remote employees – Workforce

May 31, 2022September 5, 2023

How staffing agencies can better manage a remote workforce

Summary

As remote work continues its rise, modern workforce management technology is being adopted – staffing agencies should be at the forefront of this development.
Flexibility and visibility are key when it comes to how staffing agencies manage employees
Make it mobile: scheduling, time tracking, and labor compliance all need to be mobile-friendly to cut down on costs and increase employee experience

Managing remote employees has rapidly shifted from being a new and unpredictable challenge to a regular part of the work landscape over the last two years. The National Bureau of Economic Research estimates half of the workforce is now working remotely at least part of the time. While we have developed an incredible number of tools and processes to support remote staffing, remote work is still developing, and it still comes with its own unique challenges.

Staffing agencies are tackling remote work in their own ways. Some may be managing remote workers as part of their workforce, while others focus entirely on staffing remotely. Even those who don’t regularly manage remote staff may have to deal with the workplaces they staff occasionally shifting to remote work to accommodate unpredictable events.

All staffing agencies with remote workers will benefit from continuing to refine their remote workforce management skills and systems. Effective management builds a remote workforce that feels supported and gets the resources they need to do their work well, which ensures your clients always get the quality staffing they hired you for.

Streamline communication channels

Remote workers will be able to work more effectively if they have easy access to information and important notifications. It’s harder to share timely information when you’re not working face to face. While there are many channels for communicating remotely, having too many options is a problem when you have critical or time-sensitive information to share.

Slack and email threads are easy to lose track of since there is a lot of noise on those channels. Workers hired through a staffing agency might not even be plugged into a company’s Slack or email system yet. Texts and phone calls are harder to send to larger groups simultaneously, and you may not want to share everyone’s personal numbers in a group text.

You want to figure out a streamlined notification system for your staffing agency. All important communication should go through that one channel, so nothing gets lost. Ideally, the software you’re using for scheduling and time tracking will include an app and a notification system so that everything stays in the same place. You want a tool that can send individual alerts as well as push important announcements to groups of workers directly.

Plan for interruptions and unpredictability

Though we have all adapted to new working habits, unpredictable world events are still throwing unexpected interruptions into work and personal lives. On a purely practical level, smart staffing needs to anticipate these interruptions and have systems ready to deal with them. Your clients and your workforce will both be better off if you can build some accommodation into your staffing systems.

Workers may be sick unexpectedly in ways that make focusing impossible and require calling out. They may experience mental health challenges. Schools and daycares may close, leaving workers without childcare at the last minute. Travel plans are now more likely to get canceled, leaving workers stranded and scrambling to find ways to get back to a functional working environment.

Be prepared and communicate as needed during times of crisis to keep your employees safe and supported and ensure your clients’ needs are reliably fulfilled. Set up notifications ahead of time and use tools to easily manage your scheduling when it needs to change. Flexibility in a crisis and effective communication will help ensure that work isn’t derailed long term.

Find an efficient scheduling system

The most important, and often most challenging, part of staffing remotely is making efficient schedules. Employee scheduling software can help you schedule in a more sophisticated way, communicate those schedules efficiently, and make easy changes when needed. Even if workers aren’t commuting, they need reliable scheduling information so they can manage their time.

Give employees mobile access to their schedules so they can view upcoming shifts from anywhere, including the job site. This will help improve employee experience and cut back on miscommunication, confusion, and no-shows.

Make schedules early so you can alert workers in advance and avoid increasingly common predictive scheduling laws in certain areas. Labor forecasting will help you anticipate where staffing will be needed, avoiding the negative consequences of over- or under-staffing and optimizing labor costs. You also want to have systems in place to track attendance and quickly fill open shifts in case of no-shows or emergencies.

Use digital tools to manage a remote workforce

The digital tools you use to manage your workforce will be the key to smooth and effective management. Remote work is only possible because of the amazing array of digital tools we have available to us now, so take advantage of them. All of the practical parts of managing remote workers are easier if you use software tailored for the job.

