Demystifying the different styles of work in the New normal

An ideal workplace several decades ago required employees to work together under the same roof and in the same workspace. This style has greatly encouraged empathy, inclusion, collaboration, and worker efficiency. The conventional work style avail employers the opportunity to directly monitor, correct, motivate and lead their staff. Furthermore, workers have been able to display excellent acts of creativity and diversity while working autonomously

Recent technological development and innovation have led to a change in the approach of employers to their workplace and workspace practices. This signaled the gradual end of rigid working practices and the start of a modern era of technology that altered workers’ work patterns. Telecommuting grew increasingly common among employees as internet connections gets better. This has resulted in the massive transition of companies, employers, and employees to a flexible style of working from anywhere at any time.

The advent of the pandemic accompanied by different lockdown phases greatly impacted the social traits and interactions of humans with each other. This behavioral, psychological, and communication alteration forced several companies to embrace working from home & virtual working styles. As soon as the pandemic grew deeper, more employers adopt this new work mode and thus, the terms “remote work”, “hybrid work”, and “working from home” became common terms in the corporate world. Due to the pandemic, companies were forced to take on extra hurdles in determining the future of the working style that will be implemented by the company. The rapid evolution of HR and management systems is providing employers and business owners with the challenging task of predicting the future of employment in their organization. Thus, companies must develop an explicit understanding of the distinctions between these terms to effectively comprehend their work models, employee classification, HR management, and many more. In this guide, a detailed differentiation will be provided on new virtual working styles.

Remote Work

Working remotely or remote work is the term used in describing a system of telework, working outside the base of a company, mobile working system, distant job, etc. It is used to describe a workplace approach that doesn’t require employees to work directly from the organization’s physical location. In this style of work, the staff is required to work independently or in clusters outside the properties and supervision of the company. Collaborative tools such as Slack, Google workspace, Atlassian tools, Zoom, etc are used as communication media in this style. A “remote employee” is therefore an individual who executes an organization’s obligations outside of the organization’s office boundaries. Working remotely benefits businesses since it allows employees to work from locations other than the firm’s headquarters, allowing the organization to save human and financial resources while also avoiding legal management punishments.

Perks to Working Remotely

Exclusive access to a global pool of talents

A remote working style helps organizations to easily bring all their global employees together without necessarily having to relocate or go through complicated industrial performance to facilitate collaboration. With WeHireGlobally, companies can exclusively access a large pool of global talents and effectively ensure a remote engagement with them.

Improved staff retention and sustainability

Most employees relatively want flexibility & independence in executing the organization’s obligations. Therefore, with remote work, workers can perform tasks at their convenience, desired time, location, etc. It enables workers complete projects and tasks from various places while saving their resources. This means more time for workers with their families, friends, and hobbies. Thus, this promotes staff satisfaction and sustainability which will in turn bring about employee retention and the company’s growth.

Conservation of resources and Performance Improvement

With the remote approach to work, the running and maintenance costs of offices and other physical facilities are reduced. This allows employers to make strategic investments in other areas of their business. 

Drawbacks of Remote Work

The biggest disadvantage is the inability to be applied in some industries or sectors. Remote work cannot be easily & completely integrated into the manufacturing, production, and construction industries. Another major disadvantage of remote work is effective communication. Although there are excellent communication media used in this style of work, it must be emphasized that achieving excellent and effective communication is a struggle. Tasks, instructions, feedback, etc are not properly communicated in a way they would have happened physically and this could result in downtime, low productivity, etc. Furthermore, chances of oversights, lack of motivation, little or no monitoring, procrastination, MIA (missing in action), nonchalance, etc could happen while working remotely. 

Work from Home

Many people have interpreted the phrase “Work from Home (WFH)” to indicate a work arrangement that allows workers of a company to work from the comfort of their own homes for a set length of time. Work from home might be the consequence of corporate renovations, war, health issues, economic crises, compensation, and so on. Because it requires employees to work directly from their homes, Work from Home is frequently referred to as a subset of remote working. Employees may manage their professional and personal life simultaneously using WFH. 

Hybrid Work

A hybrid is just two concepts or things united to profit from the combined benefits of the two concepts or objects. Hybrid work is a term used in the business industry to describe a working arrangement that allows people to work both remotely and in the office. Here, the combined working mode is variable, and it may be chosen by the workers or assigned by the company. Its definition may readily be traced back to the term “hybrid,” which refers to employees who split their time between working remotely and on-site. It refers to a flexible work schedule in which employees work part-time at an office and part-time from home or another place. 

