The invisible workforce (hint: your remote workers)
The success of an organization depends on effective management of remote workers. Are remote workers visible, or invisible? Is the connection between the management and the invisible workforce best characterized as “remote,” in the sense that management does not know whether the workers are productive? Or are hurting? Or are organizing a union? Or are planning to leave?
In a recent webinar and a podcast hosted by attorneys at Fisher Phillips, Rick Grimaldi moderates a conversation with Brian Balonick, Raeann Burgo, James Glunt and Heather Steele on the top things employers should consider to keep their remote workforce visible and engaged during this new normal. They discuss:
- Mental Health: Raeann Burgo will provide strategies for detecting mental health challenges faced by your remote workers, and will discuss your best option for proactive avoidance (spoiler alert: Slack and Microsoft Teams).
- Positive Employee Relations: Brian Balonick will update your approach toward positive employee relations when dealing with workers who are rarely, if ever, seen in person (spoiler alert: if they don’t find with you, they will find it somewhere else).
- Talent Acquisition, Management and Retention: Heather Steele will review the policies and practices that help virtual leaders retain and manage the remote workers you have invested in (spoiler alert: get it in writing).
- Wage and Hour Compliance: Jay Glunt will discuss common wage and hour challenges arising from non-exempt remote workers, with strategies for capturing all compensable time (spoiler alert: compensable non-work time).
- Flexibility: Rick Grimaldi understands the need for flexibility for workers, both in the workplace and remote. We discussed his book, FLEX: A Leader’s Guide to Staying Nimble and Mastering Transformative Change in the American Workplace, in a previous blog (spoiler alert: harness the power of change and increase employee satisfaction and secure long-term success).
The podcast can be accessed here.
This podcast features Fisher Phillips, which authors our South Carolina Human Resources Manual, Model Policies and Forms for Missouri Employers, Model Policies and Forms for Kansas Employers, and Workplace Safety and Health Compliance Manual.