Time and attendance

It’s vital to understand how, when, and where staff clock in – especially for agencies managing employees scattered across job sites. Proper time and attendance tools should be utilized to eliminate excessive wage costs stemming from issues in time theft, tardiness, and overtime. Employees should have the ability to clock in and view shifts on their phones right from the job site, and managers should be able to set clock-in parameters according to GPS location. Live time clock feeds are also a great way to improve back-office visibility into front-line attendance.

Paperless onboarding

Onboarding is hard to do remotely, as it requires sorting lots of information and getting documents read and signed. Onboarding quickly and efficiently gets you off on the right foot with new hires. Digital tools will help you automate your HR data, get documents signed, and collect personal information, bank details, and addresses quickly. They can even introduce staff to your policies and systems and begin training remotely.

Payroll

You may have payroll software, but you also need it to integrate with the rest of your management tools. Use a tool that can connect payroll to your scheduling and attendance software to make remote payroll management more efficient. Software can help you manage PTO and overtime payments that may vary by location as well.

Labor compliance

Remote work can quickly get complicated when trying to stay compliant with labor laws. They may change from state to state and city to city, and your workers may not even be in the same locale as their workplace. Digital tools exist to help you navigate labor compliance easily instead of trying to work each situation out case-by-case. Use your scheduling software to automate breaks to avoid labor violations in some states.

Simple and direct systems make remote staffing work

The common thread in each of these strategies is simplifying systems and providing clear, direct management processes for your remote staff. Workers in person receive information through interpersonal conversations, physical written materials, and the actual working environment they are entering, as well as digital sources. That makes it easier to ask questions casually or reduce distractions by physically moving or shutting off your computer.

Remote work concentrates all tasks and communications into a single channel. Counterintuitively, this often makes the information overload much higher. It’s harder to focus, and harder to sort the important details from the noise. Onboarding to remote jobs — absorbing lots of information digitally and learning new software and tools — is often the hardest part. Workers placed through staffing agencies may have to repeat this process frequently.

If you provide them with a single source of truth, they will be able to work more confidently, knowing they have access to all the information they need. Simplify your management. Communicate through one clear channel. Give them access to schedules, time tracking, and payroll in one place. Reduce the noise and overwhelm so that your workers can get up to speed quickly and focus their attention on doing their jobs well.

Book a call with one of our team members to learn more, or try our software for free today.

May 28, 2020April 11, 2023

Permanent working from home works well if you have the right technology

coronavirus, remote work, COVID-19, remote workforce

Remote work is not a new concept. Telecommuting grew as an acceptable business practice as technology rapidly advanced through the late 20th century and into the early 2000s.

Perhaps more importantly, working outside an office gained credibility as employers realized remote work increases productivity, improves employee morale and saves money.

Debating remote work pros and cons

The debate over the value of remote work has remained largely the same even as a wider swath of employees spend time outside a traditional office environment. One lingering argument against it is that there are too many distractions and the lack of a quiet place to focus on the task at hand. Yet a 2017 FlexJobs study found that just 7 percent of workers say they are more productive in an office setting.

As employers deliberate a remote workforce, the rapid evolution of workforce management technology has enabled more people to work outside the office. Professions once considered as chained to punching in and out immediately become more productive by starting and ending their day on the job.

Influencing expectations through technology

Innovative GPS-enabled technology now empowers remote employees to clock in and out simply by using their mobile device. Workforce.com’s GPS Clock-in features the longitude and latitude and provides employers with a real-time glance at each remote employee’s precise location.

With such dynamic, easy-to-use technology available, the challenge then becomes shifting organizational and managerial expectations surrounding remote work. Security is understandably a concern that can be allayed by a trustworthy, safe platform. Here is some insight to appease curmudgeonly employers that a remote workforce is indeed a boon to business.

