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Home » remote work
YOUR CAREER

What happened to weekends?

9:21 pm by

By Lynne Curry If you’ve lost your weekends to work projects begging to be finished and annoying pop-up employer emails, you’re not alone. According to ActivTrak’s survey of 134,260 employees who worked for 900 separate organizations, employees work an average of 6.6 hours, almost a full work day, each weekend. If this fits you, consider these questions: Has your job taken over too much of your life? What do you need to do to recover your weekend? The vanishing weekend For many managers and employees, weekends dwindled in exchange for a flexible work/life balance. You wanted to attend exercise classes at noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays? Go for it. You drop your kids off at nine a.m. and pick them up at three p.m.? No problem, use your weekend to… . . . read more.

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REMOTE WORK

Digital presenteeism: Faking you care, faking you’re even there

12:04 pm by

By Lynne Curry A surprising number of employees, determined to hold on to their “work from home” status and aware that managers and others suspect remote employees of working less than their required hours, practice digital presenteeism. Digital presenteeism involves remote employees demonstrating they’re hard workers by responding to additional emails, attending additional meetings, and contributing comments in every meeting. According to a recent job trends report, the average remote employee works 67 additional minutes daily in an effort to convince managers they’re fully engaged in their jobs, https://www.flexjobs.com/remote-jobs/company/talentwise. The same report reveals that a record 85% of managers find it difficult to know for sure if their remote employees are productive. The problem—these actions erode morale and don’t equate with higher productivity. Said one mid-level manager who called me… . . . read more.

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TELECOMMUTING

Flexibility is the key to remote work practices

8:34 pm by

“The name of the game is flexibility,” says Carl Kutsmode, Senior Vice President at Talentrise, an executive search and talent management consulting firm, talking about the nature of remote work since the coronavirus pandemic. Kutsmode discusses how the pandemic has changed the workforce, likely for good. Additionally, his perspective provides tips to help employers adapt to new business and networking practices in a post-pandemic world. Pandemic’s push for career reevaluations The confinement of the pandemic enabled people to pause, reconnect with their families, and establish a work-life balance that had not existed to such an extent before 2020. As the world slowly moves away from the pandemic’s restrictions, employees are motivated by new, different factors than they once were and, as such, have different expectations of their employer. As the… . . . read more.

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REMOTE WORK

Make online team meetings work for you

10:49 am by

By Lynne Curry If you dread online meetings–attending them, hosting them–and long for meetings to become more than a necessary evil, you can make it happen. Recently, I hosted a two-day, 15-hour meeting that the 17 attendees said “zoomed by,” “was fun, kept me engaged the entire time;” and “made an hour seem like five minutes.” Here’s how we did it. A “you” start We started with the “real,” with questions like “how is remote working for you this week?” Real value Before I launched into the first topic, I asked everyone what they hoped the meeting focused on and what results they wanted from it. Everyone listens to the same radio station, WIFM, “what’s in it for me”. If your meeting attendees know from the start, they’ll receive value,… . . . read more.

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TELEWORK

Remote staff keeping up with on-site staff, survey shows

1:14 pm by

When it comes to productivity, workers share more similarities than differences, new research from talent solutions and business consulting firm Robert Half shows. A survey of more than 500 professionals reveals five productivity trends that have taken shape since the shift to remote work. Productivity peaks early in the week. Employees get the most done on Monday and Tuesday, whether at home or in the office. Results are consistent with a similar survey conducted in 2019, before the rise of remote and hybrid work. Professionals have defined power hours. Most workers hit their stride in the late morning (9 a.m. to noon) and early afternoon (1 to 4 p.m.), regardless of where they sit. Very few tackle their to-dos during lunch or evening hours. Meetings are getting in the way. When asked to share what… . . . read more.

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STAFF RETENTION

Over half of workers would quit if required to return to office

9:30 pm by

After two years of office spaces sitting empty, many companies are eager to call employees back for good. In a survey of more than 800 senior managers, more than half of respondents (55 per cent) said they want their teams to work on-site full time as COVID-19-related restrictions ease, nearly unchanged from a similar survey  conducted last year. Currently, 44 per cent of senior managers support long-term hybrid schedules (where staff can divide time between the office and another location) and employees’ ability to choose where they work. Managers at large companies with 1,000 or more employees (54 per cent) are most open to flexibility, according to the survey conducted by Robert Half, a specialized talent solutions and business consulting firm. The risk of an employee exodus Separate research from… . . . read more.

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MANAGING STAFF

7 things to require of your moonlighting employees

7:46 pm by

By Lynne Curry “One of our highly paid staffers works remote. We don’t want to lose his talent, but he used to work 45 to 55 hours a week and now half the time I can’t find him when I call. He always calls me back, but it’s hours later. Last year, he was the first to volunteer for special projects. He doesn’t anymore. I heard a rumor he’s working another job, and I’m wondering if we’re getting what we’re paying for.”     “I found this site, overemployed.com. It taught me how to work two or three remote jobs at the same time and attain financial freedom. It even shows me how to negotiate a severance if one of the employers finds out and gets nasty.1” In recent weeks, I’ve… . . . read more.

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TECHNOLOGY

Clocked out or connected: What you need to know about after-hours group chats

1:15 pm by

By Paul Edwards “Quick question…” Those two words have become increasingly popular as our near-constant attachment to communication devices blurs the line between work and personal time. Whether by phone, laptop, or tablet—via Slack, WhatsApp, or Google Chat—it’s easier than ever for teams to stay in contact after the workday is done. But employers need to be cautious about how they approach group conversations outside of the workplace. Not only will you need to ensure that your employees are clear on the standards for professional conduct within a group chat or text, but whether or not you have to pay employees for the time they spend messaging will depend on several factors, including the content of the messages, how much time is spent messaging, and whether the employees are classified… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

Are your remote employees moonlighting?

10:50 am by

By Mike O’Brien A movement trending among some remote workers advocates holding multiple remote jobs at the same time, while concealing the other jobs from the involved employers. This approach is sometimes referred to as “over employment,” a term coined by the website www.overemployed.com, which provides tips and sells coaching services for workers who want to try their hand at holding multiple remote jobs simultaneously. Proponents say that they work fewer than 40 hours total per week, for all jobs held. Employers should determine what limitations on outside employment are appropriate for their organization, and craft corresponding policies. Possible considerations include whether outside employment is for a competitor, creates a conflict of interest, uses company time or affects the worker’s ability to do the job during their expected work hours, uses… . . . read more.

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EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE

6 things to do when remote workers want to move to another state

11:31 am by

By Mike O’Brien Is it a problem for a medical office suddenly to have an unplanned, unexpected, and perhaps undesired branch office when an employee moves to another state? Yes! The United States has a national government, state governments, and local governments. They each have powers over employers and make laws that typically apply to and protect people subject to the various jurisdictions. And these laws are not always uniform! There is a lot of variation in state laws related to COVID-19, masks, vaccines, etc. Arizona law requires paid leave, Utah does not. Montana law prohibits age discrimination against any age, not just 40 and above, and also prohibits termination without “good cause” as defined by the statute. Utah does not do either of these things. Nevada law requires daily… . . . read more.

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