Managing Employees Working From Home
To stay competitive, businesses are searching for high caliber talent outside of local areas. When the talent works in a different location, such as their home, how do you effectively manage the employee?
The Economic Times has an excellent article “5 ways to manage employees working from home or remote locations.”
Where, employees working from home have the opportunity to achieve a better work-life balance. At the same time, some associates can easily feel distant and de-motivated when they are in an isolated environment. This can happen for a number of reasons, including the lack of direct/face-to-face interaction with the manager, co-workers and clients.
All of the suggestions are important for employees you see on a daily basis as well as remote employees. When managing virtual employees, you need to focus more of your time to insuring that communication, recognition, building trust, regular feedback and, of course, the right technology tools are provide so the employee is productive.
When hiring or offering the benefit to work from home, it’s important to set clear expectations of what is expected, response times to emails, and any other standards you want the employee to follow. Communicate regularly and hold the employee accountable for deliverables.
Not all employees are good candidates for “virtual work environment,” so when managing employees, be aware and coach the employee, if needed, on the best way to stay productive when there is no one around.
Be well,
Pat
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