Choose and vet the right employees for remote assignments. You don’t want your fledgling remote work program to be DOA.
Consider the effect on customers, co-workers and management.
Productivity expands since time is spent on the job, not traveling back and forth to punch a clock.
Set regular goals and objectives to be evaluated monthly, weekly or even daily.
Encourage ongoing feedback between management and the remote employee.
Online video programs allow for remote workers to visually participate in staff meetings and events.

No guessing where they are

Managers will quickly and easily know where remote staff is with the GPS Clock-in platform’s photo-verified system. While this provides peace of mind for employers knowing their workers are on the job, there also is a safety component involved.

In the event of an unpredictable natural incident, be it a sudden tornado warning, freak ice storm or an earthquake, employers can find peace of mind in knowing that resources are instantly available to check the location and safety of their remote employees.

The federal Office of Personnel Management cited improved emergency preparedness planning as a benefit of expanding its remote workforce. The agency also stated that remote work reduced employee commutes and provided cuts in real estate costs and energy use. Other positive outcomes included:

Improved employee attitudes.
Better recruitment and retention.
Improved employee performance.

As the number of employees working remotely increases every year, change long-overdue attitudes and adopt the right technology to build a vibrant, dynamic remote workforce. Enhance your business and put your remote workers in a position to excel in their jobs and boost productivity with Workforce.com’s GPS Clock-in platform.

May 22, 2020June 29, 2023

The most pressing workforce management issues of 2020

workforce management 2020, mask, COVID-19

While the buzzword “the future of work” is often thrown around as if it’s the new, exciting, sexy thing, it just refers to a reality that’s always been true. The economy changes, technology changes, and social trends impact the way people want work. Workforce management — as a field that relates to employees’ wages, schedules, promotability and more — can be impacted by large economic and social trends as well as technology.

Smart workforce management professionals pay attention to what trends impact their organization and workforce and plan ahead. Some trends relate to the COVID-19 pandemic and others relate to forces that existed much before that.

Based on information from various reports and expert interviews, these workforce management issues are some of the most immediate for 2020 and what practitioners should be thinking about.

Employee safety

In environments like factories, workplace safety has always been a point of focus, while the same could not be said for the average retailer or office setting. “All of a sudden, that’s changed,” said Matt Stevenson, partner and leader of Mercer’s Workforce Strategy and Analytics practice. Due to COVID-19, employers are concerned with how the work environment must change to ensure employee safety.

Also read: COVID-19 and workers’ compensation

Currently, this is one of the most significant workforce management issues, he said. I’s impossible to predict how long this hyper-focus on employee safety will last. He surmised this depends on whether a COVID-19 vaccine is developed and when.

Stevenson gave the example of polio. Before the vaccine it was a serious threat, and there were polio epidemics globally. After the vaccine was created, safety issues related to polio stopped being a concern. On the other hand, he added, viruses like HIV still don’t have a vaccine decades after being identified in 1981.

Also read: When employees return to work, consider these guidelines

Shifts in the way work is done

One outcome of COVID-19 is that certain jobs are done differently, Stevenson said, especially with remote work. Some organizations did not change their operating models because they didn’t have to, and the pandemic made it so they did not have a choice.

For example, the use of telemedicine has grown since the pandemic started, Stevenson said. Telemedicine has existed for years, but there was some resistance to it, and it was often underutilized. With a pandemic that limits physical contact, people began embracing telemedicine. It’s possible this trend could continue after the pandemic ends.

That’s what happened with retail stores, Stevenson noted. Online shopping for goods of all types is the norm these days, although consumers still can visit brick-and-mortar locations.

Industries like hospitality, leisure and travel have been especially impacted by the pandemic, he added. It’s difficult to imagine how a shift to something more online-friendly would look for these organizations.

The future of the physical workplace

Whether remote work will be as accepted after the pandemic ends is still unknown, but there’s a possibility that organizations will be more open to a largely remote workforce.

