Remote Work: The Biggest HR Challenges

The year 2020 forced organizations into a rapid transformation and the creation of new working conditions. The pandemic didn’t just accelerate digitization and cement an agile mindset, it turned remote and hybrid work into the new normal (though it’s worth remembering that, as Rzeczpospolita reports, as many as 80% of workers still have to be physically present in the office, because the nature of their work requires it).

The pandemic years showed us plenty of advantages of remote and hybrid work, and the challenges that come with them. Although the situation has now stabilized, remote and hybrid work have become standard at many companies. Just browse current job ads to see that employers have grown open to this option. The ability to do your job at least partly remotely is one of the important expectations of both current and prospective employees. It turned out that people can be just as effective as they are in the office. In most cases, HR simply had to get comfortable with the new situation, which, by the way, has its upsides. The average HR Business Partner no longer has to limit themselves to candidates in the nearest location; in the search for the right people, they can turn to the talent market across the whole country. That doesn’t mean a seamless switch to a new work model, though, it’s more of a process touching new forms of recruitment, human resource management, and every area the abbreviation HR brings under one roof.

What challenges did HR teams run into? What turned out to be only a temporary problem, and what will they still have to work on? Today we present the toughest, most pivotal challenges that show up in the HR department of an organization that has shifted to a hybrid or fully remote model.

Remote onboarding

In March 2020, companies had to learn overnight how to operate in a remote model. The first huge hurdle was, without a doubt, the remote process of onboarding a new hire. The procedures used inside organizations until then simply didn’t fit a remote or hybrid model. Remote onboarding unexpectedly dropped HR teams into a completely new reality. Practically the only area that, from a human resources standpoint, didn’t change was the document templates, like the contracts signed with employees, though even those were often enriched with clauses tied to remote work.

Most of them had just a few days to roll out a remote onboarding process. The challenge HR teams faced wasn’t only the clock ticking on everyone. It was also the logistics of onboarding, because how do you sign a contract or hand over equipment quickly and securely? How do you show a new hire the office? But above all, how do you smoothly bring a new person into the company so they can not only understand their tasks but also meet and gel with the team?

Is HR ready for remote onboarding?

Fortunately, thanks to flexibility on all sides and the support of technology, most companies managed to organize remote onboarding in a flash. After a few weeks, the no-longer-quite-new hires could share their experience and help improve the remote onboarding process in their organizations. Setting aside the high level of engagement, remote onboarding certainly went most smoothly in organizations where the process had long been digitized, and where the first day of work meant every newcomer used modern technologies like mobile apps.

The HR challenge: if we have to onboard remotely, how do we sign a contract or other documents remotely?

Under many countries’ regulations, signing an employment contract requires a written form. The same goes for things like income statements for banks or contract addenda (the specifics vary by jurisdiction). How do you manage that when, for safety reasons, you shouldn’t be meeting in person? To meet this challenge, HR teams used several possible solutions:

• Signing and exchanging contracts via courier services
• Using electronic signatures, without needing a qualified signature (possible through dedicated e-signature tools)
• Exchanging scans of hand-signed contracts

That said, some employees still weren’t used to signing documents this way. So the question remains: in the new reality, will we still care about handwritten signatures, or will we get used to the electronic form?

Time has shown that modern human resource management built on digital tools is a bull’s-eye. The risks tied to the pandemic are behind us, but hybrid and remote work have stayed with us for the long haul, and some industries eagerly rely on exactly this option. Although employees’ physical presence in the office is safe today, processes like administering non-salary benefits, preparing and signing contracts, and partly even recruitment itself successfully happen remotely, which benefits both sides. The initial HR challenges thus evolved into a smoothly functioning model.

Communication and the flow of information

According to a Future Business Institute report, more than half of respondents point to online communication as the most important thing to improve in how companies operate. Organizations for which remote or hybrid work had been a rarity or a handy perk had to roll out new rules for communication and information flow. We know perfectly well how many messages get passed in “hallway” conversations, by the coffee machine, in the kitchen, just in passing. That’s why they had to introduce solutions that let all employees stay up to date and access the information they need. Companies introduced, for example, recurring team or all-hands meetings, or new meeting rules (written meeting recaps, recording meetings, or requiring the same participation rules for remote and in-office attendees).

