Empowering HR teams: how to succeed in a remote work environment

The trend regarding remote working has been for many years and it will get even more. Many employers and employees, as they are just adapting to this new normal, are finding themselves pleasantly surprised by the benefits that remote working carries with it. Neither is that strange. Remote working, in turn, workers are typically found to be more productive, more involved, and to be happier. Additionally, businesses that provide flexible and remote working environments are more desirable in the market consequently enabling companies to have a pool of top talent to employ and also retain a competitive workforce. The study of more than 7000 employees showed that the ones who didn’t have a feeling of empowerment were in the 24th percentile of engagement while those with a high level of empowerment came in the 79th percentile. Luckily with the adoption of the right strategy and the required tools any organization can transform its employees into a potent force. This article is on the benefits of employee empowerment and shows how to begin the best practices and how to succeed in a remote work environment. 

What does the word empowerment mean?

Empowerment is the process that prompts or stimulates the fulfillment of certain acts or duties by a person.

What is employee empowerment?

Employee empowerment is a management idea, where employees are not only included in the decision process, but they also have control over their work and basically can act on their will whenever there is a threat detected or an opportunity arises. This is a different practice from micromanagement when the team is not allowed to be independent at the same time.

• Make employees heard by frequently inquiring about their opinions and taking action based on them.
• Give the worker more authority, serve him with additional responsibilities, or entirely change the role to foster growth.
• Give frequent recognition of employees’ work to motivate them and raise their conviction regarding their abilities.
• Besides that, enable the workforce with the advanced instruments, training, and also, freedom needed to reach high levels of productivity.

An employee’s manager, HR staff, and fellow staff members are the key people who help to create a good and empowered working environment. The establishment of an atmosphere of mutual trust and high comfort is needed for the parties to start doing something risky and the rules and regulations should be made clear transfer of power at the workplace to the employees without gaining support from the whole organization is ineffective and unachievable.

The impacts of remote working on the human resource teams.

The way HR teams perform their tasks has drastically transformed due to the development of distanced work. Because of the pandemic, a large number of workers switched to working from home respectively which brought up several HR policy and practice adaptations. With a growing number of employees grasping the work from home as a norm and governments continuously passing Digital Nomad Visas, the ground is constantly shifting, thus potentially necessitating your HR team to adapt to various aspects. On the other hand, as a result of employee transition to remote working, the selection and onboarding processes for new hires at your company must be adjusted. Make a point to use technology and virtual channels for remote interviewing, hiring and training, and remote working. It is important to have a well-structured and (highly) effective onboarding process so that new staff can be immersed into their team and company culture.

For an efficient workforce, learning communication and teamwork tactics must not be neglected as well. Motivate managers to meet regularly with distant workers, make certain they are equipped with the needed equipment, and give support. It may be a good idea to introduce a project management software solution to make sure processes run smoothly and our interdisciplinary team works effectively. The last yet equally significant pillar is the physical and mental health condition of your remote workers. Remote working makes people miss spontaneously face-to-face interactions between people who share the same working environment and feel lonely. People may also experience some difficulty in drawing a line between their job and their time. They may work more than they should, which is not only unhealthy but also exhausting. This can lead to burnout and lack of sleep. Due to this, we should prioritize employee wellbeing as our primary duty and give them a helping hand whenever they need it. Perhaps you may consider initiatives such as wellness programs or making time for regular meetings to ensure that your workforce is not under extreme workloads and enjoys a healthy work-life balance. We will show how HR professionals can successfully manage their teams in a remote working environment.

1. Remotely work landscape learning

To be able to raise the productivity of HR teams in a remote working setting it is paramount, initially, to foresee the specific issues and prospects of remote working. We will consider the pluses of remote labor for the employees and for organizations as well as the possible traps for the HR departments and their team members that may arise. Armed with this in-depth insight into remote working, HR specialists can craft work strategies that capitalize on the power of remote working while reducing its drawbacks.