As employers think about their return-to-work plan, they may start with only bringing people in they have to, Stevenson said. From there, a large portion of the workforce may remain remote. This could lead to a big picture question of, “Do I need this big, expensive office space if I can just have employees work from home instead?”

This is already happening in the tech sector. Twitter recently announced that staff can work from home permanently.

Not enough flexibility for employees

Deloitte’s “2020 Global Human Capital Trends” report highlighted organizations that took employee-friendly approaches — giving employees more jurisdiction over their work schedules and offering them new flexible time off programs. These approaches are designed to allow employees to “live and work at their best” ultimately had positive impacts for companies. Company culture was improved, and teams saw better communication and collaboration.

More flexibility is good for worker well-being, which is good for business, according to the report. It surveyed respondents on how they have redesigned work to promote well-being in the organization. The top three answers were “giving workers more autonomy in how they do their work” (45 percent of respondents), “using technology to promote connectivity and collaboration” (41 percent) and “increasing flexible and/or predictable scheduling” (39 percent).

“Worker input is critical to understand what changes to work practices may have the greatest impact on well-being,” the report noted. For organizations who want to take this route, they need to think about how to get that employee input and act on it.

Interestingly, the report also noted that forward-thinking organizations should “stop obsessing about generations,” which leads to too many oversimplifications about employees. Ultimately most people, regardless of their generations, want many of the same things in a workplace — including their preference for flexible schedules.

A larger focus on workforce science

Mercer’s “Global Talent Trends 2020” report highlighted the need for HR and workforce management professionals to get better at workforce science — a practice that can help professionals address many workforce management issues. For example, the survey found that only 24 percent of respondents said their organization has data on who is at risk of burnout. Only 43 percent of organizations surveyed used metrics to identify employees likely to leave, and only 18 percent have looked at the impact of pay strategies on performance. This is an area organizations can improve on in future years.

The report didn’t paint a grim picture, though. Mercer’s surveys have found that the use of predictive analytics has increased from 10 percent in 2016 to 39 percent in 2020. While there’s more employers can be doing with analytics, they’ve also been stepping up their game the past five years.

“The good news is that the workforce science discipline is gathering momentum,” the report stated. “That said, insights into workforce management could be adopted more widely.”

April 8, 2020June 29, 2023

Remote workers aren’t lazy. They’re humans responding to a crisis

If remote employees aren’t living up to productivity expectations right now, employers shouldn’t immediately jump to “slacking off” as the reason.

Not only is this skewed worldview insulting to employees, but this degree of virtual micromanagement is insensitive to remote workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Also read: Remote Work is About Trust, Not Rules

In fact, studies show that employees are usually more productive at home than in the office. One survey of 1,004 full-time employees across the United States found that on average, remote employees worked 1.4 more days every month, or 16.8 more days every year, than those who worked in an office setting. Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University, found similar results in his two-year study about working from home. Remote working made employees more productive and less likely to quit, according to his study.

Yet there are some paranoid managers who envision their remote workers lying on the couch, shirking work and watching trashy daytime TV. This isn’t the reality for most workers in normal times, let alone during a pandemic.

Remote workers aren’t on vacation right now. They’re dealing with the very real consequences of a deadly global outbreak. Most people are quarantining at home (if their job allows), avoiding people as much as they can, staying as safe as possible at the grocery store and home-schooling their children on top of their work and home responsibilities.

Meanwhile, as more companies turn to layoffs and furloughs, even employed people have financial worries. What happens if they lose their job and employer-provided health insurance? What about workers who live paycheck to paycheck and worry about affording rent and food if they get laid off? The vast majority of employees won’t use working from home as an excuse to do less. Instead they’ll do what they can to stay relevant to their employer and not lose their job and their health care.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought further responsibilities to many employee populations, like caregivers of children or sick family members. These people don’t have more freedom and free time due to their work-from-home status. According to a survey of 4,293 working parents that was conducted from March 28 through March 30, only 46.23 percent of men and 25.14 percent of women responded that they are able to juggle work and watching children. Even considering this “unequal divide of household labor” and how mothers are impacted most, most fathers are struggling, as well.

