With remote work on the rise, building a successful remote work policy for your company is an important part of the future of your business.
Here’s a step-by-step guide for building a remote work policy.
1. Decide which roles are remote.
Look at the positions that can be done remotely…but not necessarily. Explore remote-capable and non-capable jobs.
Not all jobs are suitable for remote work. A software engineer may easily work from home with a laptop and internet access, but not a forklift driver. Therefore, it’s critical to know which jobs may easily go from the workplace to the home.
Next, look at positions that are office or warehouse bound and see what tasks may be done remotely. Allow employees to possibly work from home a few days every pay period. Find ways for all employees, regardless of job, to stay active. Remind them to check in often and contribute to the team.
2. Create new rules as needed.
Decide on the company’s current rules and policies and update the ones that need to change.
Rules, regulations, and policies may still apply even though workers no longer work in the workplace. Usually, all corporate policies apply. State these clearly and completely. Employees will enjoy being clear about their responsibilities.
Some policies and resources stay in effect whether or not workers are in the office. Some of these include ethics, attendance, sick pay, cell phone usage, insurance, and privacy. Reiterate all standard policies before adding new ones.
3. Create work plans for remote personnel.
Before remote work begins, always define corporate goals and duties. Separate the company goals into realistic tasks. Look at and break down corporate goals with department leaders into tangible goals and tasks.
In addition, assign managers for creating teamwork plans. Finally, have them discuss these plans with their teams and check in to ensure targets are met.
As part of the transition to remote work, supply the tools needed by employees to work from home. Remote employees need the proper tools to do their jobs. Similarly, they require the ability to interact with coworkers, communicate with managers, and overall feel part of a team.
Some questions to ask when building this part of the policy:
- What software will we need?
- Do all households have a computer and internet access?
- What if they do not?
- What tech help can we provide employees?
Make sure that you address work measuring. It’s possible to measure output using time logs, although these aren’t precise.
Building a list of how success is to be evaluated will be helpful. The list should include tasks finished, words written, sales closed, phone calls made, etc. Every position has its own metrics. Bring your staff in to explore the best ways to measure their efforts to corporate goals.
4. Create a template to identify communication styles.
Be explicit about what you expect of your workers’ communication. Remote workers need clear communication to succeed. Your remote workers must know how often to check-in and how to collaborate with others. In addition, they need to know when to join virtual meetings and what they need to share.
Software is available for holding virtual meetings, sharing, presenting remotely, and managing projects. Make sure to specify your company’s policy on these matters. Here are some questions to ask yourself before you begin:
- When are individual meetings?
- When are team meetings?
- How do I provide clients with virtual presentations?
- How long must their phones ring?
- When and how will they report their daily tasks?
- To whom do they report any tech issues?
5. Build out your sections on benefits, insurance, and liability difficulties.
First and foremost, always notify employees of their remote work rights.
Though they aren’t in the workplace, their safety is still your concern. A clear remote work policy informs employees of their rights. These rights deal with what happens in case of harm, and how much the company is responsible for damages. These are some questions to ask yourself about this section:
- What will be insured?
- Is the employee still covered?
- When is the corporation liable for injuries?
- What about health insurance?
6. Create a robust security policy.
When your employees work from home, it’s critical that they understand the need of protecting sensitive corporate data. It’s probably already covered in your company’s confidentiality agreement, but it’s worth reiterating.
In order to protect company data, create and establish VPNs. Make the VPN a requirement for remote work. Virtual private networks encrypt network connections and mask browsing activity. They are a valuable safety measure. Your policy should clearly define VPN usage. In addition, install anti-virus software on all devices.
Similarly, update all security measures for your remote workforce. One of the primary difficulties with remote labor is the insecurity of web access. Home PCs tend to be more vulnerable and might be hacked. Therefore, determine what software is required and provide your staff training on how to use it.
7. Decide how you’ll pay remote employees.
Always be upfront and honest about any compensation changes.
Working remotely may affect your workers’ perks or pay. Clearly define what costs workers can claim and how they can do so. Consult your employees on benefits. It will assist you to understand your workers’ priorities.
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