A new reality: managing the work from home employee

As we head into year two of navigating the pandemic, the professional workplace has changed, and managers and employees alike have had to deal with new realities. For many Canadians, that started with working from home. Connectivity and hardware became immediate issues, as did finding the right balance between work and homelife. But another issue came to head – did employees and management have the necessary stills to work remotely.  

In this, our first in a series on how to navigate the pitfalls of working from home, we are going to look at how we got here, what traits may not survive, and next steps as we help employees and management get the most out of these interesting times.

Many managers and employees were largely unprepared, either technically or psychologically when we were mandated to work remotely. What was once viewed as a benefit or perk rewarded to those in the workforce that were self-motivated and had self-discipline and tended to be higher paid and tiered employees now became the norm. And it thrust us into a scenario where employees had to be self-motivated and self-disciplined, regardless of whether they required the time management or initiative skills that were absent without the appropriate management.  

If managing remote employees during the pandemic hadn’t presented enough challenges, recent studies have now shown that managers now often find themselves trying to encourage staff that are facing de-motivating influences such as fear, depression, motivation, and anger.

In addition to contending with new challenges, managers are struggling with their own lack of presence.  Pre-pandemic, good managers could employ a concept called “managing-by-walking-around”, which provided first-hand insight into their team.  With this unavailable, the gap between what is and what might be happening has increased.

Employees too are missing engagement with their leaders, which helped build trust and respect. The question remains, how can this be replicated virtually in a new environment.

The effect of these challenges is shown in a recent Gallup poll which indicates that employee confidence in management has declined in the pandemic by as much as 20%, making it the majority opinion and necessitating a re-thinking on how managers manage.

Many of the old styles of management are not working, especially those that relied on personality and force of presence. The ability to inspire, motivate and to coach individual employees from a distance is now an essential skill for managers who want to keep employees on top of their game and to maximize productivity.

As leaders and managers, we should have seen this coming as it was entirely predictable. But as the saying goes hindsight is 20-20 and doesn’t help us move forward.

While the manager cannot lose focus on their ultimate responsibility – quality and productivity – they must accept that they rely on a motivated and engaged workforce to make that happen.  Good managers will respond accordingly.