Losing control of Remote Workers? Try managing them...

Remote workers are "lazy gits" who should be paid less.?At least that's what Alan Sugar thinks, and he’s entitled to his opinion. But it isn’t a popular one, especially not with remote workers.

?And it implies that the onus for successful remote working sits with the person working from home.

But, like so many other prominent ‘leaders’, Lord Sugar’s have ignored the elephant in the room. Wherever your workers are, if they’re not producing what you need them to produce, you’re not managing them properly!!

Like it or not, m’Lord, it’s often a manager’s (in)ability to manage effectively from a distance that drives how successful remote working is. So, is your problem REALLY with remote working, or is it with ‘traditional’ managers’ ability to manage their remote workers? ?In which case, shouldn’t the focus be on training managers to improve their skills and identifying those who can’t make the shift?

Who cares about remote working really?

The reality is, most people. Since the global Covid-19 pandemic, flexible and remote working practices have grown considerably . And many employees now expect remote, or at least hybrid, working as standard. The argument that we've returned to "normal" and employees should go back to being office-based, in a Musk-esque edict , just isn't going to cut it. Rather, many employees have become more vocal about their needs and more willing to change job or employer to get what they want.

In case you missed it, we're in the middle of a war on talent . So, ignoring employees wants and needs will only serve to damage your business. But not having the fundamental skills you need in management positions will damage it further.

Many businesses ?continue to resist flexible working. Excuses?range ?from "you need to be here to build effective relationships with your team", to "you need to be here to learn on the job". While both of these may have some merit,?they often seem driven by unwritten feelings of "if I can't see you, I don't know how to manage you".

And that's the crux of the remote working debate. It isn't about whether employees can deliver from home or not. It isn't even about whether or not they’re “lazy gits”. Instead, it’s often a deep-rooted fear from managers that they don’t understand how to manage remotely.

Put simply, there’s a failure on the part of Senior Management to recognise that the skills required to manage remote workers are different from managing people in an office. Many managers don’t have those skills and, in some cases, will never learn them.

Why training managers to manage remotely is essential

Many leaders assume managing is managing, no matter where you are. But it isn't. Managing a person remotely requires a different skill set from managing in-person:

• Relationships are built through emails and video conferences with maybe an occasional in-person chat.
• Focus shifts from outputs to outcomes.
• Goals need to take account of delivery, rather than process.
• Regular updates and check-ins are critical as you can't see when someone's struggling.
• You face new challenges like poor desk set-ups, inconsistent wi-fi connections and interruptions from partners, pets, children and deliveries.

So, it's no longer about what managers can observe, but rather about what employees tell them and what they deliver. And managers must know how to set outcome-based objectives and build trust with their teams at a distance.

Companies who aren't training managers to manage remote workers are running a huge risk, both in tracking performance and keeping people in/committed to the business. It's a different way of thinking (and managers may need help achieving it).

Yet effective training allows employees freedom in their approach and improves their willingness to go above and beyond. So, you need supportive managers who take an interest in their team's personal and professional well-being so they're encouraging employees to deliver the next project, not to look for the next job.

Making remote working more effective

It's all very well saying the answer is to have managers who build trust, allow more freedom and set better objectives. But how do you know whether managers already have those skills? And what can you do if they don't?

You've ?probably done a psychometric test at some point to assess someone's communication or interpersonal skills. And that's a good place to start. But some people are great at building relationships with external contacts and terrible at managing a team. So, they might be experts at supporting a client, but struggle to set relevant objectives with individuals.

Instead, what you need to know is the right mix of skills for effectively managing remote teams and the skills gaps you have so you can tailor the support you offer and get managers comfortable with managing remotely.

At Great People Inside, we've reviewed a huge body of independent research to identify those skills and developed robust assessments to give you insights on the support your team needs. It means you can embrace remote working and set your business up for future success.

But, if all else fails….

Whether your organisation chooses remote working as the way forward, or is dragged, kicking and screaming into the ‘new normal’, your current managers may not be the people to make it successful. As the saying goes, “What got you here won’t get you there”.

So, rather than deciding your workers can’t hack remote working, maybe you need to be looking more broadly at the problem (and the solution). If you’re struggling to make remote working effective in your organisation, now is the right time to get some additional support. It’s only going to become more important so you may as well address it now.

Learn more about how to get the best from your remote workers, and how to support their managers by using our remote manager and worker assessments. Contact us to find out more about how they’ll benefit your business.?