Quarantines, isolation and lockdown have steered industries towards this massive structural change where from monitoring operations to managing employee onboarding everything is being handled remotely.
In the beginning, it was considered next to impossible but with time companies had no other option than to rely on a remote work environment. It became the hardest thing to accept the change but eventually employees and employees both adjusted well. Remote working has its own perks and pitfalls. Where it's more budget-friendly to execute it creates issues in coordination and communication.
COVID-19 has truly shaken every industry and people; affecting lives at every level. However, since the vaccines are back, marketers and business owners are wondering what to do next. The question arrives whether to continue working remotely or to get back with the usual style of working.
The remote work trends
Mckinsey presented the metrics of a remote work environment indicating the maximum and minimum potentials and the areas that provide the greatest benefits. The graphs show how a remote working environment has benefited individuals.
Here are some commonly followed trends geared up with top-notch technology that has benefitted both employees and the companies.
The smart use of video for remote employee onboarding
Employee onboarding became a challenge as it involves screening, interviews and physical interactions to elevate the candidate from various perspectives. However, with the use of video for employee onboarding, things become more efficient and streamlined. Glassdoor states that well-evaluated employee onboarding yields 82% of improved employee retention. Hence, it plays an important role so the solution calls for an efficient strategy as well and with the use of video everything becomes more progressive.
In a remote working environment, employees suffered from isolation and boredom. Through explainer video conferencing, this issue got catered significantly. Employers began to engage with their new hires and team and created a well-connected environment. Among the many brilliant ideas of remote onboarding some of them are listed below:
- Personalised Welcome Message
- Videos to Introduce the Team
- Videos About Different Achievements of the Firm
- Videos Regarding the Company Policies
- Tutorial Videos
Gigging
According to the statistics, around 41.8% of Americans are planning to continue working remotely. Not only this, by the year 2025, around 36.2 million Americans will have a home-based work environment. Wonder why? The major reason is gigging. When you work remotely you have the space and time to gig in some other projects and work as well. You can find time to invest in your own thing like starting up a new business or doping what you always dreamt of but couldn't ever get the time. Remote working encourages individuals to forgo incredibly good-paying jobs. They can be more productive and targeted towards their goals.
Talking about gigging, it not only proved effective for individuals but provided an avenue to the leading giants as well. Ford and Tesla and General Motors started manufacturing ventilators during the pandemic. It helped them unlock a new category of manufacturing which steered more recognition and appreciation from all over the world.
Ensured better mental health
The confined office building and following the same routine every day become monotonous. It creates fatigue and stress. Every individual begins to feel tired and unmotivated. However, in a survey that was carried out by Mental Health America, the employees with flexible working hours reported having improved mental health than those with a fixed work routine.
Those having no flexibility to work tend to have twice poor mental health issues. Apart from this, a flexible work environment becomes easier to create a work-life balance. All of these factors contribute to improving work efficiency and productivity among the employees which ultimately reap greater benefits for the companies. Hence remote working proved to be a good turning point.
During the pandemic, one thing that made waves in the industry is travel working. Many employees adopted this new trend of vacationing while staying active to work. All you need is your laptop and you can plan short vacations to any corner of the world. As remote working implies working from anywhere, employees began seeking advantage of this perk and perused their love for travelling without affecting their productivity.
With the travel working trend, a new term surfaced in the industry "Digital nomad" the lifestyle which depicts a perfect balance between work and life. As long as you are fulfilling your task, no matter where you travel to nothing will affect your job and work.
Is remote working effective?
Whether employees would stay productive or not without supervision in remote working- it became a common concern of companies across the world with the outbreak of COVID-19. However, Airtasker carried out a comprehensive survey which monitored the productivity of over 500 employees in a remote working environment with 500 of those strictly following the usual shift times from offices. The results gathered were amusing and encouraging as it showed that the remote workers were more productive, enthusiastic and efficient. The findings are listed below:
- Remote workers work 17 additional days a year
- Remote workers though take longer breaks than those at the office but they work an extra 10 minutes every day
- Office workers show an unproductive attitude every day for around 33 minutes whereas the remote workers stay unproductive for 27 minutes
- 22% of office workers are distracted by their bosses as compared to the 15% of remote workers
The future of remote work
The outbreak of COVID-19 has truly brought an irreversible change in the industries. It has influenced decision making and modes of doing businesses at large. Companies like Twitter indicated remote working to be indefinite for their workforce.
Considering the profitable outcomes, in the long run, companies must make use of state of the art technology to improve the remote working environment and instead of reverting to the traditional style must pursue the ongoing trend. Its advantages at a much greater level. The investments to sustain the office environment along with catering to all the necessities will be saved and the productivity will get doubled.
At a low investment, companies will get to reap out accelerated profit-generating sources. Both the employees and the employers will stay contended. The major concern of employees is that they feel disconnected with other mates, which could be resolved by the use of project management and team management tools. If you deploy some cutting edge software, you can easily bring your team together on a single platform to interact and discuss.
Wrap Up
Remote work is going to stay for long as witnessed by the acceptance and willingness seen by the companies and their workforce. As employees work on their preferred time, it creates better opportunities for companies to stay available round the clock or at least at extended times. However, if innovative techniques are not adopted by the firms, this system might fall flat creating chaos among the employees. There comes a dire need for proper supervision using technology to reach out and engage every teammate to better yield the outcomes.
