It’s easy to get caught up in the moment
during a crisis—in recent weeks, business leaders have focused much of their
energy on making sure employees have the equipment and access they need to be
able to work remotely.
But, as is expected during an
unprecedented disruption such as this, organizations run the risk of
overlooking a critical element of remote work—employee productivity. To
actually get things done while working remotely, employees need more than just
hardware, software and bandwidth. More than ever, they need support, training
and guidance.
Even before COVID-19 hijacked our collective consciousness, organizations were increasing their focus on employee productivity—and, on a grander scale, employee experience. CIO magazine’s 2020 State of the CIO report, which was published just before the United States started seeing an uptick in infection rates, urged CIOs to prioritize employee experience this year.
Upskilling is an important part of employee experience. And although it’s been a priority for business leaders in recent years, recent studies indicate that employees don’t feel they are getting enough upskilling to keep up with advancements in technology.1
Even before COVID-19 hijacked our collective consciousness, organizations were increasing their focus on employee productivity—and, on a grander scale, employee experience.
If that was the sentiment before the
sudden, massive shift to remote work, imagine what it is now.
The State of the CIO report explains: “Employee
dissatisfaction with IT tools can have a ripple effect that can result in
long-term damage and a lack of competitiveness.”
Inaction on the part of business leaders could
easily turn that ripple effect into a tsunami.
The time to get started is now. First, assess
whether your organization is capable of handling it in-house. If not, hire a
partner that can provide the level of focus needed.
Next, be sure to do these four things to ensure
employees are productive, engaged and innovative:
While organizations are scrambling to
figure out how to make remote work actually work, they must also think about
how high the stakes are.
“What we learn in the next few months could help shape a future of work that might have been inevitable, with or without a once-in-a-century public-health crisis,” writes Derek Thompson in The Atlantic magazine. Rather than sitting on what they learn during this crisis, organizations must instead figure out how to put that knowledge into practice immediately and perfect the art of working remotely.
1. See “Upskilling a priority at most companies, but some workers are left behind,” HR Dive, March 17, 2020.