Most Firms Not Equipped to Manage Remote Employees

Around 64% companies don’t feel equipped to manage remote employees, confirmed a new study.

Interestingly, the new research into the status of remote work, carried out by workforce analytics and productivity software firm Insightful, found that over a third of company leaders believe that employees are less productive in a remote or hybrid environment.  Although the report revealed an increased acceptance and adoption of remote work, it also uncovered that many leaders still don’t feel fully equipped to operate optimally in this new environment.

Among a wide-ranging series of findings, almost two-thirds of respondents stated they don’t have the tools they need to effectively manage their team’s productivity when working remotely. In a further indication that monitoring remote employees‘ workloads continues to present challenges, 38% of company leaders said that they believe employees are less productive when working remotely. And 21% of respondents cited communication and collaboration as the biggest challenges in a distributed work environment.

REMOTE WORK HERE TO STAY

Despite the challenges expressed, the report revealed that a resounding 71.5% of company leaders said they will offer remote work to employees in future at least some of the time. Further reinforcing that workplaces of the future will be distributed, the report also found that 65% of company leaders stated that remote and hybrid work will become a permanent fixture in their organisation. “This research strongly suggests that remote and hybrid work are here to stay, and that they will become the prevailing work models of the future,” stated Insightful CEO Ivan Petrovic.

That said, the research also shows there are ongoing challenges for company leaders when managing remotely. “Despite the two-year remote work experiment brought on by Covid-19, many leaders still don’t feel fully equipped to manage their team when they work away from the office,” added Petrovic. As remote work is still at a nascent stage, we anticipate that over time the challenges expressed by company leaders today will ease through the continued evolution of remote infrastructure and operating mindsets.”

The State of Remote Work Report 2022 is available via the Insightful website.

Full-time US, UK and Australian staff are overwhelmed and feeling the strain of new hybrid work arrangements, according to a recent report. Click here to read more.