One of the standout changes in the workplace over the past decade has been an increase in the acceptance of remote work among major companies and start-ups. Remote work has allowed start-ups to be competitive by hiring globally, operating on a tight budget, and putting more money into growth rather than recurrent expenses, such as those involved in maintaining an office.
“People are more productive working at home than people would have expected. Some people thought that everything was just going to fall apart, and it hasn’t.” - Mark Zuckerberg.
Remote work slowly took root when the world went through the worst global pandemic in modern human history. As the pandemic forced many parts of the world and our lives into lockdown, companies were scrambling to find ways to keep their businesses afloat and their employees on a job. One way they achieved this was through remote work.
Many people thought the idea would be useless after the pandemic. Still, it has become the new norm, and even past the pandemic, remote work has become more famous and liked by many employers and employees.
Here are some remote works statistics showing how many employers and employees have readily accepted this norm.
According to a 2023 Gomada research about remote work,
A remote work model may either be entirely remote or hybrid - partly remote and partly working from the office. Whether to choose both or one is simply at the discretion of business managers and owners. However, choose the best one that suits the unique needs of your work and workforce.
Many companies are now embracing hybrid workforce models as it offers the employees lots of flexibility and ensures occasional physical togetherness. Adapting a mixed workforce also enables startups to attract Gen Zs and the millennials who enjoy such a work model.
Business managers and owners should begin acclimating themselves to the concept of remote work, as it is poised to become the standard practice in the years to come. While the Covid-19 pandemic has undeniably catalyzed the widespread adoption of this work model, numerous companies had already initiated trials and experiments with remote work before this global crisis. Moreover, tech companies are tirelessly striving to streamline the remote work experience, aiming to provide optimal solutions for both employers and employees.
More employees like this model and prefer working remotely to commuting to the office. All this means that companies should start preparing themselves for this recent change and how they can be part of this new way of living and working.
Remote work has succeeded because of intelligent and technology-powered online collaboration tools that have made it easy for teams to communicate, collaborate and achieve goals efficiently. Some of the most common collaboration tools among remote teams include:
These examples, however, represent only a tiny fraction of the tools available, as the range of applications for such tools varies significantly from one company to another.
With the advent of 5G and AI, these tools will become easily accessible and more intelligent and thereby making remote work even more straightforward. Teams will be better connected, and these tools will enable work to be done much faster using minimal effort.
Remote workers may sometimes feel disconnected from their team members and their employers. Their performance may drop if employers fail to identify and address such vital concerns.
Employees, therefore, should be well taken care of, and employers need to make this a primary objective. Employers should embrace responsibility for their employees’ state of mind and overall health. They should regularly check in with their teams to understand any challenges they may face and develop informed solutions that guarantee the employees' full support.
Now that a remote work setting removes the need or presence for physical meetings between employees and employers, start-ups should embrace carrying out everything online. This means that they will be recruiting, onboarding, training, and building teams online.
This calls for simple procedures and policies to ensure these activities are regularly done and consistently achieve their agendas. Startups should also have the right tools to make their employees feel more connected and collaborate better.
This is the future of remote work. It embraces a sense of community and efficiency in everything a company wants to achieve..
Employers should start monitoring the online experiences of their employees and how they impact employee health and performance, especially their mental health. Employees appreciate such initiatives since they protect them from harmful usage of online platforms, especially the ones they use daily. Such an initiative will ensure that employers are continuously tracking the well-being of their employees as they work for them online and advising them regularly on ways to use online platforms safely.
Video communication has made remote working possible and has made workplace relationships better since it enables people to see each other regularly without feeling distant. It makes remote work seem like people work from the same office but in different rooms.
The future of remote work relies on these tools' presence and ability to use, for example, less data and improved video quality. Many companies rely on such platforms as:
In the future, these platforms will leverage the enormous capabilities of AI and other technological advancements to offer seamless video communication to startups with remote teams scattered worldwide.
Strong cybersecurity measures are becoming increasingly crucial as remote work becomes more mainstream. Startups should spend money on secure remote access tools, train staff on best practices in data protection, and use multi-factor authentication to protect critical data. All these are to curb the ever-growing threat of hacking to protect the company from:
Hackers are learning new ways of breaching companies' security, and start-ups should embrace proper cybersecurity measures. They should also regularly revise their cybersecurity policies and strategies and ensure their security is a top priority.
Start-ups should be aware that some of their remote employees are caregivers. As such, the company needs to have policies that optimize performance and leave room to take care of their families. Such companies should train their employees to have a healthy work-life balance that will enable them to be productive even as they tend to their caregiving duties.
Employers with such policies always attract many prospective employees and have a likable employer brand, so employers should start embracing such policies.
Performance management practices must change to cater to distant teams effectively. To maintain accountability and promote continuous improvement, startups must set up clear performance indicators, conduct regular performance reviews, and use remote monitoring technologies.
Employers should regularly check their employees’ performance stats to identify areas of success and improvement.
Going forward, there will be better ways of collecting such data and more accessible and easy-to-use platforms that employers will use to ensure they are correctly supporting their teams and that their teams, too, are always performing at their peak.
Start-ups should always look for clever ways of cutting back on expenses. One way would be to hire freelancers and contractors only on demand and not keep full-time employees under contract as they will cost the company more money in salaries and benefits.
In the past decade, freelancers and contractors have become the driving force behind remote work as they can look and work for multiple clients remotely, usually on brief stints/short-term contractors. As a start-up, you do not need to hire a full-time worker for what a freelance could do.
In the future, we may start seeing an increase in such work engagements that allow companies to save on full-time employee-related costs while also being competitive by recruiting freelancers and contractors and having them on relatively shorter contracts.
Start-ups should consider embracing this new work model and developing policies and strategies to help them implement and enjoy success with this idea. Business owners and managers alike should do this to help them hire as many brilliant employees as possible worldwide. The world is changing, and the workspace and how we work. Technology is driving this massive change, so these companies should learn and apply new technologies that will help them facilitate remote work.
HireMango is committed to assisting companies to match the standards of their competitors. We do this by identifying, thoroughly interviewing, and hiring brilliant remote employees for you who will contribute immensely to your company’s efforts in growth. So contact us through our website to help you get the best talent in the market.
In the future, artificial intelligence (AI), mobile work tools, virtual reality conferencing, and remote working software will all play a vital part in making remote work a seamless experience.
Successful remote businesses have discovered that letting go of the desire to supervise every action taken by staff members increases team output and engagement. Staff members are inspired to perform at their highest level for the team and themselves when they feel in control of their work.
Healthy remote work cultures emphasize open communication, mutual respect, and flexibility. You can build a successful and engaged team by promoting these ideals throughout your company.
The most popular methods of employee monitoring don't use cameras to watch over workers' actions while they're at work. Employers most frequently (62%), or (49%) monitor their employees' app and website usage. They may also restrict their access to particular websites or applications, such as video streaming platforms. Employers should instead prioritize regular check-ups through virtual calls to keep track of project progress and ensure employees are always productive
