As tech firms like Google and Uber extend work-from-home orders till the summer of 2021, millions of employees are bracing for unprecedented challenges as the traditional boundaries between life and work — i.e., the work/life balance — continue to break down.
Some employees have returned to offices, mainly the “essential” ones.
Some major employers are signing massive new office space leases in big
cities and buying whole buildings to hold thousands of workers, such
as Facebook and Amazon. But for many in the U.S. workforce, it is now
nearing month six of working remotely, and there is no end.
Invest in You asked CNBC’s Workforce Executive Council members what
they were doing to help their employees navigate these stressful times.
The burden of childcare
One hot-button issue that employers and employees are looking at is child
care.
A new school year is beginning, but the debate continues to rage if schools
should fully reopen. What happens with education will significantly affect
working parents, juggling job responsibilities and homeschooling, especially
for the youngest, tiniest independent learners.
K-12 school districts across the country vary widely in plans — ranging
from fully remote and fully open to hybrid models — all subject to change
based on the latest virus trends. Some remain undecided, causing angst
among parents and business leaders.
Corporate HR departments are doing what they can to ease the pressure on
working parents.
For example, Ernst & Young will provide discounted tutoring and double
it’s benefits program that offers employees access to caregiving from 12 to
24 days.
HP Inc is planning to offer parents integrated groups, similar to employee
resource groups based on a child’s age so they can share tips on parenting
while working from home, as well as educational curriculum support for
children. In addition, HP is implementing more variable scheduling and
flexible leave options for employees, so they do not have to face the prospect
of leaving the organization permanently, according to Tracy Keogh, chief
human resource officer.
Why do some want to return to the office
For months, employees have wondered when the Zoom calls will end and
in-person meetings will begin again. For that to happen, employees need to feel
safe in their offices. “Most employees, regardless of age, don’t feel safe coming into the office yet,
because they are worried about traveling on public transportation and
social distancing, so they want to continue working remotely,” said Amy
Reichanadter, chief people officer at Databricks.
However, internationally, in countries where Covid-19 cases are lower
than in the U.S., employees feel ready to return, Reichanadter said.
Several CHROs said it’s become clear that employees miss
opportunities for in-office collaboration.
Alex Ruch, director of human resources for the North America arm of TGW
Logistics Group said older workers — especially those in leadership
positions — are eager to return as it is often more challenging to manage
teams remotely.
Some predict that the future of work will be a hybrid model in which
employees continue to work remotely and only come into the office for
collaborative projects.
David Rabin, vice president of global commercial marketing at Lenovo, said, “In this scenario, the office then turns into a ‘Business Center’ – or
collaboration space – which may also indicate the end of the open-office era
and a shift in the purpose of a company’s headquarters as we once knew it.”
InaMarie Johnson, chief people and diversity officer at Zendesk, said that while
senior employees like working from home, they still hope to utilize office
space for collaboration and connecting with teams and peers.
Feedback and low fighting morale
As the Covid-19 virus spread across the U.S., CHROs and chief people
officers raced to open lines of dialogue with management teams and
employees.
Employee feedback was, and remains, critical in developing the tools
necessary to meet the sudden shift to remote work. A system of behaviors
that inspire trust among co-workers could only be maintained if leaders
knew what employees needed to be successful in the remote environment.
A survey in April conducted by the Society for Human Resource
Management found that two out of three employers say that maintaining
employee morale during the pandemic has been a challenge, especially in
large companies with over 500 employees.
To combat low morale, leaders began to implement community activities
online.
Lisa Buckingham, chief people, place, and brand officer at Lincoln Financial,
launched several campaigns to keep employees engaged.
“We hosted a virtual “Lincoln’s Got Talent” competition on our internal
social media app featuring employees from across the country singing,
dancing, painting, crafting, and more.”
There were serious issues, too, that were revealed and ultimately resolved
by engaging with employees on the social app. Lincoln Financial’s weekly
feedback survey indicated workers were not comfortable requesting time to
take a vacation. Lincoln Financial encouraged employees to take time off to avoid burnout from the compound stress of sudden
shifts in routine and fears of the virus. “We even shared fun staycation ideas and had
senior leaders share their plans on our internal social app,” Buckingham
said.
Remote work as an employee equalizer
For some, working from home has become an equalizer. “Before a global virtual-first workplace, employees who attended
meetings virtually with colleagues who were in-office might have been
overlooked as contributors to the conversation and felt at a disadvantage as
a result,” said Susan Tohyama, CHRO at Ceridian HCM Holdings. “Now,
everyone is on equal footing/viewing, and when a virtual meeting is done,
everyone clicks off simultaneously. There’s no wondering if the
conversation organically continued in the physical space, which also
removes the fear you’ve missed out on important details.”
Struggles will continue for remote workers. With no precise date for when it
will be safe for the majority of workplaces to reopen safely, many workers
will remain remote, and CHROs will have to keep innovating to respond to
the unique challenges posed by the pandemic.
Equalization of the workforce may be a silver lining, though. “We see an acceleration of the trend to democratize the
workplace,” said Diane Gherson, CHRO at IBM. “During these last few
months, digital technology has flattened hierarchies, with everyone
connected and getting information at the same time, and so many channels
for employee input and involvement in decision-making in real-time.”
IBM implemented several Covid work-from-home pledges, including a
pledge to be “family sensitive” and support “not camera-ready” times.
Gherson said those pledges are a perfect example of workplace
democratization: “It was developed grassroots and went viral, and then formally adopted by
our CEO after tens of thousands of IBMers had signed up. We believe that
our employees’ connections largely fuel innovation.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/20/its-month-six-of-remote-work-for-many-and-theres-no-end-in-sight.html?&qsearchterm=human%20resource%20management
Assignment Question :
Identify and analyze issues or difficulties encountered by humans re
