With all rapid shifts happening in 2022, businesses need to stay focused to remain competitive. Everything has learned a thing or two about managing remote teams, but there is so much more than meets the eye to the actual focus.
Let’s take a look at the key lessons from the rapidly changing world.
Frontline Employees
During the pandemic, many organizations realized just how much support their frontline teams needed. One idea was to make travel and clocking in easier, with software like clock-in apps or GPS time clocks seeming like stellar ideas.
These advantages aside, there is so much more businesses can do to support their frontline workers, especially since they are largely dissatisfied with how they are being treated.
Did you know that the main reason why frontline workers look for different job opportunities is a bad relationship with the manager? The problem lies in the fact that typical frontline management training consists of theoretical knowledge delivered in a classroom, far from reality on the field.
One thing every business can do to rectify this practice is to set up a proper job management system.
Management is, actually, a defined process consisting of a number of steps to be followed through:
- Customer acquisition – Use marketing, advertising, and promotion
- Estimating and quoting – Estimate a cost and ask for customer feedback
- Task outlining – divide the job into smaller tasks
- Scheduling – Allocate the necessary resources and staffing +
- Timesheeting –Record employees’ working hours
- Emailing and document exchange – Dispatch documents relevant to the job to stakeholders
- Cost management
- Work-in-progress management
- Invoicing
- Reporting – Collect the data for further reference
Human Resources
Next on, hiring the right people has become more important than ever, especially with retention at an all-time low. That’s why many companies are considering hiring more integrators.
These people put in considerable effort to keep everyone in sync and bring forth a positive change for everyone. Given the vital role integrators play, leveraging modern HR software has become important in identifying individuals who can harmoniously blend into a company’s culture and contribute to synergy. This technology enables a more streamlined and efficient recruitment process, ensuring that the selected candidates are not only skilled but also align with the company’s values and goals. The advancement in HR software provides valuable insights and data that facilitate better decision-making, allowing companies to pinpoint and attract the right talent. In essence, it is an invaluable tool for building and maintaining a cohesive and harmonious workforce.
Continued Learning
More companies are now taking a real interest in the continued education of their employees. Thankfully, there are numerous eLearning options. One such trending option is using augmented reality. AR can help with employee onboarding, safety training, language learning and more.
It is necessary, however, to educate employees on AR. Innovative methods can be scary even when superb, so make sure to provide training for all employees.
Flexibility
Many companies are not just offering hybrid and remote working models, but they don’t care where in the world their employees are working. This is creating yet another boost for digital nomadism. The good news is digital nomads can even save money, especially with tax incentives like foreign housing exclusions.
However, it is crucial to choose the right hybrid work model to accommodate all of your teams. Not everyone is happy with remote work or office work exclusively.
Fortunately, there are 6 hybrid work models to choose from, meaning that every business is able to find the right measure aligned with their strategy:
- Almost entirely off-premises – mostly remote work with no office space
- Almost entirely on-premises – limited remote work, large office space the majority of managers and workers
- Partially remote work, large office space – the majority of managers and workers spend most, but not all, of their time at the office
- Partially remote work, multiple hubs – multiple offices with the workforce dispersed among them
- Multiple micro hubs – management and employees are dispersed across small micro hubs located in different cities and countries
- Partially remote work, with flexible office space – no permanent offices; rented flex space used for periodic collaboration (but not connectivity)
A little something for everyone here, as you can see, so take your time brainstorming ideas for your future business operations!
Provide Onboarding Training
Continued learning has already been discussed, but there’s one thing many businesses tend to forget: onboarding training is no less important than eLearning!
In fact, it is crucial to ensure that:
- Training should begin ASAP — starting with ONBOARDING
- Information overload should be avoided
The training system has to be devised to allow sufficient time for employees to adopt the skills, preferably served in smaller chunks of information. Consider interactive learning and eLearning and see where it takes you.
Key Takeaways
As you can see, there are many things a business can do to engage employees and keep them as happy as it gets.
A hint, though: it is absolutely recommended to set up an anonymous feedback system early on so that you can tune in into employee expectations and adjust your operations accordingly.
Anonymity ensures honesty, so there’s no reason to skip this step. Rely on the HR team to come up with the best ideas and programs and consider hiring integrators to keep everything operating smoothly.
Provide onboarding training and continual learning options so that employees can be engaged and move forward in their careers.
