The contagious coronavirus has brought businesses to standstill, it has enforced organizations to take a stock of their outdated policies and prepare themselves for a battle against the deadly COVID-19 breakout.

HR professionals, world over are working or reworking the policies and experimenting with the work-from-home culture. While this has not been easy for numerous organizations, there has been little or no option for businesses to opt for remote work concept. Remote work – an easy choice for some and an overnight requirement for some – is here to stay and will be the future of the work as Generation Z enters the workplace in full force.

As Saikat Chatterjee, the senior director, Advisory at Gartner points out – the organizations are being forced into the world’s largest work-from-home experiment and so far, the implementation has not been easy for many of them. He further pointed in a recent webinar snap poll about 91% of HR leaders, who contributed to the survey revealed that while they had implemented ‘work-from-home’ arrangements almost immediately post the outbreak, the biggest challenge has been the lack of technology infrastructure and lack of comfort the new methods of working.

The deadly virus that has been confirmed as a pandemic to hit the world, has enforced talent leaders globally to take numerous steps to not only curb employees’ fears but also put their anxious minds at rest. Globally the talent leaders and the HR professionals, are working to ensure a smooth transition for employees. Here’s what HR leaders, world over can do to for employees to accept remote work concept.

Continuous HR support to match new work culture.

As the fear of coronavirus rises, and organizations are forced to opt for remote work culture, HR professionals should take measures to ease the transition process for employees, especially where the work-from-home is not a norm.

Talent leaders should not only share do’s and don’ts related to coronavirus but also be share the news on the deadly virus in a way that reduces panic and increases awareness. HR leaders should prepare and have specific key functions, roles and skills ready to be shared with employees to ensure organization is working smoothly despite the remote working arrangement.

As an HR professional you should also be prepared about the sudden crisis and know that the boundaries can be stretched and you may be required to offer different kinds of support along with nontraditional work options.

Talent leaders should also be aware about the fact that many affected countries and government have mandated and in some cases encouraged employees to work-from-home whenever possible.

As discussed earlier it is easier for some organizations to opt for remote work culture, there might be some organization that may struggle with the same so here are some ways to ensure remote work culture is a success for your organization –

1. Trust employees to be productive while working remotely. You will have to trust your employees to churn out work and meet the deadlines when they are working remotely.
2. Communication is always the key to success whether one is working remotely or in the office. Yes, add to the point, a right communication is also critical – what to communicate and how to communicate also play an important role in ensuring the success of remote working.
3. Last but definitely not the least is technology enablement. Remote working is largely dependent on latest technology and about 54% of HR professionals confirmed that remote working has become a challenge because of poor technology. As the worldwide remote working experiment prevails, it is imperative for HR professionals to keep guiding their employees despite the lack of advanced technology to ensure work-from-home concept is a success.

In fact, world over talent leaders feel that COVID-19 has ensured that there are some hard lessons learnt and implemented in a near future to ensure a greater success at remote working concept but also to contain the pandemic that is spreading like a wild fire.

In addition, the HR Professionals should not forget that remote work is the future of work and that they should ensure the organization is ready for remote work culture. If we look at the data collected by Gartner research, then we will see that

• By 2030, there will be an increase of about 30% in remote work as Gen Z enters the workforce.
• About 64% of professionals said that they can from anywhere and in about 71% of organizations remote work policies are common.

So, if you follow the data you will know that remote working is the future of work and this is the time to make the best of the worst situation to ensure there is a smooth transition from physical to remote working.