Employee experience: Creating an effective remote environment – for the long term

We’ve all encountered them, especially in the early days of the pandemic.

Unlike the image above, I'm thinking about the people joining video calls from their kitchen table or a little desk tucked into a corner in the bedroom, transmitting a dark, blurry image, with poor sound quality with their laptop's webcam unfortunately and unflatteringly angled right up their nose.

It also wasn’t uncommon to hear of employees sitting on calls in the same spot for six, 10, 12 hours every day – and answering email and Teams messages late into the night. I should know, I was one of those.

These hasty home setups were a symptom of the mad scramble at the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. Businesses that had never previously given much thought to remote working suddenly had to adapt rapidly: often sending employees home with just a laptop and a ton of Webex invitations.

Amidst the panic of staying operational, little thought was given to preserving corporate culture and protecting the employee experience.

Under the circumstances, this was entirely understandable. But eight months on, it’s clear that remote working isn’t going anywhere. Hybrid working – combining the home and the office – is likely to be a core part of the “next normal”, lasting long after the pandemic.

As I see it, employees are the single most valuable asset in almost every business – and you have to take care of them to succeed. Our day to day working lives matter, both for our own personal wellbeing and the longer term success of the business.

It’s time for organizations to formulate a more thoughtful remote working strategy for today and the future. And that means understanding, accommodating and improving a wide range of employee experiences.

A range of personal pitfalls

It’s important first of all to acknowledge that everyone’s experiences of remote working are different. I lead a global team of 80 people scattered all over the globe, with the vast majority being “remote” workers not going into Cisco offices. And as this group knows from long experience, it’s perfectly possible to be as productive – if not more productive – working from home.

But during the Covid-19 pandemic, the challenges that people can face working remotely, particularly over the long term, have become very clear. Social isolation is a serious problem – and one that’s made all the worse by the monotony of sitting in the same seat all day, every day.

Another major issue is the blurring of the work/life boundary. This was a challenge that I encountered early in the pandemic when Cisco as a whole was extremely busy supporting new users of our Webex portfolio.

I sometimes found myself sitting at my desk from 6am until 6pm, getting up occasionally for food, coffee and bathroom breaks, and it really was miserable. If leaders are failing to set those boundaries between work life and the rest of life, it’s inevitable that everyone will run themselves ragged – and performance, as well as wellbeing, will inevitably decline.

Finally, most people are likely to have less than ideal home set ups. Being part of Cisco I’m lucky to have a dedicated home office brimming with computers and screens (including the amazing Cisco Desk Pro), and all of this technology gives me a great platform to be productive and well connected to my team every day. However, many folks without my kind of setup are going to encounter daily frustrations and restrictions from their working environments.

Over the long term, these challenges can seriously take their toll, so it’s vital that organizations appreciate the full range of employee experiences and take intentional and thoughtful steps to improve them.

Leading by example

Taking a more thoughtful approach to employee experience can enable team leaders to improve remote working, often rapidly – starting with creating a healthy, supportive and productive working culture.

When you’re working in an office, it’s normal to bump into your manager almost every day. Once that contact is gone, it’s easy to start to feel disconnected from your leader, your team and even your organization. When working remotely, it’s vital to implement a regular cadence of contact. At Cisco, there’s a recommendation that every manager have a one to one video call with every employee once a week to keep that communication constant, and on my team, this is extremely important and something I measure my team leaders on.

It’s very difficult to maintain a strong team culture virtually, and to give people space to talk about more than just work. That means that as a manager, it’s hugely valuable to check in with the team from a personal perspective. In my group we have a Webex Teams space dedicated to purely personal topics.

I’ve never subscribed to the notion that “work life” and “personal life” are two separate and distinct things. In reality, both are important streams in the flow called life, and for me, as opposed to striving to find some impossible "work life balance", I just try to ensure that the work stream of my life doesn't overwhelm the personal stream. That's why I love giving my team a place to bring the personal life into the work situation. This is key to keeping my group’s culture strong.

