How the Future of Work Can Help Attract Today's Top Talent
8/9/2021 | By Marella Gimenez
In 2020, the world was shocked by the emergence of the COVID-19 virus which quickly spread around the world, not just in high amounts of cases, but in an alarming global pandemic. Because of this critical occurrence, the world and its various facets needed to adapt and adjust in order to survive.
The Workplace of the Future
The impacts of the pandemic have brought out a lot of changes in the lifestyles of people, may it be from daily routines, behaviors, and even in the context of work. Schools, communities, organizations, and even business giants had to be innovative in the pandemic in order to remain functional. In line with this, a lot of jobs and employees were introduced to the concept of working remotely, and this transformation has been phenomenal for the pandemic workforce.
Admittedly, COVID-19 has disrupted a lot of business organizations, especially those that were not agile to adapt in the pandemic & remote setup. The challenges of working in remote offices remain to be a struggle for different employees and employers alike. The need for collaboration in jobs became more difficult because of the scarce digital resources such as gadgets, internet connectivity, and a good working environment.
Despite this, the transformation brought about by remote work has been showing lots of potential opportunities to lead business organizations to have what we call, the workplace of the future.
Increasing Distributed Teams in the Pandemic
Ultimately, distributed teams function in a way that team members are situated remotely from one another, and not in the same area or office. Colleagues have to strategize in terms of collaboration and communication in order to get the job done, with the challenge of having to be separated from each other.
With the COVID-19 cases continuing to balloon in a lot of places in the world, the dynamics of distributed teams have increased over the last year. For a lot of business organizations, factors to show if a kind of job or work is undergoing a transformation towards distributed team dynamics would be:
1. Existence of two or more office stations.
With the pandemic ongoing and the safety of workplaces still uncertain, having multiple office locations has been a feat for organizations that transitioned into distributed teams. This can consist of offices with regional counterparts, or international business giants with satellite locations to make their work reach more stakeholders.
2. Assignment of employees on the field.
Employees who also function on the field can be considered distributed teams. Team members who have to be on the field are those that have to travel frequently to reach customers or stakeholders, or those who have to travel far in order to deliver products and services to more remote locations. On-field employees do not need to frequent their remote office stations because of the nature of their assignments.
3. Options for work from home.
A fairly popular phrase over the pandemic, ‘work from home has been one of the most work-efficient business decisions made by most organizations in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Challenges that often arise would be the employees’ availability of resources (computer, internet connection, camera, headset, etc.) as well as the house distractions that can hinder exemplary performance.
Given the different implications of distributed team arrangements, here are the pros and cons that employers can consider before implementing it fully with their respective employees:
Pros of Distributed Teams
1. Less exposure to health risks.
Ensuring employees’ safety is always one thing that you won’t go wrong with. With a distributed team kind of set-up, this can surely lessen health risks brought about by the pandemic to your organizations’ employees.
2. Flexible working times.
Distributed teams, despite having their challenges, definitely have time on their side. Instead of spending hours traveling or getting stuck in traffic, your next location or errand can just be in the comfort of your very homes.
3. Better talent pool reach.
Sure enough, a lot of talent is restricted from job opportunities because of geographical limitations. However, in a distributed team set-up, anyone who has the internet and gadget access can be a part of the team.
4. More opportunities for HR initiatives.
The cost-effective set-up of distributed teams has allowed a lot of HR practitioners to implement more initiatives for their employees. May it be a team game night, virtual yoga sessions, and other similar activities, the virtual platforms have allowed other creative gimmicks to increase employee satisfaction.
Cons of Distributed Teams
1.Limited functional productivity.
Despite the increased safety, distributed teams also pay the price of having limited activities to do. Some key jobs do not have their respective virtual alternatives, and this can cause bottlenecks within business processes.
