How Hybrid Workforce Management is Crucial for the Future of Work?

Every worker has different reactions towards their working conditions. Some are comfortable working onsite, others are more comfortable working remotely, and hybrid workforce management can help maintain the two. With exponential growth in Artificial Intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT), most of the tasks can be performed remotely until onsite presence is mandatory. This has led us to consider that hybrid work will continue to prevail for long.

Due to and post-pandemic, several companies have diverted most of their tasks to remote working, considering its long-term benefits. The biggest cause of concern now is that some workers can work easily in a remote location. Still, some of them may find it difficult to work remotely as they are used to working in the office with their fellow workers, which they will miss in a remote location. This may further affect their and the company’s productivity.

To boost their morale, HR managers can talk to them individually, address their genuine concerns, and instill in them a feeling of belongingness with the organization.

Why is it Challenging for Organizations?

Following are some of the few challenges experienced by organizations regarding remote working:

1. Time Management

Time Management Systems could be an issue in hybrid workforce management. A 9.00 AM does not bind the remote worker to a 6.00 PM routine. They may, therefore, find it difficult to manage time at home.

They may be distracted from household chores or may not have a dedicated workspace away from any distractions. Also, now that they are working on a flexible schedule, they may find it difficult to allocate different time slots for different tasks at hand.

2. Supervision Challenges 

Employees who work from home can work without directions and supervision from their managers. It helps them to solve their problems on their own and also allows them to improve their analytical thinking abilities.

However, all the employees are not the same. Some employees need continuous monitoring and supervision; otherwise, they can easily make wrong decisions, affecting the task and eventually impacting a company’s reputation.

3. Data Security Challenges 

This is a common challenge for many businesses. Transforming their working mode has been difficult, mainly because of keeping the data secure.

According to a study conducted by OpenVPN, it was revealed that more than one in three organizations have experienced a cybersecurity incident because of an unsecured remote worker, and around 90 percent of IT workers feel that remote working is not safe and remote workers are at huge risk.

4. Tracking Performance 

Another significant problem organizations face with their hybrid workers is keeping track of their performances. As compared to onsite working where every performance of a worker is tracked and monitored by their superiors or managers, with remote workers, this is not possible.

The organizations have no idea whether their remote workers are working meticulously during their working hours or not.

5. Employee Feedback

As remote workers are beyond the company’s reach, it becomes difficult for the manager to evaluate their team members for promotions or increments and their continuous development.

The constant supervision they used to get while working onsite is lacking while working from home, affecting their dedication to the tasks.

How Can Organizations Tackle These Challenges?

Following are some of the solutions that can help organizations enable hybrid workforce management and overcome the above-mentioned challenges.

Well-defined HR policies for Remote Workers

The need of the hour for the companies is to delegate most of their activities to remote working, as it is a win-win for both the companies and employees. But, it is very different for HR managers to manage remote workers as it is against managing the onsite workforce.

To effectively manage remote employees, companies should have a well-defined HR policy that should be clear and without any ambiguity, and remote workers should be aware of it. Such HR policies should not only contain the standing instructions and code of conduct. They should also mention what they expect from remote workers during the discharge of their duties in remote locations.

There should be transparency in HR policies and HR managers should ensure that employees have read and understood them. Such HR policies should also describe the limits of infringement on workers’ privacy, which seems necessary for their work efficiency.

Dealing with Data Security Challenges 

There is a huge demand for implementing artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in various types of industries. To prevent data leakage and deter potential cyber threats, user activity monitoring software can detect malware and ransomware through its complex algorithms to identify potential cyber threats.

Many companies have started using such technology to help them track the time their remote workers spend by ensuring data safety. Such software contains tools that allow the user only to use authorized websites, which will cease every possibility of data hack or leakage in a work-from-home setting.

Employee Well-being

It happens sometimes when employees who work remotely from different locations might feel like they are not completely accepted in the organization’s culture. They report feelings like loneliness, isolation, stress, and anxiety, which are not only bad for the employee but also the company’s productivity.

To tackle this, the top management can schedule various information sessions for all the employees to catch up with each other and get to know each other. They can connect and discuss their emotions and experiences through virtual conferencing.

The management can also conduct some workshops or events on mental health where they can provide some stress-relieving techniques. They can conduct live sessions to help remote employees control their stress and improve their physical well-being simultaneously.

Employee Feedback 

Various evaluation software is available to tackle this, like taking screenshots of the remote user screen and checking their working schedules and styles. For instance, with tools like user activity monitoring software for seamless hybrid workforce management, when a remote worker is handling a client and facing any difficulty, their admin will barge in and help their remote workers.

With the help of such tools, the manager can evaluate the remote workers and provide feedback on their performance. They can also discuss if any improvement areas help workers be more productive during working hours.

Tracking Remote Employee Performance

With the help of remote employee monitoring software, which consists of capabilities to track employee performance behavior, it becomes easy for organizations to identify the gap between actual productivity and sitting idle. Tools like user status that monitor every employee’s online and away status during their working hours differentiate between which employee is actually or barely working.

With the help of the regular screen capture feature of productivity monitoring software, the supervisor can capture a worker’s screen at any moment. This lets them get insights into a worker’s engagement and the time employees spend on different websites and applications. Later, we can analyze the screenshots and data to identify any unusual behavior.

With the help of such tools, it becomes easy for organizations to monitor and monitor each activity their remote workforce management uses or devotes time to during their working hours.

Conclusion

As hybrid workforce management has become crucial for organizations to implement, businesses must go for policies and tools comprising capabilities that can foster productivity at the workplace.

With the right strategies and methods, we can achieve an efficient hybrid workforce and enhance it further using tools like productivity monitoring software.