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Home-based work becomes a new normal

By Jennifer Flanagan

Jennifer Flanagan is HR Services Area Manager for Oasis, a Paychex Company

Widespread office closures in the wake of the COVID-19  pandemic sent millions of white-collar employees home to work. This left the employees and their managers, some of whom may have been new to telework, on their own to perform as remote workers.

Whether facing a future pandemic, natural disaster, or just the reality of millions of workers who will grow accustomed to and functional in the work-from-home environment, many believe this will be the new normal for work as we go forward. What lessons have WFH veterans and HR professionals learned that can help guide your company’s telework success?

The following tips can help make the most of home-based work:

  • Relationships built yesterday will help relationships tomorrow. When the pandemic first hit, it left those facing work outside the familiar comfort of the local office with more questions than answers. Humans crave interaction and can be vulnerable without those same interactions. Many who had built strong relationships with their clients and co-workers through in-person meetings before the pandemic have found that rapport strengthened through the bond of trust today.
  • Make the most of the technology. For many, video conferencing apps like Zoom, GoToMeeting, WebEx and Microsoft Teams have replaced traditional conference calls. For some, the transition has not come easily: body language, inflection, and tone of voice can be hard to read. If necessary, upgrade your video camera to improve how you appear and sound. Help each other comfortably bridge the distance and perhaps share stories of about being awkward on camera. You will be in good company.
  • Returning to the office. With phase one in South Florida, more office are reopening. Public health officials wonder if a “second wave” of the pandemic will come. Sending your employees back to the workplace before there’s consensus regarding safety might leave some uncomfortable returning to work. Listen to your employees’ concerns, whether fear of being in an office with other people , grief in adjusting to this new societal normal, or some other concern. Then address them individually and with empathy and care. Provide masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, and other safety related items that may be appropriate in your workplace or legally required by federal or state law to help them feel confident that their workplace is a safe and healthy one.
  • Prepare for more work from home requests. Once it’s safe to return to the office, some workers may want to continue teleworking. Initial fears of isolation, distraction, or lack of productivity will have given way to an appreciation and preference for working from home, if only part of the time. You may have legal obligations to accommodate some workers to enable them to do their jobs. Is your organization flexible enough to collaborate with your employees and accommodate those requests and cognizant enough of how it may affect your clients and employees? Start thinking about how to engage with your employees to accommodate these requests.
  • What about that office space? This is a turning point for the office real estate market. Office tenants around the world are weighing whether telework has proven they don’t need all that space. If your company finds telework successful and your employees are comfortable with remote work, consider making work from home at some level part of your model. In addition to the social distancing benefits of remote work, you could save on rent, utilities, insurance, and other costs, including the strain daily commutes place on your people and the environment.
  • Review your existing policies and your business continuity plan. Whether regarding a pandemic or a host of other potential crises, your plan must address how HR and leadership will handle issues related to the workplace and remote work in a crisis situation. Whether you have your own plan or one provided by your HR or payroll partner, the right resources can provide trusted, verified information on workplace health and business continuity best practices, as well as market research to understand how businesses like yours are proactively addressing and responding to the situation.

 

The pandemic sent millions of employees home to work. What will tomorrow look like for your company and your employees? The lessons learned today can provide both guidance and agility for how you  respond to future events—or just re-envision the 21st Century workplace.

 Jennifer Flanagan is HR Services Area Manager for Oasis, a Paychex Company. Oasis is a leading Professional Employer Organization (PEO) providing HR Administration, employee benefits, healthcare reform (ACA), payroll administration and risk management services to help small- and medium-sized businesses to compete with Fortune 500 companies. PEO services are provided by Oasis Outsourcing and its affiliates.

 

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Drew Limsky

Drew Limsky

Editor-in-Chief

BIOGRAPHY

Drew Limsky joined Lifestyle Media Group in August 2020 as Editor-in-Chief of South Florida Business & Wealth. His first issue of SFBW, October 2020, heralded a reimagined structure, with new content categories and a slew of fresh visual themes. “As sort of a cross between Forbes and Robb Report, with a dash of GQ and Vogue,” Limsky says, “SFBW reflects South Florida’s increasingly sophisticated and dynamic business and cultural landscape.”

Limsky, an avid traveler, swimmer and film buff who holds a law degree and Ph.D. from New York University, likes to say, “I’m a doctor, but I can’t operate—except on your brand.” He wrote his dissertation on the nonfiction work of Joan Didion. Prior to that, Limsky received his B.A. in English, summa cum laude, from Emory University and earned his M.A. in literature at American University in connection with a Masters Scholar Award fellowship.

Limsky came to SFBW at the apex of a storied career in journalism and publishing that includes six previous lead editorial roles, including for some of the world’s best-known brands. He served as global editor-in-chief of Lexus magazine, founding editor-in-chief of custom lifestyle magazines for Cadillac and Holland America Line, and was the founding editor-in-chief of Modern Luxury Interiors South Florida. He also was the executive editor for B2B magazines for Acura and Honda Financial Services, and he served as travel editor for Conde Nast. Magazines under Limsky’s editorship have garnered more than 75 industry awards.

He has also written for many of the country’s top newspapers and magazines, including The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Miami Herald, Boston Globe, USA Today, Worth, Robb Report, Afar, Time Out New York, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Journal, Ritz-Carlton, Elite Traveler, Florida Design, Metropolis and Architectural Digest Mexico. His other clients have included Four Seasons, Acqualina Resort & Residences, Yahoo!, American Airlines, Wynn, Douglas Elliman and Corcoran. As an adjunct assistant professor, Limsky has taught journalism, film and creative writing at the City University of New York, Pace University, American University and other colleges.