Meanwhile, even if someone doesn’t take care of a child or sick family member, they still need to care for themselves. Maintaining one’s mental health is important during a pandemic, whether you simply feel more stressed than usual or have a mental illness that requires treatment and attention.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people who may respond more strongly to the stress of the COVID-19 crisis include those who are especially vulnerable to the virus (older people and those with chronic diseases), children and teens, people with mental health or substance abuse issues and caregivers and health care providers who are helping others deal with health issues.

Months before COVID-19 spread to its first victim, I wrote a story for Workforce about presenteeism, and recently on LinkedIn Jude Smith Rachele, co-founder and CEO at management consulting company Abundant Sun Ltd, commented on the story. She made an astute observation concerning COVID-19 and presenteeism.

“[It] seems the world has gone bonkers about sick leave and time off from work. I’m hoping despite what we are facing that many people STILL have paid vacation leave due to them. This work at home thing — and this even more ever-present ‘digital presenteeism at work’ — may make us forget that we can take time off even if we or those around us are not ill. Remember? We are supposed to take holidays [and] vacations to refresh,” she wrote.

This is a great comment, and not something I’ve seen a lot from employers. I understand that businesses as well as individuals are suffering right now. I’m not suggesting that companies should shift all focus from operations to comforting employees. But there needs to be a balance.

Rather than expecting employees to be 100 percent productive all the time and expecting them to not take any time off unless it’s for the “right reasons,” employers also need to show sympathy to their workforces right now. People aren’t robots. They respond to the world around them. What we’re going through now with COVID-19 is anxiety-provoking at best and life-destroying at worst.

Several months ago I interviewed Morgan Young, vice president of client services, employee benefits at Holmes Murphy, and what she said about productivity expectations is especially relevant now.

“You can acknowledge that fact that people are going to have struggles in their life and nobody is going to be at peak performance 100 percent of the time, and that’s OK. Employers can have a healthy conversation about that and know that, ‘If I can get [employees] through the valleys they have and back to their peak, we’re doing great,’ ” she said.

January 10, 2020June 29, 2023

Unintended Costs of the Modern Workplace

A lot of conversation focuses on helping people manage the day-to-day stress that comes with modern life and the modern workplace.

Whether it is looking at financial well-being (or the lack thereof), the stress of constant change, and the greater demands placed on an always-on workforce, we know there’s a problem. Diagnosing the root cause can be difficult, and that’s why I was so struck by my friend Aaron Hurst’s summary of the six unintended consequences of the modern workplace. He presented it at Purpose 2030, his company Imperative’s annual conference that focuses on aligning people and organizations around purpose and connection. (Full disclosure: I’m on Imperative’s board.)

One of the most important insights from their recent research is that creating deeper connections among people is a vital element to the success of organizations. I left their event inspired about how to build those connections on our team and thinking a lot about the idea that a leader’s job now includes creating an environment that supports deep and meaningful connections among colleagues, whether they are sitting side by side in an office or working in various locations around the world.

But that’s hard to do if we don’t examine why work has become a place that often creates the opposite of connection — loneliness and isolation. Looking at some of the unintended consequences we’ve created gives us a path for starting to solve them.

Productivity and communication tools like Slack can increase efficiency and collaboration, promoting quicker decision-making and information sharing. But the volume of communications can be a challenge.

Also in Benefits Beat: Make Benefits and Internal Communications Inseparable

As quantity increases, stress can too, and many interactions feel transactional rather than personal. For benefits teams, these new tools can be a daunting new feedback channel to manage as well. Several of our clients use them to promote benefits in creative ways, but keeping up with employees’ dialog and questions can become a full-time job.

