Establishing A New Definition Of Trust With Remote Employees

Here’s how to do that

Let's face it, Covid-19 has changed the work world permanently with regards to how we will use offices going forward for knowledge workers. Companies that think they're going to be able to force their employees back into the office and revert back to the way things were prior to the pandemic, really need to think again. Of course, as the employer, they can always take the option to be heavy-handed and reinstate the attendance policy that existed prior to the pandemic. However, what they are going to experience is a lot more turnover in their workforce if they take such measures.

This being said, there will be an immediate resurgence for a few months with regards to employees working at the office, once the risk of Covid-19 is low enough. However, employers should not expect this to be a productive time since the main intent of most employees returning to the office at this point is to foster personal relationships and reconnect with co-workers they miss. So in a way coming to the office, ironically, will be a distraction in the next few coming months as offices reopen.

If a worker does not require the use of physical equipment or interaction with customers then they really fall into the employee class of “Knowledge Worker. There are three primary use cases that will drive the use of the modern office going forward. I have listed these below:

Managers will potentially spend more time with employees as they are trying to rapidly onboard them as new hires.

Teams working heads down in collaborative projects will still want to meet in person for efficiency.

Meetings with interview candidates, partners, customers, and vendors will still be done in person from time to time in the traditional way.

There is a class of people who want to come to an office in a traditional sense. They are often seeking to avoid loneliness or an unsettling home environment. However, as some employees have had these important needs met in a traditional work environment, this will be something they will stop looking to be fulfilled by employers in the future. This is because so few companies will be able to deliver an office culture that can satisfy these needs in the future. Single and young workers will soon find attending social organizations off work hours will be much more within their control and yield much more success. They won’t seek or expect the need to meet people from the workplace in the future.

So now the real question is, “How do employers establish trust with remote employees?” The answer is by forming new habits and a more careful analysis of the quality and timeliness of work. Here are some suggestions that I have taken that have been truly effective:

Requiring cameras on while the meeting will allow you to judge the employees' level of professionalism. If a picture is worth 10,000 words, then a video feed is worth 10,000 words/second. A camera on policy will allow for a much better connection with the employee. If the employee is resisting this policy, then trust is diminished since they are opting to be less transparent. Make sure employees are equipped with a good camera and light. This will be an advantage to you and worth the investment.

Start each day with a short meeting on video. This ensures employees are at least up and out of bed and held accountable to being engaged at the beginning of the day. If they are sleepy and disengaged, this will help you better assess trust.

If working from home is the new norm, then a dress code at home is totally appropriate for all employees. Company polos or shirts are a great idea as well as standards that require a collared dress shirt for men or the business casual equivalent for women when meeting with people outside the company.

With employees working from home, it is impossible to measure success by hours worked anymore. Work can only be measured by what is produced, so managers now need to focus on deliverables. Managers should get estimates for deliverables. Answers will come to questions such as: Are employees always coming in under or overestimates consistently? Are they offering to do more?

Responsiveness is key in a work-from-home environment! Responsive employees regularly check their email and instant messages showing they are engaged in work while at home. Be sure to set expectations around communication in the virtual workplace and establish norms.

Employees who are intentional about taking PTO show that they are establishing boundaries and norms for their work at home. This exhibits responsibility and also helps establish trust.

Regularly tracking a rating for their attitude and quality of work such as an A-D letter grade will also help establish trust. An employee with a good attitude and high work quality is more likely to be thankful for their job and want to do good work for the company. Grades do not need to be shared with the employee weekly but can be brought to their attention at their regularly scheduled review time if desired.

Building trust with remote employees is very achievable but it calls for challenging the existing way of managing employees, designing a new plan, and executing it. This Challenge → Design → Execute formula is what I call being an Iconoclast.