A Snapshot Of Remote Employees’ Experiences And Perspectives

The benefits and drawbacks of remote work

By Paul White, Ph.D, Appreciation at Work

Onekey way to understand employees is to ask them directly. Unfortunately, some leaders seem to forget this. The problem is – thinking that we know what others’ life experience is and how they feel about situations without asking them usually leads to misunderstanding.

This bias can affect research as well. For example, a survey completed by business executives found they believed the reason employees were leaving was due to compensation issues. However, a study by MIT’s Sloan School of Business which asked employees why they were resigning, found that a lack of recognition was almost three times more important than compensation.

Another factor leading to misunderstanding employees is assuming that all members of a group are similar. This seems to be the case concerning remote employees. Most discussions about remote employees talk about them as a homogeneous group. But, this is clearly not the case. Remote employees differ according to the:

● Frequency of working remotely

● Role of employee

● Type of work

● Location / Distance

So, it would be a mistake to believe the experience and perspective of a full-time remote employee who manages a group of accounting associates in different states is the same as a customer service representative who works remotely two days per week in the same community as her colleagues.

Gaining Some Clarification About Remote Employees

While conducting a large-scale study of remote employees would be ideal; but, this is quite difficult to do. An alternative approach is to examine several smaller groups and then combine the results obtained.

This study examined a group of over 400 employees; the commonality of the group was that they all had demonstrated interest in learning more about improving employee engagement and creating more positive workplaces. The majority of participants self-reported as working remotely (1% indicated they supervised remote colleagues). Their frequency of remote work was: 40% full-time remote; 41% work remotely two to four days each week; 19% worked remotely one day a week. Their distribution, according to age range, was:

3% 29 years old or younger

12% 30 – 39 years old

27% 40 – 49 years old

37% 50 – 59 years old

21% 60 years old or older

This factor is important to note because 85% of the respondents were at least 40 years old, and only 3% were younger than 30. Therefore, this group (and their perspectives) are not representative of the general workforce in the U.S. But the results do provide insight into older employees who work remotely.

Issues Explored

A relatively easy way to obtain quantifiable data is to ask close-ended questions (yes/no; multiple choice) and tabulate the frequency of responses. The limitation of this type of data is that the researcher determines the potential variables explored. The alternative, utilized in this study, is to ask open-ended questions and let the respondents determine the issues most important to them. This approach does not set artificial boundaries on the types of answers given but does allow for the categorization of themes.

An ongoing discussion in this transitioning world of work relates to the benefits and negative consequences of remote work. Organizational leaders must take numerous factors into account: fiscal considerations, how best to meet customers’ needs, communication issues, and the desires of their employees.

Obtaining input from employees seems to be an important step to take. Two questions focused on this group’s experiences of working remotely. (Given the open-ended nature of the questions, their answers were then analyzed for themes and coded appropriately)

What Do You Enjoy About Working Remotely? What Are the Benefits of Working Offsite?

Four clear themes emerged. The most frequently cited benefit (38% of all responses) related to not having to commute: “Less time commuting”, “Reduced cost of transportation.”

Secondly, 27% of respondents indicated working remotely allowed them to be more productive and deal with fewer distractions (primarily unwanted social interactions with others.)

“I’m more productive.” “Get things done without interruption from others.”

Flexibility in one’s daily life schedule was a third benefit reported in 21% of the responses.

“Able to work when I’m most focused.” “Start or end my day outside of regular working hours.”

Finally, improvements in work/ life balance comprised 14% of the responses, either directly stated (“Better work/life balance”) or by a specific example cited (“Eat healthier,” “Able to exercise or take the dog for a walk in the middle of the day”).

What Are the Downsides of Working Remotely?

One predominant theme and four secondary themes were evident in the responses to this question. Overwhelmingly, 57% of employees in this group identify loneliness and a lack of social contact with colleagues as the main negative result of working remotely:

“I get lonely”, “Less personal interactions”, and “Lack of connection with colleagues”. This theme is consistent with other data reported of increased levels of loneliness in the general population of the U.S. (adolescents and adults, those who work, and those who don’t).

Two additional problems were reported by 12% of the respondents (for each issue). Practical challenges in work-based interactions (specifically, difficulties in collaborating with colleagues and challenges in managing team members) were cited: “Miss out on spontaneous collaboration”, “More difficult to connect with those I supervise”. And concerns about being less productive due to distractions and unavailability of needed resources were also reported. “Can be easily distracted when tired or bored”, “Don’t always have the equipment I need”.

A final negative consequence related to working remotely was the experience of working longer hours than when they worked onsite, which was cited in 9% of the responses: “Difficult to make a ‘hard stop’ in my workday”, “Work longer than I did onsite”.

Interestingly, 9% of the respondents proactively reported that they saw no downsides to working remotely. Clearly, there are employees who feel strongly that working remotely is the best option for them.

Implications for Training

The findings from this study point to four areas of need to address for older (40+ years old) remote employees. First, the high level of loneliness and desire for more social connection with their colleagues is critical – with over 55% of respondents reporting this is an issue for them. Developing strategies, processes, and activities to facilitate social interaction among team members is key to maintaining an emotionally healthy workforce. It is important to note, however, as our previous research with remote employees demonstrated, that the need is for personal connection, not just better communication overall.

While one benefit of working remotely cited is having to deal with fewer distractions, interestingly, this is also a challenge reported. Developing training and tools to assist remote employees in better managing the distractions they experience working at home or off-site will help in this area.

The lack of opportunity to interact with colleagues on collaborative projects or get input from a coworker in their area of expertise is a work-related process that needs attention. Trainers might explore facilitating discussions about potential processes for collaborative interactions and how to structure opportunities for team members to brainstorm together.

Finally, some employees need assistance in learning how to set boundaries between their work responsibilities and personal life and exploring the issues underlying their struggle to limit the amount of time they work.

Dr. Paul White is a psychologist, speaker, and international leadership trainer who “makes work relationships work.” His company, Appreciation at Work, provides training resources for corporations, medical facilities, schools, nonprofits, government agencies, more than 900 colleges and universities, and in over 60 countries. He is the co-author with Dr. Gary Chapman of The 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace.

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