Questions to consider: How do we support conversations that are meaningful? And how can benefits teams with limited resources embrace new tools?

Remote work is an amazing thing. It has expanded the possibilities for the way we work and with whom. For our team, it has been a vital tool for us to bring on key talent, and I think supporting remote work is beneficial in countless ways. But, with less room for casual and face-to-face interaction, authentic connection among employees can be lost.

Questions to consider: How can we enable a sense of belonging and connection with those working remotely? How can benefits create ways for people who work remotely to feel connected and supported by their organizations?

Diversity and inclusion are key goals for most of us. The connection to benefits and the ways we build support programs for various employee groups is a hot topic.

But fully embracing a diverse and inclusive environment creates unique new challenges that require a lot of intentional new behaviors. This side of D&I is not always fully acknowledged or discussed.

As Aaron Hurst says, “The workforce is growing more diverse in every way. It is building a more inclusive society and economy as well as bringing new perspectives to work that drive innovation. When we work with people who are similar to us, the norms of communication and interaction are pretty clear, and it is easier to feel psychologically safe. When we have a diverse workforce, the old models of communication and collaboration are no longer adequate.”

Questions to consider: What does a workplace look like that can fully address the psychology of diversity? How do benefits and other programs build connections and support full inclusion?

Many modern corporations have adopted open-plan designs, hoping it will increase collaboration and productivity. In reality, workers often find that removing physical walls can decrease the quality of connection with those we work with and make focused work more challenging.

Also in Benefits Beat: A New Look at Caregiving

Questions to consider: How can we retain the benefits of open spaces while also restoring more intentional connection? Can benefits like mindfulness training or well-being challenges help individuals and teams get better connected inside and outside of the office walls?

The negative side effects of engagement as a main measurement tool and the challenges of shrinking tenure are also among the unintended consequences Aaron covered. What are the other unintended consequences of your modern workplace? And how are you going to use this year to solve them?

September 16, 2019June 29, 2023

Remote Employees: Out of Sight, Out of Their Minds?

Barbara Fisher recalled a time one of her remote workers traveled to Hawaii yet called in to four meetings over two days.

“I asked, ‘How are you recharging? Why did you even take your computer?’ As a remote worker, it’s an extension of what she does,” said Fisher, chief operating and people officer for digital health company Aduro Inc. who previously was a vice president for Intel Corp. working in human relations and talent management.

“The reality is that weighs on you. You’re never able to refuel.”

Remote work has become the new normal for companies responding to workers’ desire for flexibility. In its “State of the American Workplace” report, Gallup polling found 43 percent of employees worked remotely in 2016 compared to 39 percent in 2012.

In its 2019 “Employee Benefits” report on leave and flexible working released in June, the Society for Human Resource Management noted that remote work continues to rise in popularity as a benefit. Telecommuting of all types is increasing as a result. Part-time telecommuting — now offered by more than 40 percent of organizations — is up 5 percent from 2018 and demonstrated the greatest increase.

Ad-hoc telecommuting is offered by 69 percent of organizations while full-time telecommuting is offered by more than one-quarter of organizations, SHRM reports.

“From a remote worker’s perspective, some of the positive aspects are flexible job schedules, work-life balance and the freedom to work from almost anywhere,” said Tina Garrell, director of the annual HR Florida Conference for the HR Florida State Council, a SHRM affiliate.

For companies, it means extending a footprint beyond its headquarters, saving on office space costs and keeping employees happy.

“But employers are sometimes faced with different challenges arising with their remote workforce, such as the health and well-being of those employees who do not come to the office every day,” said Garrell.

Studies show remote workers struggle with loneliness, isolation, an inability to unplug and ongoing distractions.

“Global Work Connectivity,” a recent study commissioned by Virgin Pulse and HR advisory and research firm Future Workplace, concludes many remote workers feel isolated.