Given the initial string of problems, with hindsight we have to admit that these critically important HR challenges were overcome. For many, a completely new model, and hybrid work certainly was one, became everyday life. Making the changes was possible thanks to many factors. A lot depended on managers’ leadership skills, but the available technologies were decisive. Today you can not only run training remotely but also hold key meetings, say, ones meant to chart the company’s development paths. All it took was for the HR department to roll out new standards across the organization, like video conferencing.

An additional challenge tied to online communication is the clarity of information. Communication stripped of its nonverbal layer can lead to misunderstandings or distortions. It can also significantly affect relationships between employees, and with that, the organizational culture. Which leads to the next challenge facing HR teams and leaders.

How do you care for organizational culture and relationships at the company?

A shaped, mature organizational culture not only lets you hire the right people but also lets them stay and grow with the company. The existing frameworks and in-house traditions had to change along with the way work was done. Activities tied to the social, team-building side of things had to be redefined.

Challenges for human resource management from the standpoint of organizational culture

According to a Pracuj.pl report, respondents pointed to meetings (67%), team retreats (59%), and joint workshops (48%) as the best tools for tightening relationships. In the current situation, companies had to move all of these into the virtual space. So they began introducing remote team-building, occasional parties, virtual coffees, dedicated meetings or communication channels for people with shared interests, and finally online workshops or training. The question still stands: despite the lack of face-to-face contact, will employees be able to maintain bonds with coworkers and with the company?

Similar solutions proposed by HR turned out, in hindsight, to be good practice. Today remote and hybrid work are no longer a necessity, and team members show up at the workplace at least once in a while. We’ve returned to traditional team retreats and after-work get-togethers. At the same time, the new forms of informal communication survived; the only difference is that today they play a complementary role, but from the standpoint of both employer and employees, they bring a certain added value to the organization.

Benefits and other employee support tools

In recent years, companies have been outdoing each other with ideas for new benefits. When lockdown arrived, it turned out that most of them weren’t suited to remote work, or didn’t matter as much to employees. As a result, HR departments had to propose benefits tailored to current needs.

Among those that gained importance, it’s worth mentioning not only flexible hours, private healthcare, and online workout sessions (yoga, fitness, or pilates), but also mental support for employees. According to a WHO report, every dollar invested in improving mental health returns four dollars in better health and increased productivity. That’s why more and more companies are creating programs that support employees’ mental health and well-being, placing them high on the list of needs.

Many an HR department gained new tools this way, well regarded by employees and sought after on the job market, that can be an asset in recruitment. Whereas earlier the support of these specialists could focus largely on social isolation, today its job is to build a positive employee experience. The WHO report shows it’s a classic win-win. From the standpoint of employers and managers, psychological support raises employee productivity, while employees gain reduced stress and a lower level of uncertainty.

The future of remote and hybrid work after the pandemic

Research shows that 70% to 90% of employees are interested in hybrid or remote work, even after the pandemic ends. That means HR departments have to prepare for long-term, systemic change. Beyond the solutions already developed, they’ll need to implement durable ones that support leaders in their role. After all, working in a hybrid or remote setup raises plenty of questions for them:

• How are they supposed to support their teams?
• How do they look after their productivity?
• How do they nurture their engagement?

The new reality will also require continually improving communication, organizational culture and how it’s cared for, as well as new ways of bringing employees together. HR teams will also have to tackle new problems, such as what to do about workplace injuries, or how to give employees access to the right equipment. These and many other questions still stand before us.

The ease with which most organizations rolled out the necessary solutions during the pandemic gives reason for optimism. The experience gathered in that period will likely pay off down the line. Workplaces will become far friendlier, giving employees a greater level of flexibility, freedom, and with that, the kind of satisfaction that translates into higher motivation.

Global giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter plan to implement long-term remote or hybrid work policies. The trend appears to be global, so there’s a good chance it will become the norm in Poland too. We don’t yet know whether that will happen, but we do know it’s already worth looking for the solutions and tools that make this way of working easier.