How to Prepare for Long-Term Remote Work

As the world approaches a post-pandemic era, businesses anticipate that working from home (WFH) will continue to increase. Companies need to decide how to achieve an effective WFH strategy that will benefit both employees and their businesses. Unfortunately, in a recent PWC survey of 133 US executives, about one-third of them described their approach to post-pandemic remote work as “going with the flow.”

Here is how to effectively prepare for a future of working from home and how to make sure it benefits everyone involved, not just the employee. 

Company Policies

Proactively preparing for the future involves updating and creating company policies meant to be permanent rather than the temporary ones made at the beginning of the pandemic. Business leaders should determine how much of the work should be in-office or remote, considering the nature of the work, the experience level of their employees, employee preferences, and real estate costs. They should also decide whether they want to employ a work-from-anywhere (WFA) policy, enabling employees to live anywhere and work at a company in a different city, state, or even a foreign country. Company leaders should communicate with their HR to determine which HR policies must be changed, such as recruiting strategies and compensation decisions. 

Management Practices

In addition to updating company policies, companies should also consider adapting their management practices and behaviors to a remote or hybrid work environment. They should consider developing a healthy WFH climate that encourages workers and promotes a positive atmosphere, even when they aren’t in the office. One way of doing this is by explicitly stating the organizational expectations of working from home, such as how each employee keeps in touch and communicates with everyone. Offering direct expectations and leader-led supportive statements can positively influence the remote-work climate.

Employee Trust and Engagement

Consistent communication and social interactions with employees help demonstrate empathy and compassion from company leaders, leading to lower stress and more engagement in their work. Company leaders should foster trusting relationships with their employees by connecting employees during meetings or social gatherings, even if they are online through Zoom or video conferencing. They should also build trust by investing in technology that shows goals, assignments, and objectives in which employees can communicate and give feedback to each other. These technologies monitor employee work performance and create open communication that could be difficult to have outside of the office.

Staffing with ClearStar

ClearStar is integrated with SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting to deliver accredited, award-winning, mobile background and medical screening capabilities to clients. ClearStar is certified by the SAP ICC to ensure quick and easy implementation and is also a partner in the SAP PartnerEdge program. As such, our company is empowered to build, market, and sell software applications on top of market-leading technology platforms from SAP. To quickly and effectively find new qualified employees, work with ClearStar and SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting on background screening and hiring. 

To learn more about ClearStar’s integrations with SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting, visit https://www.clearstar.net/sap-successfactors/. To place an order for a social media screening report or other background checks, contact ClearStar at +1.888.982.4648 or visit https://www.clearstar.net/contact/.

At ClearStar, we are committed to your success. An important part of your employment screening program involves compliance with various laws and regulations, which is why we are providing information regarding screening requirements in certain countries, region, etc. While we are happy to provide you with this information, it is your responsibility to comply with applicable laws and to understand how such information pertains to your employment screening program. The foregoing information is not offered as legal advice but is instead offered for informational purposes. ClearStar is not a law firm and does not offer legal advice and this communication does not form an attorney client relationship. The foregoing information is therefore not intended as a substitute for the legal advice of a lawyer knowledgeable of the user’s individual circumstances or to provide legal advice. ClearStar makes no assurances regarding the accuracy, completeness, or utility of the information contained in this publication. Legislative, regulatory and case law developments regularly impact on general research and this area is evolving rapidly. ClearStar expressly disclaim any warranties or responsibility or damages associated with or arising out of the information provided herein.