With the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need for many companies to allocate their employees to a home office, with the objective of maintaining activities, while preserving the health of professionals. However, a lot of questions are being asked if when vaccination predominates, employees will feel safe to return to the business environment again. Will it be a tendency for companies to discard remote work and return to traditional methods?
Apparently, this is not the future imagined by specialists who study professional trends. Research indicates that the workplace, as we knew, will no longer exist in most companies. Not only because employees don't feel safe, but also because the pandemic challenged conventional thinking about work routines.
One of the surveys was released by the recruitment consultancy Robert Half, which shows that for 95% of the executives interviewed, the rotation between home office and office, seen as hybrid work, is seen as permanent in the employment scene going forward. The research also showed that, compared to the period before COVID-19, there was significant growth in the number of companies that offer remote work options. From April to December 2020, 80% of the vacancies managed by Robert Half sought positions 75% to 100% in the home office. In 2019, only 5% of the vacancies managed by them met this characteristic.
Now the challenge for business leaders is to create a world of work that will keep employees productive. Working remotely has traditionally had a bad reputation, because many employers believed that their work team would be easily distracted at home, where their managers couldn't keep an eye on their direct reports. Remote work was very rare a decade ago. Normally, working from home was only available as a special arrangement to accommodate families in specific cases, but the use of teleworking technology has advanced to the point where some companies thrive with fully remote teams.
The pandemic also showed that remote work can help prevent the spread of diseases, helping companies avoid lost productivity and protecting public health. In fact, it was not uncommon for companies to allow their employees to work from home once or twice a week, but today more and more companies are adopting full work policies in the home office. One of the most useful and used technologies for remote work is video conferencing. Video meetings help employees who are out of the office to see and talk to each other in real time and from anywhere. This technology advanced so rapidly that many companies even eliminated traditional offices and instead ran their business from coworking spaces to accommodate their largely remote workforce.
But there is a long way to go, even with the pandemic, many companies have still resisted this work trend for various reasons. Some leaders still fear their employees' lack of commitment and productivity, while others haven't invested in technology to support remote collaborators. However, studies predict that remote work software, such as mobile work tools and virtual reality conferences, will become the preferred form of communication. AI will also likely play an important role in remote team management. These advances tend to make companies more comfortable. The transition to managing a remote workforce can be daunting, but with the right technology and dedicated employees, it can be an ongoing and beneficial process. Instead of resisting change, organizations will tend to seek solutions to improve their remote work policies and resources.
This is because, according to Robert Half, “global changes in relation to remote and hybrid work, as well as the generation of revenue from e-commerce, are influencing hiring priorities in Brazil. The adoption of more data-driven operational and planning processes, together with transformative strategies for accelerating talent tracking, designed to build more resilient, flexible, and agile workforces, remain imperatives to navigate toward the end of the pandemic.”
Many factors that are still on the rise contribute to shaping the future of remote work, but instead of resisting changes, it is advisable that organizations seek to improve their policies and resources, identifying the best times to carry out activities, defining new work routines that will help maintain results and even creating key performance indicators to monitor the expectations and results of employees.
TATICCA — ALLINIAL GLOBAL also provides integrated auditing, accounting, tax, corporate finance, financial advisory, risk advisory, technology, business consulting and training services. For more information, visit www.taticca.com.br or email taticca@taticca.com.br. Our company has professionals with extensive experience in the market and has certified methodologies for carrying out activities.
