Switching to a remote work model provides numerous benefits to employees and businesses. It brings comfort to the work and cuts various company costs.
While there are many advantages, it also poses several challenges that can impact the process outputs.
For instance, employees might feel cut off from the managers, so they can be unproductive and disengaged. Therefore, it directly affects the results and employee retention.
Overall, a lack of communication can cost much to an organization. Therefore, managers need to know how to support remote team members and maintain their productivity levels effectively.
Fortunately, helpful technology solutions are at our disposal. A specialized HR software assists companies in remote team management and helps them overcome location barriers.
Read on to find out all the possibilities of HR software and how it optimizes remote work processes.
The modern tech-savvy generation solutionizes almost every concern with tech assistance and tries to get excellent results every time. An applicant tracking system and other types of recruitment tools designed for HR managers eliminate various problems and streamline different functions. It brings time and cost savings to a business.
The software works on the cloud, so any concern related to data loss is solved easily. In addition, it can be accessed from any location; therefore, it suits best for remote work.
The best HR software assists HR professionals in almost every process and helps to achieve great results. Therefore, its importance and implementation are growing day by day.
Managing a remote workforce with the help of HR software is much easier as all the processes can be monitored in one place. Attendance and leave management are crucial for a manager (especially in a WFH – ‘work from home’ setup), and the automated systems remedy it. Performance management makes it easy for managers to set benchmarks and evaluate performances. Additionally, salaries can be generated so managers can allocate their time to other essential work.
HR management systems (HRMS) help managers handle remote staff in various ways. Let’s see how.
When shifting to a WFH setup, an HR manager’s biggest concern is remote team management. Crucial tasks such as recruitment, onboarding, training, attendance, paystub generating, and social events must be handled, and HR software helps to perform all these functions effectively.
HRMS enables an easy transition from manual to automated processes, thus increasing flexibility. In addition, it provides access to the system from any location and device, so managers do not have to rely on specified conditions. By introducing an international payroll provider, HR software also helps automate important HR processes and manage multi-country payroll with ease.
What’s more, the system also allows employees to access the data from their devices to know their attendance and edit their personal data. They can also get the necessary files, so data management gets easy.
As previously mentioned, the hiring software enables essential documents for employees, so they do not have to seek managers’ permission. They can also see attendance data and get approvals for leaves easily. They do not have to ask the manager for their leave balance and approval.
The predetermined performance benchmarks and company goals can be viewed from the system. Therefore, the staff can easily track their achievements and progress, and managers can give appraisals.
Some system providers also include communication functionalities so the team members stay in touch with each other. The employees might feel isolated in remote work, so they can easily ping colleagues or get help from them.
Numerous businesses do not agree with the WFH setup due to workers’ performance-related concerns. They think working from home can cause various distractions and decrease staff productivity. And nobody can ensure that they are working as they are supposed to. But, the concern can be solutionized to some extent with HRMS.
Employee performance and achievements can be easily tracked with a digital system, and their strengths and weaknesses can be identified, too. The software also handles rewards and recognition programs so that the manager can encourage the staff.
With an automated system, you can rest assured that your employees are working professionally from home as they were used before.
Attendance is probably the most common concern of any HR manager in remote work. They are worried that the employees are not maintaining their schedules and work hours. Therefore, the attendance management module helps you ensure data accuracy.
Employees can easily mark their attendance punch in the system and know their planned schedules. So they do not have to remember every detail when working rotational shifts. The attendance data gets synced quickly, and managers can view it anytime. Therefore, the concern of time theft gets eliminated, and the business receives accurate data on staff’s work hours.
In addition, the software assists companies by calculating the total attendance of the employees during a period, including an overtime calculator, so it gets easy to generate salaries according to the data.
An effective HR payroll strategy, supported by the right software tools, can ensure accurate and timely compensation for remote employees, boosting their morale and trust in the organization.
Sometimes, HR executives start micro-managing things. It can cause low employee morale and high turnover. Therefore, timely feedback from the employees is necessary, and the HR software makes it possible even in remote work.
With feedback software, you can easily create online surveys, and the workers can answer them from home. Through this, you can gauge their satisfaction levels and get feedback. In addition, team members can define the traits of their managers and the problems they face while operating remotely. So, it outlines the areas you need to work on and improve.
Additionally, you can take suggestions from the workforce to establish a positive company culture.
As we all know, remote work disrupts communication and engagement levels. A manager’s biggest challenge is keeping the workforce connected during WFH times. The location difference makes it difficult for the staff to catch up with colleagues.
Communication barriers might affect engagement levels and, thus, result in high employee turnover. HRMS ensures that you stay on top of your employee engagement activities and provides insights. Virtual events can also be managed with digital systems, so the managers just have to focus on employees rather than arranging other things.
HRMS allows sending rewards to the employees for their achievements so that the encouragement activities can be done quickly. In addition, peer recognition helps the staff get honest feedback and suggestions for better work.
Maintaining a positive company culture is a mandatory function of an HR manager, and it seems challenging in remote work. But the HR software helps to enable the same office culture in the virtual space.
Events can be planned and scheduled with HRMS so that the managers can free themselves from administrative tasks. Reminders are sent to the staff to attend such events, ensuring a great employee experience.
In addition, HRMS streamlines the process of implementing policies and meeting staff’s expectations.
This way, HR software proves to be an excellent assistant for human resources managers, making remote work effortless.
As the trend of companies going remote continues, the acceptance of digital systems increases; SaaS tools help to manage remote teams effectively, so the managers do not have to spend most of their time doing administrative tasks. Instead, they can focus on employee engagement and productivity, delegating their other concerns to the HRMS.