Remote Work “Explorer”
Providing a delightful employee experience eventually leads to an employee-centric brand, which is beneficial for a business. After all, happy employees produce quality output and render good customer service.
One way to maintain a positive employee experience is to offer flexible remote work opportunities. Setting up a remote work “explorer” provides employees with a proactive way to monitor their WFH applications. Here, they can access options for meeting the criteria so they can increase their chances of getting instant approval.
Streamlined Request System
A streamlined request system is key to having a robust remote work policy. Now that WFH is preferred, expect your onsite employees to request for remote work more frequently.
Providing a streamlined request system can help keep your HR processes in order. Ideally, it should present a simple way to submit requests, verify whether this is aligned with your current setup and software, and identify the duration of the said WFH request.
The process should be as easy and as straightforward as possible. Otherwise, your employees might deem it a lost cause and just move on to another company that’s more WFH-friendly.
Employee Location Tracking
Lastly, ensure that you have ways to suss out your employees’ accurate locations. Sure, WFH is akin to working from anywhere. However, you still need to know where your employees are based for tax compliance purposes.
To prevent any legal hiccups, your HR and IT departments must implement an automated location tracking technology. Don’t forget to inform your employees beforehand, though, and reassure them that it will only track their geographical location so you can still respect their privacy.
Now that 90 percent of employees demand flexible work, we’re left with no choice but to make it work. Fortunately, you’ve come to the right place.
Remote Staff has been helping Australian SMEs and entrepreneurs hire skilled remote workers from the Philippines since 2015. So whether you need an HR expert to process the WFH requests or a skilled IT staff to set up the tools, we got you covered.
Call us today or schedule a call back so we can get started.
Serena has been working remotely and writing content for the better part of the last decade. To date, she's written for Pepper.ph and Mabuhay Magazine, among others, and has churned out more than a thousand articles on everything from The Basics of Stock Market Investing to How to Make Milk Tea-Flavored Taho at home.