Perks of Hybrid Work

Staff will be able to cooperate more effectively using this work style. The disadvantages of working electronically or physically are mitigated through effective communication and teamwork. As a result, the company’s defined goals are more likely to be met, and the organization’s performance and productivity increase. In addition, a hybridized work pattern reduces social isolation while promoting good balance in all aspects of an employee’s life. In addition, because not all employees are expected to be accessible at all times, hybrid work assists the firm in managing and reducing operating and maintenance costs of its premises and facilities.

Hybrid Work and Working from home limitations

• They are not applicable in all sectors or jobs.
• Cooperation between two teams may suffer due to accessibility and availability gaps.
• Managers and executives may prefer unified work cultures to departments/units with whom they frequently collaborate.

Hybrid, Remote, and Working from Home: Deciding the Best for Your Company

Several organizations are experimenting with novel techniques, but many are unclear about how to function in the long run. It is critical to consider the many possibilities for your firm’s future employment and work, since the risk is large, and even a tiny change in efficiency, turnover, or happiness may impart a huge influence on the organization’s output and competition. Identifying the best working environment requires proactive workplace experimentation and improvement of organizational projects. It’s critical to think carefully about how virtual/online and physical work styles will affect your workers’ ability to achieve personal and professional goals. To understand better your employees’ desires in a remote workplace, consider WeHireGlobally, we have excellent professionals who understand what employees want in a remote workplace, and our services focus on mitigating risk and ensuring 100% compliance. After weighing the advantages and disadvantages of several work models, some things must be considered before deciding on your company’s work model or style:

Productivity and Sustainability

For long-term effect, productivity and sustainability are the most crucial variables to consider when deciding on a working pattern, style, or framework for your business. This is because, while remote work may increase productivity for your organization, it may have negative consequences for others. As a result, determining whether to use remote work, work from home, or a hybrid strategy should be based on a thorough analysis of the predicted impact on employee productivity and efficiency.

Collaboration

Employers must ensure that whatever work pattern they select for their organization must be a pattern that suits the organization’s collaborative system. The company must also try to provide all the necessary collaboration and communication tools that are required to maintain growth and productivity in the organization. 

Financial Implications

The majority of organizations that deal with remote staff tend to recruit overseas personnel in a bid to lower their workers’ salaries and cost of living. While both remote and hybrid organizations have the leverage of saving money on big capital investments and office maintenance, organizations with operating offices might be involved in activities such as occasional retreats, workshops, putting up IT systems, etc. As a result, the financial ramifications of these various labor patterns must be considered before determining your organization’s most fit working pattern.

A diverse pool of talent

Remote and hybrid firms have broader access to talent with a geographically broader workforce. This gives them better access to a broader pool of talent with a diversity of backgrounds. Businesses that don’t offer virtual/remote options or that have limited presence across the globe can only access a geographically constrained workforce with limited talent.

How to Appropriately Classify Your Employees

The importance of adding exceptional personnel to your team, regardless of where they are located, cannot be understated, necessitating your knowledge of how to appropriately categorize them. A simple list of staff responsibilities and duties is inadequate. It’s vital to properly categorize your personnel since they’ll have a better knowledge of their function in the company if they’re properly categorized. Although effectively grading your employees might be tough, time-consuming, and intricate, it is something that both you and your organization must consider. Incorrect worker classification may be a costly endeavor that might not only put your company’s finances at risk but even lead to its liquidation. Thus, thorough employee evaluation is mandatory. Employees can be mainly grouped into:

Employee

This is an individual recruited by an organization and expected to work a specific number of hours per week in exchange for an agreed stipulated time, compensation, and benefits package. However, this employment contract can be terminated at any moment for any cause.

Independent contractors

Independent contractors are highly qualified individuals whose commitment is fully or partially to their employer. They are frequently employed by multiple companies/employers over a specific time to provide their services. WeHireGlobally, as a good recruitment partner, provides services that can help your firm avoid employment risks and ensure compliance while also allowing you to focus on your core business. For your company’s global PEO or employer of record contact us.

Sourcing and hiring talents in a compliant way

Sourcing talents involves the whole process of recruiting an appropriate applicant for your company, having considered several policies, such as state laws. For valuable information surrounding recruitment compliance and legislation for your company involving both local and global hiring, consider our HR experts at WeHG.