A foundation of trust

But that is not to say that there should be a complete mixing of those two streams. Leaders have a critical role to play in setting boundaries. Everyone needs to set limits for the working day and take time for themselves. Lead by example: let everyone know that getting out for a walk with the dogs or a bike ride at lunchtime isn't just acceptable, it's encouraged.

One way I try to do this is by encouraging people in my group to take calls from somewhere other than the desk they sit at every day. Get out into the back yard, move to the couch, mix it up a little. It’s really important to ensure that you don’t let remote work consume all of the oxygen in your life, or your team’s either.

From where I sit, the most important part of leadership is trust – and that applies now more than ever. I have an extremely professional organization, and with the trust we have built up over the years, no one needs to be micromanaged.

When that kind of trust has been built up, you have the opportunity to allow your team to get the work done in the way that works for them, including underlining the importance of boundaries and encouraging people to enjoy the flexibility of the remote working day. When managers and employees embrace and encourage that flexibility, the whole organization can adapt to and take advantage of a remote working environment in a way that works for everyone.

Getting comfortable with the kit

It’s not just about the working culture. A large part of the employee experience comes down to the home setup. To work effectively in the long term, the actual working environment of each person deserves thought and care.

If dedicated video conferencing equipment is not an option, then having a decent headset, good lighting and a well-situated laptop can make a significant difference. The IT team can play a hugely valuable role here, in not only sending people their kit but helping them to perfect their set up and use it effectively.

Setting expectations around how collaboration tools – and specifically videoconferences – are used can also improve productivity. Every company’s “video culture” is different, but I would highly recommend switching those cameras on for every call. Video lets you engage with people directly, check people’s responses and ensure you have everyone’s attention.

There might be some reluctance, or embarrassment, about the prospect of colleagues seeing into your kitchen, noticing that casual T-shirt or even glimpsing the chaos when my dogs interrupt a call, but for me I actually love those aspects of remote working. It helps everyone to acknowledge and feel comfortable with the realities of working from home, ultimately making it more sustainable.

Cementing the strategy

By taking often simple steps to address employee experience, businesses can improve wellbeing and productivity – and ultimately increase the sustainability of the remote workforce. But at the same time, every business should be thinking about their longer term remote strategy.

Although many organizations have been operating in survival mode for many months, realistically the signs are that remote working is here for the long haul. Even beyond the pandemic, many employees should expect a hybrid blend of working from the office and the home.

This is in some ways a great opportunity to really understand what makes a better working environment. The notion of requiring everyone to work in the office – or everyone to work remotely – no longer makes sense. Enterprises can take this time to work out their ideal mixture, to enable an effective and fulfilled workforce.

Importantly, in the meantime, leaders should create a firm strategy – and then share it with the workforce. Amidst all the unknowns of the crisis, employees are craving predictability. If possible, put firm dates on any return to office. Giving employees a target date really helps with life planning and lessens the uncertainties in these very uncertain times.

I saw a great analogy in the New York Times, comparing the current situation to waiting for a delayed flight. If you’re at a ticket counter, being continually told that it will be “another five minutes” for an hour is more frustrating than knowing the flight has been cancelled.

Businesses might not know what’s around the corner, but it’s much better to make plans, use remote working tools and give your employees some certainty, than to wait and watch for the next year – and to make your people watch and wait with you.

Employee experience

Remote working does present enormous opportunities for organizations. Businesses will have the chance to reevaluate the cost of expensive offices, while employees can use flexibility to design their own ideal working environment.

But protecting employee experience, both now and in the future, is critical. It’s important to appreciate that just as everyone has had a different experience of the pandemic, views and preferences of remote working are highly individual.

Taking a thoughtful approach to employee experience, and trying to accommodate as many needs as possible, will help to keep the remote environment effective and satisfying for the team – in the months ahead and for the future.

Want to hear more about remote leadership? Check out my colleague Craig’s post on defining your new remote business culture