Trends and Best Practices for Supporting Remote Workers During COVID-19 and Beyond

Remote work. Up until very recently, remote work primarily was viewed as an occasional workplace benefit or a trend only really feasible within the tech sector. Then a global pandemic happened and hundreds of thousands of companies around the world of all sizes were left scrambling to implement work from home policies and both leaders and employees had to abruptly embrace the new remote work norm.

Last month, Gillian Harper, Organizational Development Consultant, conducted an anonymous remote work survey to really listen to and understand how people were feeling about the sudden transition to working from home due to COVID-19.

Do people feel supported by their companies and leaders now that everyone’s working from home?

What’s working and what isn’t?

We wanted to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly to better understand how organizations and leaders can best support their remote workers and navigate the new workplace norm, especially with the very real threat of a second or even third wave of COVID-19.

You can read and download the full report on our findings here.

Here are 3 key ways for leaders to best support their remote workers during this pandemic and beyond:

This is a new experience for almost everyone – 80% of surveyed respondents shared that they had never regularly worked remotely before and an additional 40% are working from home while taking care of one or more children. 50% also shared that they do not have access to a Work From Home policy.

Leadership should actively listen to their employee to understand what they need and what forms of support are most needed and valued. While there is no “one best way” solution to supporting all remote workers across all sectors, one piece of advice rings true: support your workers as people first, and employees second.

Download our Trends and Best Practices for Supporting Remote Workers During COVID-19 and Beyond report for practical tips, best practices, and key insights on how to lead compassionately and effectively, even while remote!