In some cases, teleworking can only be considered as a trigger or as an aggravating factor. Indeed, the rise of collaborators’ malaise is often linked to the following factors:
- Lack of visibility in the current period and difficulties to anticipate the future.
- Concerns linked to the anxiety-inducing context.
- Lack/absence of necessary tools needed for the well-being of the remote professional mission.
- Poor management.
You got it, more than the substance (teleworking itself); it’s the form that needs to be questioned (the ways and means).
Thus, it is necessary to take all the measures that can help the teleworking collaborators’ fulfillment. Decision-makers (HR and managers) must also implement an accompanying policy/remote collaborator’s management policy since we know that this way of working will stay.
If there is one thing that the sanitary crisis profoundly changed, it is our working environment. Who would have thought 18 months ago that teleworking – not widespread at the time – would take the lead as the best way of working at the peak of the pandemic? If some thought it would be a short-term solution that would not last, teleworking appeared in the professional world and is on track to stay for good. Sometimes suffered from, sometimes praised. It leaves no one indifferent. The flexibility gives collaborators to organize their daily lives and get that professional/personal balance that everybody wants to convert many people.
Let us have a closer look at this way of working 2.0.
1/ Difficulties to tame a new daily life and a lack of adapted tools
Some studies show that the mental distress of teleworked collaborators went up in the past 18 months, making some think that the only reason for this growing malaise is this new way of working.
However, it is necessary to get an overview and study this phenomenon with discernment. Suppose we indeed see an increase of collaborators’ malaise since about a year and a half, which coincides with the democratization of teleworking. In that case, it is necessary to tackle the topic on a more extensive spectrum.
In some cases, teleworking can only be considered as a trigger or as an aggravating factor. Indeed, the rise of collaborators’ malaise is often linked to the following factors:
- Lack of visibility in the current period and difficulties to anticipate the future.
- Concerns linked to the anxiety-inducing context.
- Lack/absence of necessary tools needed for the well-being of the remote professional mission.
- Poor management.
You got it, more than the substance (teleworking itself); it’s the form that needs to be questioned (the ways and means).
Thus, it is necessary to take all the measures that can help the teleworking collaborators’ fulfillment. Decision-makers (HR and managers) must also implement an accompanying policy/remote collaborator’s management policy since we know that this way of working will stay.
All of those tools contribute to the well-being of our collaborators and their professional mission and, in fine, our company’s performances.
De facto, collaborators who can experience an excellent teleworking experience are unanimous and make themselves the ambassadors of the continuation of teleworking post-Covid.
2/ Communication tools and inclusive management: Keys to success
As we said, the lack of tools necessary to telework, often associated with inadequate management (not agile, intrusive even), is often the source of this malaise. The 18 months of hindsight that we now have are a wealth of experience that we can/should put to good use to support our teams, facilitate the conduct of their professional mission, and contribute to their daily personal development.
For this, it is necessary to give our collaborators the best conditions:
- Establishing recurrent virtual interactions (making collaborative communication tools available).
- Better listening (hearing collaborators’ feedback on the teleworking experience to detect weaker signals)
- Establishing friendly discussions (the human is critical in remote management)
- Promoting corporate culture (feeling like one belongs is fundamental for a daily investment around a shared vision)
- Adopting agile management (smooth handling of issues will guarantee the quality of the collaborators’ work)
All of those tools contribute to the well-being of our collaborators and their professional mission and, in fine, our company’s performances.
De facto, collaborators who can experience an excellent teleworking experience are unanimous and make themselves the ambassadors of the continuation of teleworking post-Covid.
3/ Teleworking: accelerator of collaborators’ investment
Suppose some stereotypes still don’t put teleworking under the spotlight, like it would be hard to find motivation at home and be inseparable from isolation. In that case, we cannot deny that it also has benefits and is even asked for by collaborators as long as it’s done in good conditions.
Thus, it is now one of the advantages often cited in the job offers whenever it is not asked for by collaborators internally. It is not for nothing that many companies, ranging from SMEs to big groups, are promoting it since it heavily contributes to their employer brand.
The flexible schedule and possibility to match personal and professional life and the chance to work from a third place (coworking) are assets that more traditional ways of working cannot provide.
So yes, if there are specific prerequisites, teleworking is still an opportunity for companies wishing to recruit new talent, retain their best employees, and significantly contribute to their well-being and personal development.
