Tweetchat summary

#TWEETCHAT SUMMARY: REMOTE EMPLOYEES – EFFECTIVE OR NOT? February 4, 2016 Mukul Agarwal

The #Tweetchat campaign in the series of #AskHR discussions is the latest campaign we have come up with to reach out to the HR/Recruitment/TA fraternity across the world and involve them into a discussion that can help change the way we see Recruitment and Hiring. “ The discussion took place on: Applicant Tracking System | Twitter ” In this tweetchat, we discussed around the effectiveness of #workfromhome and #remotwork culture. And how effective are ‘Remote Employees’. The participants largely have supported this job, but with certain apprehensions in their minds. Have a look.

1. What are the benefits of having Work-from-home Remote Employees in the company? 

It helps people work according to their preferred timings, makes them happy and they give their best shot at work

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Can easily get people who know the subject, without being physically present at office

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Lesser people in office, and it saves our day to day operational cost

2. Being away from office, how remote employees can make themselves more efficient? 

If a remote employee can sort the time management aspect efficiency will come in

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Treat your work window as time truly away from home (9-5 for eg) and nothing should change unless important

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Efficiency increases because they are not mentally burdened. They can prioritise work for increased efficiency

3. How to track the performance and productivity of Remote employees? 

Solely & wholly on the job done, quantitatively & qualitatively as applicable, daily call, weekly skype

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Weekly conference calls, work completion status on weekly basis

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Mutual trust, keeping track of time management skills, employee’s mental health is crucial, establish F2F meeting frequency

4. Should remote employees be treated equivalent to regular office employees?

Why? Why not? 

Definitely at par with employees as they doing a similar work and need similar or more engagement

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They have to be treated more maturely & sensitively. A robust Performance Management System is critical for #workfromhome

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They cannot be treated equally because they work in different environment, and employee for #workfromhome is not bonded with any office policies

5. What could be the reasons which keep organisations away from having Remote employees? 

Legal Issues-confidentiality, data privacy, supervisory issues,integrity etc

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To maintain uniformity, #workfromhome can’t be given to everyone. IC roles are more suitable to it

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Difficulty in monitoring performance and in communicating with them about performance expectations

6. How HRs can help improve engagement and performance of remote employees? 

Policies specially structured to make #workfromhome employees feel as a part of the company is essential for everyone in the company

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By communicating regularly, providing training on new technology, appointing dedicated team head

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Use latest technology for communication, plan & organize ahead of time, manage by objectives, interact with them