Can you maintain relationships with remote employees like you do with the employees you pass in the hallway every day? What’s the best way to communicate? How should you monitor their productivity without interfering?
Whether your remote employees are road warriors making deals or homebodies writing code, your management approach has to change to accommodate the circumstances.
Here are seven suggestions to help you better manage remote workers – no matter where they are or what they do.
Don’t Worry About Them Not Working
The stereotypical images of laid-back remote workers lounging on a beach or a couch with a laptop are unfair. As it turns out, people who work outside the office aren’t slacking one bit. Remote workers record an average of four more hours per week than onsite equivalents.
Similarly, after comparing traditional and remote employees, Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom found that the stay-at-homes did 13% more work than in-office counterparts.
Consider Them for Promotions
Despite their high productivity levels, remote employees aren’t earning more performance-based rewards.
Daniel Cable of the London Business School argues that companies still reward “presenteeism” (being in the office) based on research showing that telecommuters are less likely to be promoted. Being out of sight may put remote workers out of your mind when it’s time to move someone up, regardless of how hard they work.
Be sure to include telecommuters on your list of eligible candidates. Even if the bump up would require more office time, give them the chance to consider making that change if their performance merits the opportunity.
Let Them Work “Irregular” Office Hours
For many people, one big advantage of working from home is having the flexibility to work around commitments that conflict with the 8am-to-5pm routine. Other remote workers may simply feel more productive before the sun comes up or long after it has gone down.
It’s reasonable to ask your work-from-home staff to be accessible for a few hours that overlap with your office hours; otherwise, they may be more productive if you let them work at whatever time they choose. If this kind of flexibility would prevent them from covering their responsibilities, then perhaps a remote working arrangement isn’t suitable for that particular position.
Ask for Their Timesheets
Just because you give remote employees freedom over their schedules doesn’t mean you should be in the dark about how many hours they log and when they’re logging them.
Accurate timesheets give you more insight into the productivity of your exempt employees and critical timekeeping data for employees who are eligible for overtime pay.
To get this information, consider a time and attendance system that allows traditional employees to punch in with a building badge and remote workers to sign in using a web or mobile application.
Don’t Let Them Work Too Much
Because remote workers have a tendency to work longer hours, their timesheets will also tell you if they’re at risk of burnout. If one of your work-from-home employees is consistently logging extra hours, then encourage them to make more time for personal activities or use some PTO.
Because technology enables them to stay constantly connected, some companies even implement measures to encourage work-life balance for remote employees who work more.
Ask Them to Come in for Regular Face Time
As mentioned earlier, research shows that telework can make your employees more productive; however, other studies prove that working together – at the same location – makes people more creative.
By monitoring workers at three tech firms using “sociometric badges,” Arizona State researchers proved that teams are most creative when they are closest to each other and physically active.
Consider developing hybrid schedules with remote employees that enable them to work in isolation at home on some tasks (putting together reports) and to work with their colleagues at the office on other tasks (brainstorming for an upcoming event or project).
Don’t Use Remote Working as a Prize
Instead of heavily weighing factors like tenure and performance when you decide whether employees can telecommute, first consider the nature of their work. Do you need them in the office to generate ideas and support others most of the time? Or do you primarily need them to produce a high volume of work that can be done more efficiently away from distractions? Let those factors determine where and how you let your staff work.
If you’re looking for more ways to get the most value from your workforce, NSCA Business Accelerator Insperity can help.