You don’t create a remote workplace by providing your employees with a laptops and some perks. Your workplace is a lot more than that- it is surrounded by values, an employee-centric culture, missions and goals. A healthy, employee-friendly workplace can help your organization achieve the heights it has been aiming for.
A push towards important aspects of what constitutes a workplace, organizational design, and the overall culture can increase your employees’ productivity and make them more loyal towards the place that offers so much.
We talked to some guests from The Shape of Work podcast and they gave us some insights. These were from different topics- but when collated together, they result in a perfectly employee-friendly workplace. Let’s go through them:
How to create an employee-friendly remote workplace?
What an organizational design depends on?
Our guest, Niyati (Senior Director Human Resources, TATCHA), tells us that it is important to figure out what organization design is before understanding its role in the culture.
Niyati suggests that before we go into how organization design is important for Remote first culture, we need to understand what organization design really is. As the name suggests, organizational design determines how an organization functions.
It depends on two factors:
Business strategy: Figure out what you want to offer and resolve. Find who will be your customers.
Organization culture: Organizational design is a derivative of the culture to a certain extent. It depends on how you get things done, the market you operate in, and more.
She gives us such an insightful and simple example. If your organization targets a dynamic market, you structure a simple/non-hierarchical structure where quick actions can be taken to deliver goals.
Meaningfully transforming employee experience
As Satadru (HR Head – Signify Innovations Lab ( formerly Philips Lighting)) mentions, in order to meaningfully transform employee experience, here are a few steps they follow:
- How to change the culture- Focus on the culture first. Create an inclusive employee experience that will help employees feel valued and heard. The focus should be to create programs which are more inclusive.
- The next step is to focus on how to grow- bring in technologies that will create an environment of learning. Create an ecosystem which is more comprehensive.
Treat your employees as customers
According to Mansi (Managing Director, EZ Ranking IT Services Pvt. Ltd.), organizations are late to understand the fact that employees are as important as their clients.
She says that the reason why her company is successful (or why any company) will be successful is because of the employees. Both clients and employees should be taken hand to hand. Employee motivation and appreciation needs to be given full significance.
Without assisting them and maintaining a productive environment, a company cannot receive 100% inputs from their employees.
“The Emotional Quotient is as important as the Intelligence Quotient.”
Mansi Rana, Managing Director, EZ Ranking IT Services Pvt. Ltd
Being a better manager in a remote workplace
One very intricate thing Swetha (HR Director, HackerEarth) noticed about leaders was that because of remote work, generally understanding leaders who believe in giving freedom to employees often feel confused.
When the employees are not in front of them, leaders start to struggle. The question that arises is “are they working?”.
Here’s what leaders should do:
“Don’t take control, give control.”
Micromanaging will lead to failure. Only focus on this situation when the work is not being done. That’s the time you should address it well. Be more inclusive of the working styles and practices.
Role of people managers in maintaining employee wellness
“People managers play a parental role in an organization.”
Swetha Harikrishnan
The role of people managers ensures wellness for all employees. They have to be observant towards any sort of major change in their employees’ behavior. When they notice people behaving unusually or feeling dull, they need to approach them and help them out. Personal 1-v-1s can also help.
When they identify the issue, employees can be further directed towards professional help.
Find more articles by The Shape of Work Podcast here
Network- but in the ‘right’ way
Networking is the most important aspect in a remote workspace. However, Srividya (Senior Consultant, Parity Consulting and Training Pvt. Ltd.) explains that networking doesn’t help until it is done with the right people.
Figure out what your goals out of networking are and decide who’ll be the right person to discuss it. There should be networking forums which people can join to interact and ensure faster growth.
Srividya conducts Network= Network, a program based on measuring the quality of the network as an individual and organization.
Bring the pre-pandemic engagement virtual
She suggests conducting games and informal meets to bring in the pre-pandemic moments just virtually. This can help build the bonds between the employees and enhance their productivity.
Support and empowerment needed by the workforce
Our guest, Dipen (Lead HR Business Partner, Medline India), explains that empowerment and support has moved on from hierarchy, it is more need based. Bosses and managers have to put efforts to understand the requirements of the employees and their solutions.
Both employers and employees should understand each other’s expectations to create a well-aligned environment.
What practices at your organization have the most significant impact on employee experience?
“Employee experience is simply how I would like to be treated as an employee.”
That’s how Dipen figures the best way to interact with employees.
How to build resilience in a remote workplace?
According to Amitha (People and Culture Manager at Observe.AI), it is imperative to build trust across organizations. It is the main pillar that makes a workplace resilient. How can we do that? Pretty simple, through transparent communication methods and showing empathy towards the employees.
