Innovation and productivity through teleworking or remote work

In recent months, business leaders have implemented the home office as a strategy for the operation of their company. Indicating the beginning of a new labor era in Mexico.

To adapt work teams to the virtual era, employees should follow several recommendations. Despite all the difficulties in these difficult circumstances, teleworking has not implied any problem, on the contrary, it has been a success, so it is possible that it will increase and be implemented in more companies as soon as the situation normalizes.

Businesses that are better adapted to remote work will be better prepared to increase their competitiveness in the post-Covid-19 era or any extraordinary situation.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread through Mexico, home office has ceased to be an experiment and is now a requirement for many companies.

Maintaining business activity while guaranteeing the safety and hygiene measures established by the relevant health authorities has been and continues to be our objective in this pandemic context.

Despite the fact that in 2019 the first steps had been taken in the Federal Labor Law to incorporate this new modality and regulate the different ways of remote work. However, it is clear that by 2020, with the arrival of the coronavirus, these (mostly cultural) reluctances towards labor flexibility were being diluted.

To maximize all the advantages of remote work, it is important to visualize that it involves much more than just sending employees to work from home and having a device and webcam. To manage talent remotely, companies will also require a different approach than in the office.

Leaders need to visualize that there is a cultural aspect to the process of migrating from face-to-face to virtual. To achieve collaboration, relationship building, knowledge sharing within the team and overall expected productivity, it is important that open and constant communication channels are established.

But not everything has to be remote work: semi-face-to-face work is possible. Combining face-to-face work with remote work by time slots during the same day or working remotely for a couple of days a week are options that have gained popularity in recent months.

The Workers’ Statute barely contemplates telecommuting; it only appears in relation to family reconciliation. This is why it is necessary to have a legislative framework that regulates it and that is not limited only to drastic situations such as a state of alarm.

Millions of workers are participating in an unprecedented experiment that has transformed the way we see the office.

Many people wonder if these changes will set a precedent for the new future of office work as we know it. Regular, inclusive conversations allow for sharing tips on how to set up a home office and provide flexible schedules to accommodate family responsibilities.

Communication with the employee will allow to know how they feel, what they are concerned about, and in this way support them, communicate goals, priorities and establish how each team member will contribute to achieving them.

This last point is key and it is about giving autonomy to the staff and working on leadership based not on hours worked but on clear and measurable objectives that each employee has to meet within a certain period of time.

Once the above is clear, the battle for Mexican organizations to successfully enable the home office has to focus on providing an optimal employee experience.

For companies to adapt the remote work model, they must first create digital workspaces where employees have easy access to their corporate web applications.

The reality is that cybercriminals are taking advantage of this contingency to be more active than ever and launch attacks on companies and users, stealing passwords or sensitive data.  Thus, one of the biggest challenges for the Information Technology (IT) area of companies is to implement security measures to protect data.

In this way, companies will be able to guarantee information security without affecting productivity, experience and without applying restrictive policies. Companies that embrace change, enable efficient and secure technologies and build a strong culture of trust towards their employees, together with the HR team, will be better prepared to increase their competitiveness faster in the post-Covid-19 era.

In conclusion, in order for remote work to work properly, methodologies must be implemented to maintain the synergy between remote work and the HR team.