“While remote workers gain freedom and flexibility, the study found they are disengaged and less likely to want a long-term career with their company because of their lack of human contact,” said Dan Schawbel, a partner with Future Workplace.

The survey of more than 2,000 managers and employees in 10 countries found almost half of an employee’s day is spent using technology to communicate. Slightly more than half always or very often feel lonely as a result.

Men, introverts and younger generations indicated a greater need for work companionship. Leaders can support employee relationships by encouraging connection in person over online, researchers said.

“Remote workers in some organizations are among the most stressed, which can seem counterintuitive. The perception is they have more time and are free from office politics, getting dressed up and commuting,” said Mary Marzec, senior health strategy scientist for Virgin Pulse, a part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group that designs technology cultivating positive employee lifestyle habits.

With most employees’ waking hours spent on work, the work culture has a significant influence on adopting and sustaining healthy habits, Marzec said. While technology has paved the way for more employees to work remotely, it also has contributed to that sense of isolation, leading to mental and physical health challenges.

“Technology has created the illusion that workers are connected when in reality they feel isolated, lonely, disengaged and less committed to their organizations when overusing or misusing it,” said Schawbel, who also authored “Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation.”

“Most remote workers have the flexibility to work in different areas — a coffee shop or the beach — and they still choose to work at home,” said Fisher. “The convergence of work and home into one space underlies the struggle to unplug.

“You have to be able to recharge. Not doing it definitely weighs on an individual’s health and how they show up.”

Remote workers can feel left out of key decisions, leading to stress, frustration and unhappiness, said Fisher.

Distractions are another challenge.

One of Fisher’s employees who asked to work remotely later expressed frustration that home tasks were distracting her from work.

“When you are a remote worker, it actually is more work because you have to think about how you balance your time to get things done and make sure you’re still connected,” said Fisher.

That necessitates discipline in meeting work milestones and personal goals, she added.

Air in the at-Home Schedule?

The perception that remote workers have more time at home to take care of family responsibilities essentially is false, said Marzec.

“Drawing boundaries can be very difficult,” she added. “If somebody sends you an email, there is internal pressure to answer that right away to show you’re working. Somebody in the office can be in a meeting for two hours, go to lunch, and even stop at the bank on the way back. A remote worker doesn’t feel that freedom.”

Lack of face time with team members is another challenge.

“You can’t just stop over to somebody’s desk or bump into someone in the hall and ask them if they’ve followed up,” Marzec said. “Emails and communications have to be constructed much more clearly because you’re not there to back it up in person. Communication can start a downstream spiral of lack of productivity.”

Remote workers don’t have the feeling of support one gets by standing around the office water cooler and soliciting ideas on how to deal with professional and personal struggles, Marzec added.

Feelings of isolation and lack of social support are linked to anxiety and depression, she added.

“Even though you think remote workers are not working longer hours, often that sense of being present at work is on their mind and can contribute to depression and anxiety,” she added.

Remote workers also don’t feel they have the freedom to work out or take a walk, said Marzec.

“When you work remotely, you’re not getting in the extra energy like walking from a parking lot to work,” said Marzec. “Someone who works remotely could have as few as 1,500 steps in a day. Whereas in normal workday walking, you’re going to put in 5,000 to 6,000 steps. It isn’t the 10,000 recommended steps, but it’s a lot more than 1,500.”

Health implications depend one’s go-to for dealing with stress when working alone and not able to walk over to peers to get advice on how to move a project forward, said Fisher.

“Whatever your vice is to manage stress is where you’re going to go. That’s just human nature. When you’re alone, going to that vice is likely easier than when you’re in an office where you can reach out quickly to the person sitting in the cube next to you, tell them you’re having a rough day and try to figure the problem out.”

Companies have a responsibility to take care of the workforce and remote workers have to put themselves out on the radar more, said Fisher. That entails remote worker access to wellness initiatives.

