ezTalks: The Common Challenges of Remote Employee

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Remote Employee Challenges and Possible
Solutions The wonders of technologyare
increasingly providing us with new techniques of
getting the job done, notably through flexible
working, telecommuting and remote working. Remote
working is wonderful for various reasons suchas
increased overall productivity, financial savings
on technical equipment and office space. On the
other hand, remote employees can cut down on both
money and time spent on transportation as well as
enjoy the freedom of working from their location
of choice. (https//www.eztalks.com/ )

• However, it comes with its fair share of
  challenges. There are remote employee challenges
  but the main ones include the following
• Impact on organizational culture
• Most remote employees experience a lack of
  community as well as asignificant disconnect from
  the company culture as a whole. This is because
  there are very few opportunities for them to both
  engageand connect with their peers. Furthermore,
  there is a lack of visibility of the business
  values, mission and direction in overall.
  Usually, this results in reports of remote
  employees experiencing loneliness, isolation and
  even dissatisfaction with their roles.
• This challenge can be solved bya company actively
  building a sense of culture for all its remote
  employees.

This can be done by bringing everybody together
annually or even twice in a year. Alternatively,
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• companies can use the services of effective video
  conferencing software like ezTalks Cloud Meeting
  to encourage such connections. This will allow
  remote employees to build interpersonal
• relationships and even communicate better via
  non-verbal cues by seeing their peers. In
  addition to using
• effective video conferencing softwaresuch as
  ezTalks Cloud Meeting, companies can use their
  intranet or social tools to provide insightsand
  updates of their culture, values and vision,
  business updates, share employee recognition and
  even daily office proceedings to facilitate a
  sense of inclusion.
• Visibility and accountability
• Remote employees may overwork by putting more
  hours compared to their in-house counterparts in
  an effort toshow productivityand be visible.
  Thismeans that remote employees will experience
  challenges in prioritizing work as well as
  gaining insight into broader picture business
  objectives or priorities. This can ultimately
  result in dissatisfaction, burnout and finally in
  staff turnover. Furthermore, lack of physical
  presence and visibility can make remote employees
  to miss out on day-to-day recognition awarded to
  their in-house counterparts.
• This challenge can be solved by the clear
  definition of deliverables and expectations. This
  can be achieved
• by establishing check-in points or benchmarks
  that managersand remote employees can utilize to
  discuss achievementsand progress. In addition,
  centralized projectmanagement or digital
  collaboration tools can be used to provide
  increased visibility concerning where remote
  employees are up to as well as
• their work. Intranets or social platforms can
  facilitate peer-to-peer recognition, this ensures
  that even remote employees become visible and are
  celebrated in public arenas.
• Security
• Remote employees facevery different risks from
  those based in the office when theyare working
  home alone, in shared spaces or when theyare
  using public networks to access business systems.
  Thismeans that information, data and employees
  themselves suffer from a security risk when
  working remotely.

security and the importance of installing
protective software like antivirus emphasized to
them.
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• iii. Companies should also develop emergency
  check-in protocols to be followed in case or a
  crisis or physical disaster.
• Work-life boundaries
• Remote employees have a high likelihood of
  beingvictims of home interruptions. Lack of a
  physical boundary between home environment and
  work environment can lead to longer working hours
  or even unpredictable working time, increased
  stress levels as well as strain on both
  professional and personal relationships.
• To solve this problem, companies can carry out
  additional trainingand support in regard to
  productivity, time management as well as the
  ability tomeet expectations. This is for the
  employees who are sourced from in-house. However,
  it isalways advisable to hire remote employees
  rather than to roll out remote working for the
  existing in-house employees. This is because
  possess experience
• in telecommunication andare therefore better
  equipped to meetsuch challenges. Furthermore,
• expectations can be clarified and establishing a
  protocol that indicates when remote employees are
  actually working. Remote employees can also
  easilyset up a dedicated space either externally
  or at home to establisha physical boundary
  between work and life.
• Communication concern
• This has to be among the greatest difficulties
  that remote employees experience. There are
  logistical challenges that people who work in
  different countries or time zones experience.
• The best way by which to coordinate remote
  employees is to utilize various digital channels.
  There is
• instant messaging, forums, fail-safe mail and vid
  eo call software like ezTalks Cloud Meeting.
  These can streamline communication by eliminating
  these barriers. This will allow managers to reach
  out on a daily basis and for remote employees to
  receive supportand ask questions.

From https//www.eztalks.com/telecommuting/remote
-employee-challenges.html