{"id":4355,"date":"2021-04-15T20:33:40","date_gmt":"2021-04-15T20:33:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/?p=4355"},"modified":"2022-08-23T17:55:08","modified_gmt":"2022-08-23T17:55:08","slug":"leading-and-developing-your-remote-workforce","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peeriosity.com\/shared-services\/articles\/2021\/04\/leading-and-developing-your-remote-workforce\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading and Developing Your Remote Workforce"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

With COVID-19 creating a new priority for companies to create work-from-home delivery for as many Shared Services processes and activities as possible, new challenges are created for leading and developing your remote workforce.\u00a0 For many, the move from an in-office workforce to a workforce that was working from home took place almost immediately.\u00a0 With a business-first focus on \u201cgetting the work done\u201d, what steps have companies taken to adjust processes for managing their team, and completing the annual review and development planning processes that are so important to employee morale and retention?<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Remarkably, during the COVID pandemic, employees at Peeriosity member companies are positive regarding their manager\u2019s ability to evaluate their performance and support their development, even though their work shifted to being remote.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Company Experience<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Recently a Peeriosity member company with global operations and over $10B in annual revenue discussed their experiences in leading and developing their remote workforce, where their primary Shared Services center for North America of roughly 500 people is located \u201cnear-shore\u201d in Central America.\u00a0 In early 2020, the team successfully transitioned to a work-from-home model over a two-week period at this location, in part because they were already staffed with a supervisor of Leading & Development, with specialized skills in assisting Shared Services center leaders<\/a> and in the many important issues related to employee development.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For the featured company, regarding the topic of leading (instead of the more traditional term of \u201cmanaging\u201d), it was important that the new processes to lead remotely included clear objectives with defined expectations and productivity goals, and with communications that were authentic, transparent, and continuous. Leaders also needed to act quickly to respond to employee needs as they occurred.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Regarding the topic of development, it was important that new processes for development be collaborative, complete with interactive meetings, including the ability to adapt to remote learning by rethinking development workshop activities, and the process for creating meaningful development plans.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

For details, Peeriosity members are encouraged to sign into the members\u2019 area to view the complete presentation and listen to the recorded Peercast.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

iPollingTM<\/sup> Results Review<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The results from a recent Peeriosity poll created using the iPollingTM<\/sup> technology looks at, from the employee perspective, how effectively their manager has been able to understand and evaluate performance and how they have been able to continue to develop professionally as remote workers. These results were delivered and tabulated using a \u201cmasked view\u201d so that respondents could answer openly without others (including their managers) seeing how they responded.\u00a0 While no employees reported that their managers had greater insight into their progress and performance than before, 96% indicated that their manager maintained his\/her ability to understand and evaluate their performance.\u00a0 Only 4% indicated that the manager’s ability to understand and evaluate was \u201cnot as good\u201d with no one indicating there was a significant or noticeable decline.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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The second poll question asked the employee to make a self-assessment regarding their personal development as a result of working remotely during COVID-19.\u00a0 Interestingly 30% indicated that they actually had more time and\/or opportunity to develop, and an additional 52% indicated that there had not been any noticeable difference in either the time or the opportunity to develop. For those reporting a less positive result, 11% reported a decline in time and\/or opportunity for development, and 7% reported that the decline was significant.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

\"personal<\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

A few of the comments from members include:<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n