“Part of that responsibility if you decide to have a blended workforce is figuring out how what you offer at your headquarters is also what you offer to your extension sites as well as to your remote workers,” Fisher said.

While remote workers may not be able to access the gym at company headquarters or enjoy a healthy lunch at the in-house cafeteria, inclusive team challenges such as walking or drinking enough water “are a lot of fun and help everybody feel included no matter where they work,” said Marzec.

Technology makes implementing wellness programs for remote workers easier, said Garrell.

“These programs offer a variety of options both remote employees and employees who physically come to the office can participate in,” she said. “An example of a program that would work well for a remote workforce is providing partial or full reimbursement for various fitness activities in which they choose to participate.”

That can include sports leagues, gym memberships, yoga classes and other activities available in the remote worker’s area that keeps the employee active and engaged. By allowing them to choose activities in which they are interested, it helps ensure higher participation rates and long-term engagement, said Garrell.

Brian Rhonemus, CEO of Sanford Rose Associates — Rhonemus Group, said he encourages everyone on the recruiting firm’s remote team to manage distractions by being as disciplined in their work hours as they would if they physically drove to an office with a more structured schedule.

Rhonemus also said some of his company’s remote workers use stand-up treadmill desks to address the struggle with scheduling fitness time.

“We also schedule blocks of time out of the office to meet people face-to-face to fulfill the need for social interaction,” he said. “We encourage participation in coaching and other outside activities and allow time for that away from the office. We share our personal and professional success in our weekly update call.”

Joey Frasier, CEO of Shortlist, a San Francisco-based freelancer-management platform, suggested that hosting events in remote locations can ensure remote workers feel connected to the office community.

“We constantly remain in contact with our remote staff to make sure they are happy and have all of the support they need,” he said.

Frasier said his company helps its customers manage about 70,000 workers, nearly all of whom are remote.

“Remote workers are encouraged to participate in wellness programs in their areas or online using apps like Calm or MoveWith. HR managers also can provide access to places like One Medical, which provides wellness and mindfulness services.”

Management support is critical. A manager can discuss with a remote employee how to set up their work schedule in such a way they can block off time to engage in physical exercise, said Marzec.

“It relieves that pressure that if I take a walk and don’t answer that email within an hour, I’m not going to be punished for it,” she added.

Virtual Teamwork

Garrell said she ensures that the three remote workers in her business are included in as many office activities as possible through daily sales team conference calls, video conferencing training programs and a group messaging chat program to communicate with management throughout the day.

“This helps make them feel like they are truly a part of our organization as well as having a positive impact on their mental health, productivity and overall wellness,” she said.

Fostering a strong work culture that helps remote workers feel supported can be done through team-building activities, social events and workstations where workers can get to know each other on a personal level, said Schawbel.

An investment in the remote workforce yields positive returns.

“When you give greater autonomy, flexibility, responsibility but also greater support for employees, they feel it,” said Fisher. “We talk a lot about ‘I want to have a loyal employee who doesn’t want to leave.’ It’s a balance. The company needs to show how invested they are in the person and the person shows how invested they are into the company based on that relationship between the two of them.

“There is so much research that employees are looking to be heard and valued. When an employee feels that, they’re able to reach full potential because they’re being challenged and rewarded in ways that inspire and motivate them. The impact to productivity and the bottom line starts to improve.”

When a company addresses physical and mental health challenges faced by its remote workers, those workers stay committed, Marzec said.

“The manager doesn’t have to replace that talent,” she added. “Many times, companies focus on health care costs when it comes to health and well-being and overlook the important factor of employee satisfaction and intention to leave the company.

“Once somebody leaves, that impacts other people on that team who now need to work more to fill the gap of the person who left. The manager needs to put in time to hire somebody else. The training may take up to a year before a new person is really folded into the organization. In some cases, knowledge is lost when somebody leaves and we have a very knowledge-based economy. There can be client loss. Protecting against unwanted turnover is an important goal of health and wellness programs.”