Working from Home and Coronavirus: What Employers and Employees Should Know
The new normal! Could it be here to stay? This is the question that employers and employees should be scratching their heads to get right. But from the most straightforward point of view, one can easily have a clue of what awaits the work sector in the coming years. Probably, to some, it is no longer a new normal, as they may have already switched to working from home to stay safe from the novel coronavirus. It is no secret; many are losing their loved ones daily in every country; every one of us is either affected or infected.
But there are a few things that one must note; the crisis has brought about a new system that has not been common in the work market for a very long time.
Working from home can be described as an arrangement of work whereby the employees who were working in teams through mutual consultation and assistance have been forced to work from home due to the current ongoing pandemic. As a result of the severe effects of the coronavirus, companies have been forced to make their employees work while in their homes though they are being faced by several challenges like working in isolation without a proper working environment and resources Whereas Remote working is where the remote employee teams are much more organized and standardized, well equipped for their work. Normally the employees are hired for specialized projects or skills. The team members could be employees of the company, contractual employees, or dedicated resources provided by a third party also known as outsourcing.
The most suitable jobs for working from home
While working from home, however with the many challenges that are being faced by the remote teams, there are a set of jobs that organizations can find it easy to allocate to their employees while working from home. Just to mention a few, these include web development, software development, computer support specialists, customer care tutor, and teachers.
Find ways to make facilities for a work from home scenarios
As a recruiter with an opening that you need to be filled by a work-from-home candidate, there are some tools that must be available to aid the candidate in delivery and efficient communication. Some of them include a computer, monitor, printer, mouse, and keyboard.
Make available workplace tools and systems that are not available easily at an individual level
The full computer system should come when fitted with remote desktop software, screen sharing software, and the appropriate applications for mobile devices. These tools should be prepared by the IT department and ensure that they are efficiently working since they can not be easily found at an individual level
Assess mechanisms for connectivity such as videoconferencing and other means of communication
Apart from the tools, other access mechanisms need to be in place to facilitate communication, and these vary from video conferencing like Zoom and google meet to do live calls and live chats applications like Slack, Skype, and google hangouts. Recruitment Agency Dubai brings to any organization the latest updates about the most excellent features that are on-demand in this coronavirus period to enhance smooth and streamlined communication between organizations and firms.
Through innovation and creativity, find ways to manage processes optimally in a work-from-home environment
With many challenges that are faced by the employees working from home due to the pandemic, organizations should enlighten their employees to use settings like the notification block, silent mobile phones, and advertisement blocker to work optimally.
Allow flexibility in working hours to manage stressful health and family situations
As an employer, you can set and schedule different work timetables for different timetables depending on their availability. This could vary from splitting lunch hours or leaves so that you remain with some employees while others are away.
What Are Employers’ Responsibilities Regarding Work-From-Home In Response to COVID-19
Proprietors have a great responsibility for working from home; after all, the business or organization belongs to them. Therefore, it is upon them to ensure that they are paying for the work that is being done. Some of the tasks the employer has are among the following;
1. Restructure/ automate work allocation systems
Tools like Slack, When I work, Basecamp and many others are utilized by Many Human resource personnel to allocate work to their employees. The recruitment agency in Dubai has the best advisory services about online hiring of working from home professionals and home-based employment workforce management that any manager or proprietor needs to ensure that employees get enough work for the period they are required to be working. As much as the employees may not be managed directly, it does not mean that they have space not to work. Automated tools can be used to bring success to HR amidst the lockdowns that are being faced around the globe.
2. Set expectations proactively and with enhanced clarity
Many managers and proprietors face a significant challenge in managing the time and deadlines of the work they have allocated to work-from-home employees. Are you one? Take time to discuss, make the expectations clear, understand why you need them, write them down then make an agreement with the employees that are currently working from home. Alternatively, the best way is to hire Recruitment Agencies In Bahrain and get exceptional advice on how to enhance the clarity of work from employees working from home.
3. Offer an online infrastructure for employees to get relevant instructions
As it is evident with the coronavirus that one can not meet their employees daily in the office as it has been, it is, therefore, upon the organization to plan on how to set out instructions to their employees on how work needs to be done. Organizations can utilize online tools like live video, live chats, and Skype calls to pass instructions to their employees.
4. Set up a separate help-desk for technical support
A help desk is essential to employees in the current way of working from home. With little or no knowledge on how to set up a computer or how to connect to the internet, organizations may need to have a separate help desk that can respond to such issues quickly in aiding the employee on what to do. Through this, employees will have a smooth time in getting back to work and release the already many challenges they are facing in the new environment they are forced to work from.
5. Create a separate HR help-desk for managing unexpected issues
Successful working, duty delegation, promotions, and information passing can never be smooth if there are no meetings. The HR can conduct specialized virtual meetings either once a week or a month, to give project updates, serious personal concerns, promotions, and change of duty. The separate HR desk can reach the employees through different online platforms, this maintains or uplifts teamwork and the employee’s work spirit.
6. Make flexible work policies considering employee health and family emergencies resulting from the pandemic
While at the offices, employees are normally able to adhere to the set policies as they have no interruption from different environments like they are facing now within the pandemic. Maintaining the normal working hours is a great challenge that all organizations employees are facing while working at home. Organizations are only left with one decision, to figure out which working policies will fit the employee’s family, health, and home duties. When organizations hire Agencies Recruiting for Dubai for Manpower consultation, they provide sufficient advice on what policies and best timetables can help employees yield the best.
7. Organize weekly or fortnightly virtual team meetings.
HR has a duty to ensure that their employees are having all challenges escalated while being in a new working environment, employees are bound to face difficulties and issues that need to be addressed. Organizations need to ensure that they are able to address the challenges as fast as they arise. Team meetings can be done weekly or monthly for serious concerns and duty delegation to be done.
What Are Employees’ Responsibilities
Employees have a major role to play in the current work from home scenario to ensure that they are driving the motto of the company despite the challenges they are facing. Some of these include;
1. Make Necessary Arrangements to Make Work Management “Less Distracted” and More Productive
As much as an employee is working in an environment that they are most likely to face distractions, it is their duty to make prior arrangements before beginning their work. This could involve getting a locked room, free from noise and children.
2. Inform Managers On-Time About Health Emergencies and Leave
Efficient communication involves requesting leaves and emergencies that you may encounter in time. Employees can use the available online tools to pass the communication.
3. Be Open to Adopting New Technology and Tools in Work Management,
The current coronavirus requires that employees be ready to adapt to new working systems and environments
4. Use Company-provided Equipment With Care and Accountability
It is upon the employee to take care of the company’s equipment from possible distractions by children or being stolen.
Alliance Recruitment agency
To conclude, the current situation makes it a must to get the latest trends in the working environment and foster them to continue in operation. Our global manpower agency is leading in ensuring that organizations and businesses remain on the map even in the lockdown by providing up-to-date advice on how employees can remain highly productive while working from home, and how the organizations can facilitate them. You can visit us or send us an email, and our help desk will be right there for your assistance.