2. Creating a suitable environment for remote working.

Creating a remote-friendly culture is an inherent part of effective employee engagement, cooperation, and performance management in a virtual environment. We’ll explore the necessity of establishing a supportive communication process, boosting transparency, and developing a working environment where remote employees feel involved and a sense of belonging. Another added touch will be the introduction of team culture and values management in a remote setup, which entails such activities as virtual team-building exercises, recognition programs, and virtual coffee chats.

3. Harnessing the potential of technology for HR outsourcing

A significant contribution of the innovation to the implementation of remote HR management is the technology. Virtual recruitment and onboarding tools are just a few from the stand of extensive tech-driven solutions provided to the profession of HR in a remote working environment for facilitating the array of HR processes. We will look at the latest trends in technologies that have an enormous impact on the human resources sector and share with participants how to use the tools to gain efficiency, collaboration, and a better employee experience.

4. Remote hiring and onboarding                                                
   Thanks to technological advancements and the need for a highly effective recruitment process, remote recruiting and onboarding have become essential elements of the employment process. Human resource departments must deal with the issues brought about by the digitization of procedures including hiring, staff integration, and training. Discuss strategies for conducting face-to-face interviews, assessing the capacity and remote workability of candidates, and designing an onboarding process that is welcome and smooth for the new employees. And lastly, factors such as the necessity of establishing specific rules and guidelines for new employees to help them settle down in the remote working environment will also be addressed.

5. Making teams work from remote locations successfully

A different technique than face-to-face management is necessary when it comes to remote team management. Since remote employees pose communication challenges, HR professionals must employ a style of leadership that caters to these individuals’ needs while issues of productivity and morale are still addressed. Talk about how to set up goals, and communicate effectively, as well as the aspect in which new teams build on the distance. Besides, explore various methods of solving some typical troubles like the development of virtual team dynamics, time zone differences, and work-home problems.

6. Prioritizing employee well-being

Employers are interested that the HR teams concentrate on employee welfare, being the remote working ambiance makes it difficult for HR team members to draw a line between work and personal life spheres. Address the central role that having a good work-life balance plays in helping employees, the necessity of having adequate mental health resources at hand, and bringing relaxation and wellness to the workplace. Moreover, the webinar will play host to strategies that help with isolation and loneliness among remote employees even though they live apart, including employee wellness programs and time with managers.

7. Teleworking needs exponential growth of leadership capabilities

Efficient leadership is needed as the key component of the socially remote staff meeting success. HR professionals need to admonish their leadership skills while motivating, encouraging, and supporting remote teams. We will look into three basic traits of a leader who works remotely, including adaptability, sincerity, and strong communication skills. 

8. Long-term learning & development

Ongoing professionals’ growth and self-development as well as a team’s success in remote working, are fostered by lifelong learning and self-education. To make these both possible and effective, the HR teams will need to allocate time and resources for their employees to continue with upskilling and reskilling skills relevant to remote working including digital literacy, virtual collaboration, and remote project management. Plan to address both virtual training program implementation and online learning platforms usage advantages as well as highlight to each worker the importance of continuous learning within the organization.

9. Measuring success in remote working 

It also offers new challenges to both employees and employers. Different methods and approaches need to be implemented to find the most suitable way of monitoring the effectiveness or inefficiency of remote working. The extent to which remote HR programs are successful depends on how much data is utilized in this process. The HR teams should set KPIs metrics to assess progress and analyze the effects of their remote work approaches. Mention the indicators that will help us to determine such things as employee engagement, productivity, retention rates, opinion surveys, and indicators. Adding on introduces methods of gathering employee feedback from remote locations in addition to using data to drive the decision-making process and the company’s continuous improvement practice.

10. Overcoming common challenges

Notwithstanding many positive impacts, it is convenient to mention several remote working challenges that the HR team must consider proactively. Talk through and understand such obstacles as communication lags, feeling lonely, and difficulties in combining work and private life. Furthermore, offer to the team effective methods of how to control these and even contribute to a positive work environment back at work.