This is a refresh of an article from March 2020 by Caroline Burns to include how remote work strategies have evolved over the last 3 years
How Remote Strategies Have Evolved Post-Pandemic.
Remote work was already a thing before the pandemic ( a lot of execs just didn’t notice!)
I advise multinational companies on workstyle strategies, and over the past decade, this has increasingly involved the implementation of some sort of formal or implied remote working strategy, usually by design aligned with a broader people initiative.
While globalisation, supporting decentralisation and access to diverse talent are regularly cited as organisational benefits of remote working policies, the COVID-19 ‘global pandemic’ catapulted remote work into the spotlight as an important risk management and business continuity strategy.
There are many drivers fueling the growth of remote work in its various forms, including increasing adoption of ‘activity-based workplace’ programs, increasing demand for flexible work policies by employees, greater reliance on contractors and networked platforms to support projects and business initiatives, and more recently perceived environmental benefits of remote work.
Unfortunately, many organisations – large and small – were slow to adapt to the changing social and economic context over the past decade and had no remote working strategy in place when COVID hit. This left them scrambling to cobble together a solution to the demand by governments and their employees to work from home during the COVID-19 outbreak. Was your organisation one of them?
Fortune favours the bold – past investment in remote or mobile working strategies paid off
During the early months of the pandemic lockdowns I saw a range of responses from Clients and colleagues from human resources, facility management and risk/safety departments, who are typically responsible for business continuity plans.
Companies with an integrated remote working strategy as part of ‘business as usual’ managed their risk exposure to the outbreak and their employee experience better than companies that didn’t.
The following three examples illustrate this point (all identifying details have been removed, so don’t even try to guess!)
Company One: Embracing a flexible work culture, Company One has three employee workstyles: assigned, mobile, and remote. Their distributed leadership and inclusive approach, whether face-to-face or digitally enabled, fosters a high level of participation and consultation.
Company One swiftly implemented remote work measures when the pandemic hit, prioritising employee safety and productivity. With minimal disruption to operations and the ability to adapt seamlessly, they showcased their values, culture, and workforce strategy alignment.
Company Two: In a risk-conscious industry, Company Two faced unique challenges. Limited by technology constraints, wide-scale remote work wasn’t an option, so they had to enact a business continuity strategy during the outbreak. This meant restricting operations and employees to specific sites, cancelling events, and conducting strict screening for those working in person.
While the measures appeared to minimise the business impact, it’s unclear whether absenteeism rose due to employee concerns. The pandemic prompted them to accelerate planned and significant investments in technology and workplace enablers, paving the way for future flexibility and resilience.
Company Three: With a preference for office work but with a robust mobile digital strategy, Company Three navigated the pandemic by prioritizing employee health and safety. Initially, Company Three kept offices open with heightened site health and safety procedures. While some employees expressed dissatisfaction with the initial response, their technology strategy let them quickly and seamlessly shift to remote work for non-critical roles as the pandemic progressed.
Employees benefited from past investments in health and well-being with a wide range of digitally based support tools and services available to assist them in adapting to working from home and coping with the fears of the pandemic. Company Three’s focus on mental well-being demonstrates a genuine concern for its employees and showcases authenticity.
When lockdowns were enforced, each of these organisations had a different level of readiness to adopt remote work and a different approach and context. There is no ‘right way’ to respond to a challenge like the pandemic.
The takeaway here is that operating effectively in a volatile and uncertain environment requires planned agility.
3 ways business continuity pre-pandemic
How have strategies evolved since 2020?
While some notable companies have attempted to go back in time, for the most part, flexibility around where people work remains a cornerstone for an organisation’s strategy. Flexibility can be provided in different ways to suit different contexts. The three above companies are great examples of these different evolutions and refinements and highlight the importance of trust and providing appropriate levels of autonomy.
Company One: Flexibility has always been at the core of Company One’s culture, and it continues to be so. The company has moved away from rigid work personas such as mobile, remote, or assigned, and instead, places a higher value on granting employees freedom and autonomy. Recognizing that individuals have diverse motivations for being in the office, Company One has made it easier for them to utilize various work settings, whether it’s a desk, focus room, meeting room, or any other space that suits their needs. Unlike some competitors in the industry, Company One has refrained from imposing strict return-to-office mandates, opting instead to empower teams and individuals to make choices that align with their workflow. To facilitate effective hybrid work, the company has implemented several initiatives aimed at enhancing networking opportunities and fostering leadership capabilities within distributed teams. The result is that Company One remains a top employer of choice and a global leader in its industry.
Company Two: Company Two has embraced a more organized approach to adopting hybrid work. They recognise the value of in-office time for engagement and connection. About 80% of employees enjoy the flexibility of a 2-day-per-week work-from-home policy. The remaining employees hold roles that require on-site infrastructure. Collaboratively, teams determine the tasks that necessitate in-person presence and those that can be accomplished with flexibility. By establishing clear boundaries, individuals can structure their work weeks to accommodate both personal and team needs. Employees now benefit from increased flexibility to balance work and at-home responsibilities. Currently, Company Two is enhancing its in-office facilities to better meet the demands of in-person work.
Company Three: Company Three fully embraced the world of hybrid work, taking a proactive approach to reimagining in-office dynamics and embracing experimentation. Until recently, teams were encouraged to create schedules that aligned with their unique workflows, allowing for flexibility in in-office presence. This approach resulted in some teams being on-site most days while others only visited once or twice a month. As business needs evolve, more standardised site policies are being implemented. Throughout this transition, prioritising employee well-being remains a driving force, and Company Three continues to innovate in how they support diversity, inclusion, and well-being through their in-office experience.
3 ways business continuity post-pandemic
Uncertain and unpredictable futures do not compel unplanned responses
Our world is becoming increasingly physically and digitally connected. Outbreaks like these will happen more frequently, and the economic and personal costs of containment will remain high, especially when there is a huge degree of uncertainty about the nature of the disease. This cost will be disproportionately borne by some industries and some nations more than others, but there are things you can do for your company to mitigate future business impact.
Remote working strategies can be a valuable risk management tool, as the global COVID-19 outbreak amply demonstrated, but they can also be much more than that.
A remote working strategy embedded within your culture and structure brings numerous benefits to the business, teams, individuals, and communities. It is a means to foster innovation, flexibility, and resilience. Despite its challenges, this crisis has paved the way for reimagining the future of work, presenting opportunities for businesses to reinvent their operations for the coming decade and create planned agility.
