Are you ready for your staff to work from home?

The pandemic has created new challenges for businesses and individuals

The coronavirus has infested China and Asia for more than a month now and is spreading globally. While the Chinese government has taken draconian measures to lockdown cities and provinces to stop the virus from spreading across the country, businesses in many other countries are struggling with continuing their activities while safeguarding the health of their employees.

One of the key lessons from a business perspective we learnt from the experience of the global emergency crisis in 2003 with SARS was that the assumption of many business continuity plans that there would always be some staff available to maintain operations in the event of a major operational disruption did not hold. We saw during SARS the risk of the whole staff being quarantined en masse even when only one member was infected.

Another key lesson we learnt, as I pointed out in my book “Asia’s Financial Industry 1986-2016” reflecting on the crises of SARS and 9/11, was that during a life-threatening crisis the only place that staff would want to be was their home. Giving them the technology to work from home would be the best solution.

Lifestyle

More than a decade on, working from home has also become a buzz word for the life style aspired by the millennials. It has become more and more of a necessity for businesses to be proactive in facilitating their staff to work from home. It is becoming a new norm in order to attract talent.

But are businesses ready for their staff working from home during this coronavirus outbreak? We can easily draw our own conclusions by browsing through a few headlines from Hong Kong newspapers:

Coronavirus forces world’s largest work-from-home experiment

Working from home a new, occasionally frustrating, experience for Hongkongers used to rhythms of office life

Droves of Chinese employees working from home crash office apps amid coronavirus outbreak

Bank management trainees flout work-from-home rules to go hiking, posting photos on Instagram tagged ‘best WFH activity’

Useful pointers

I have found a number of pointers very useful over the years for implementing a successful work-from-home program, especially during a crisis:

1.    Put the right technologies in place

Technology is at the heart of the program’s success. Computer, e-mail, web and voice conferencing are basic, but access to internal networks without compromising security is absolutely critical in order to maintain productivity.

2.    Work-from-home is not for every job and every staff

Many jobs are conducive to remote work if you have the right technologies in place. But each job has to be evaluated carefully how this arrangement would impact productivity and the clients. Moreover, only staff who require minimal supervision and whose performance you trust are suitable for working at home.

3.    Have a dedicated work space

An often overlooked consideration. There can be a lot of distractions working from home, especially now that schools are temporarily closed and children are jumping around at home. Hence, another important factor to evaluate is whether the staff can have a dedicated work space at home with minimal disturbance. Working from Starbucks would not work.

4.    Define expectations clearly

Clearly define your expectations to the staff in writing so that there is clear understanding by both parties. You may also consider having the staff to provide an accounting of work activities daily during the first few days and provide your feedback to establish the trust on both sides.

5.    Make a conscious effort to communicate

Working from home can risk being out of sight, out of mind. Making a conscious effort to have regular communication can help minimize the sense of isolation the work-from-home staff can feel. Not just phone calls, emails and instant messaging to stay in touch, but also having regular team communications through video conferencing using apps such as Zoom to upkeep the esprit de corps.

6.    Evaluate the effectiveness

It is very important to talk candidly with the staff, especially during the initial period, whether the program has been working on both sides and discuss what improvements can be made. Working from home is not suitable for every job and every staff. Don’t hesitate to agree on switching back to normal work arrangement if it does not work.

Stay calm, stay strong and stay safe.