Remote Work: Employee Needs
Picture yourself at your lake of choice. Now imagine what/who you want at the lake with you. Mine is Lake Crescent, WA and I love to share the lake with friends, boating, good food, a campfire, and tent camping. What does your favorite lake destination have to do with remote work? Employees made it clear that their future destination is remote work. What’s not clear is what/who is at that remote work destination with you. What kind of tools, leadership, colleagues will you share that experience with. I’m also daydreaming on a sunny day in Seattle and conversations reminded me that summer is almost over now that we are in September!
A popular study earlier this year discussed employee choices deciding between a $30,000 raise or permanently working from home. The response was a majority 64% of respondents electing the work from home option over the raise (I’m with them and working from the lake)! While we agree that remote work is the preferred option (even in the face of a raise), there is still room for growth in our remote work experiences. A 2021 study from Buffer’s State of Remote Work highlights the most common struggles with remote work below:
How is your team addressing your employee needs?
The most successful remote teams we collaborate with are creating feedback loops and appointing a point person or group dedicated to supporting remote work. This point person/group helps build the infrastructure (products), the team (diversity/equity/inclusion), and culture. We discussed these priority areas in this Spot-Light Wednesday series if you missed any.
There is a clear difference in employee satisfaction when a company takes accountability for their employee needs in a remote work environment. A GitLab report found that “1 in 3 respondents feel disconnected from their peers. 34% of respondents noted that more transparency from leadership leads to a deeper feeling of connectedness at work, while 38% noted that more visibility into the work within the organization improved their sense of connection.” Leadership should take a proactive approach in coaching an employee on how to “unplug” from work or set-up the right infrastructure for success in collaboration or the feeling of loneliness. A company that promotes a culture of cell phone responses in the evening fosters that failure to unplug. A company that moved remote but still uses the same email communication without adopting anything new after leaving the office is failing their employees. Set your company, and more importantly, your employees up for success! Let us know how you are addressing these needs of your employees or engage with us to help.
