The Remote Workforce is the New Normal. Are You Ready?

Working remotely has been on the rise for several years, but COVID-19 has flipped the switch to the point where it has become the new normal. What solutions does your company need for so many employees now working at home?

In 2020 as of May 1, nearly 85 percent of Americans are working remotely. Companies and their employees are finding ways to remain productive, improve employee engagement, and even grow their businesses, even as we work together to abide by #stayathome recommendations and keep our families safe.

Working remotely is nothing new—in 2019 approximately 43 percent of Americans worked from home occasionally up from 39 percent in 2012. But few companies can say they were ready to support an entirely remote workforce, and had little time to prepare. We all look forward to the day we can return to our offices, but the reality is months from now our “new normal” as working Americans will still closely resemble the remote operations we are supporting today.

More than ever small and midsize businesses will need to rely on “touchless” HR tools and processes that support distance onboarding, management and collaboration. COVID-19 will someday be in the rear view mirror, but being prepared for the next wave is a top priority, especially for managing so many employees working at home.

Safe onboarding

While thousands of companies face a monumental challenge to keep their workforce intact, the truth is some companies are still hiring—and many more will need to hire and onboard new employees quickly and efficiently as businesses look to rebound.

HR Cloud’s Onboard solution have been designed with safe and effective onboarding top of mind, without the need for face-to-face meetings. Automated communications and workflows ensure that every step of the process is carefully coordinated between new hires, their managers and HR so that everyone has the information they need when they need it. You can create checklists and tasks that automate the entire process, including e-signatures that eliminate the need for face-to-face meetings.

Remote training

For new employees to be successful and feel confident in their new role, they need the most important information to be at their fingertips. That doesn’t just mean hiring documents, forms and instructions. It also means training videos, organizational charts, and their team’s documented processes and workflow. 

HR Cloud’s solution includes a personalized portal that creates an engaging experience for new employees from their welcome letter to 90-day onboarding plans and checklists. The portal ensures every new hire experiences a personal touch as part of the touchless HR experience.

Easy communication

Nothing makes a remote employee feel less connected than feeling like they don’t have access to the latest news and information from the company. And during a crisis like COVID-19 let’s face it—fast and efficient information sharing is critical to everyone.

HR Cloud provides mobile communication solutions that guarantee your workforce is connected and collaborating safely and efficiently and that increase employee engagement. Mobile apps and alerts reach every employee consistently with announcements, updates, policy changes and other information. You can even include urgent SMS messages tied into a town or municipality for official news and updates.

Effective employee engagement platforms also empower users to find information they may need. For example, our Workmates solution lets any employee make a phone call or send a direct message, text, or email from directly within the app. New hires have instant access to company directories and organizational charts and can initiate one-on-one or group chats within Workmates or another communication tool of their preference and engage their new team.

Similarly, your internal communications teams can use the platform to create customized channels. In this case they could create a channel dedicated to any updates or information about COVID-19 that any employee could access from their mobile device.

The remote workforce is here to stay, and COVID-19 has increased the urgency that companies are ready for it in order to manage distributed teams. HR Cloud has solutions you can implement now to help your workforce be better connected, more collaborative, and most importantly, safer at home.