2. Dependence on the internet & disconnectivity.
Given the remote setup and high dependence on the internet connection, this perk can also become its own limitation on some occasions. Having to depend on internet connectivity can also become a struggle sometimes when providers have to do maintenance checks or when the weather becomes bad.
3. Home distractions & responsibilities.
Sadly, it is definitely a privilege to have a good working environment at home. Some employees have to balance a lot of work and home responsibilities such as chores, taking care of younger siblings, and other errands, which can coincide with work responsibilities and even one’s focus.
Best Practices in Running Distributed Teams
While the various pros and cons of distributed work arrangements have been settled, it’s good to be agile on how such dynamics can be improved at their core. In spite of the challenges, good case practices are always a good start to improve both the dysfunctions of a team:
1. Set expectations and team goals.
The distributed team setup is already challenging, so it’s better to set clear expectations for both the employees and the manager, to ensure that everyone is aligned with the common shared goal.
2. Build routines.
Consistency is key just as communication. Allow for these routines to become habits by establishing them early on so it becomes part of your employees’ lifestyles as well.
3. Maximize virtual productivity tools.
One good thing about the distributed team set-up is the emergence of lots of project management tools and virtual team platforms that make collaboration in the unfamiliar set-up easier. Explore video chat platforms, project trackers, and other workspace tools to make the virtual remote work experience enjoyable.
4. Monthly reviews to adapt & adjust.
Many things can go wrong in a distributed team set-up especially without proper communication and consistency. With frequent feedback spaces, these bottlenecks can be immediately addressed without it reaching a critical point.
5. Put member development at the core.
Employee retention and satisfaction are just one of the most critical remote workplace factors to build team success. With this, setting responsibilities for your employees can help ensure that their strengths are further strengthened and their weaknesses have opportunities to be worked upon.
6. Communication is key.
Having designated communication platforms makes teamwork more efficient. Some organizations ensure to have serious work chats and fun chats so there’s a separation between work and play. In these platforms, real-time chats and discussions can also run smoothly, with daily icebreaker activities to start the day.
7. Occasional meet-ups.
The virtual work set-up has made people crave for physical interactions even more! If possible, try to set physical meetings from time to time just to ensure that everyone’s safe & in-check, while of course following safety protocols.
Efficiency of Distributed Teams
Is it time to transition into a distributed team set-up? If you are still adamant about it, five positive gains of exploring this lie in cost-efficiency, flexibility, reach to a larger recruiting pool, heightened productivity gains, and retention boost.
As mentioned earlier, the set-up of work from home has become such a cost-effective move for employers, while flexibility has greeted lots of employees in terms of their work. The flexibility has also made it easier for HR directors to gain access to a larger recruitment pool because geographical limitations of work aren’t as applicable in the remote set-up.
Furthermore, productivity has increased because of the increasing digital literacy of employees when it comes to various virtual tools. And in line with this would be better HR engagement through virtual activities that allow for heightened retention boost as well.
KMC’s HQ • HUB • HOME Program
KMC is one of the leading flexible office space providers for workspaces and teams in the Philippines, to make work a breeze. KMC provides workspace solutions that have dynamic spaces to cater to the needs of virtual teams in the current pandemic.
Because of the many effects of COVID-19, the focus is now on strategy building for distributed workforce to have access to co-working spaces, private office spaces, and virtual office platforms. Through their innovative customized office solutions, employers can definitely give employees a job experience that’s built on good culture & continuity, making it fulfilling and worthwhile.
KMC’s HQ • HUB • HOME Program
KMC is one of the leading flexible office space providers for workspaces and teams in the Philippines, to make work a breeze. KMC provides workspace solutions that have dynamic spaces to cater to the needs of virtual teams in the current pandemic.
Because of the many effects of COVID-19, the focus is now on strategy building for distributed workforce to have access to co-working spaces, private office spaces, and virtual office platforms. Through their innovative customized office solutions, employers can definitely give employees a job experience that’s built on good culture & continuity, making it fulfilling and worthwhile.
