Top Tips for HR Managers to Manage Remote Workers

As new as it may sound, remote work started way back in the late 1900s. Surprising, isn’t it? However, it gained much momentum after the pandemic in 2020. Needless to say, it did come with a lot of challenges too. New ways of working demanded newer ways to communicate with remote employees. To help understand this better, this blog highlights the challenges of human resource management in remote work and provides strategies to overcome them. 

What is Human Resource Management?

An organization has many departments handling different operations. The human resources department handles all the employees and employee-related operations. It focuses on personnel management to achieve the vision and goal of an organization. 

Some functions of human resource management are job designing and analysis, selection and hiring of employees, training the employees, compensation and benefits, performance management of employees, communication with employees, health and safety regulations, and labor and industrial relations. It is important that you update yourself through a human resource management course and enhance your knowledge in this field.

Challenges to Human Resource Management in Remote Work

Remote work is a working arrangement that allows one to work away from the office. You could be working from home, a cafe, or even a library and still be connected to the in-office workflow. Human resource management plays a role in ensuring that this connection is maintained. However, this can get challenging sometimes. 

Some of the challenges involved in human resource management in remote work include:

• Engagement: Remote employees may feel disconnected from the company’s work culture and values. This isolation can affect their productivity.
• Communication: Communication with remote employees is dependent on mediums, such as phones and the Internet. Disruptions in any one of the mediums can lead to miscommunication.
• Technological Infrastructure: The technologies such as a laptop, wireless connection, and printer available at the office might not be available to remote employees. 
• Performance: Remote work makes it difficult for supervisors to keep a track of the work performance of remote employees since regular meet-ups are not possible. 
• Training: Remote employees might lack the practical experience the in-office employees gain through various training sessions.

Strategies for Improving Human Resource Management for Remote Workers

The following are some strategies for improving human resource management in remote work.

• Set Expectations: Changes in policies due to new scenarios can lead to ambiguity. Ensure that the new expectations are conveyed to the team through details regarding meetings, tasks, work output, deadlines, etc. Share tips about working from home to make the experience easier for the employees.
• Flexibility: Remote work gives a lot of freedom to employees to do the work according to the schedules suitable to them. A management plan can help organize schedules that inform employees of the deadlines. They may then work at their pace to achieve the set goals. 
• Engage the Employees: Regular contact with the employees with a brief reaction time ensures they are engaged and informed. Try to communicate through short virtual meetings for project discussions and other work-related queries. 
• Remote Training: Modern service desks or platforms can be used for online employee training. These desks allow the HR managers to introduce training content in interesting formats such as games. 
• Communication: Since face-to-face communication is not possible, you can use other methods to communicate with remote employees. Some of these can be emails, calls, texts, video calls, etc. Also, make sure to give prompt replies and let them know they can reach out to you easily. 
• Team-building: The employees need to stay connected with other members of their team as well. The managers should devise methods for the entire team to collaborate on work activities. 
• Correct Infrastructure: You can provide the employees with the option of working with their own laptops, or if possible, provide them with one. Make sure the set-up is configured according to the needs of their job.
• Take Care of Their Mental Well-Being: Since the difference between personal and professional space is blurred in remote work, employees may have to work extra hours. To ensure they do not exhaust themselves and their mental well-being is maintained, you can fix appropriate working hours for remote employees.

Conclusion

As most organizations have introduced a work-from-home model for their employees, it is crucial for HR management to make their working environment more flexible. While it may come with a lot of challenges, you can definitely achieve astonishing results by implementing the strategies listed in this blog. This way you can define organizational goals while also keeping employee satisfaction in check.