Why Managers & Employees Clash Over Remote Work

The shift to remote work has brought about many changes for both employees and managers. While remote work can offer flexibility and the ability to work from anywhere, it also introduces new challenges and opportunities for disagreement between managers and employees. Here are some common areas of disagreement and ways to address them.

Remote work, hybrid work, distributed work, flexitime… Work flexibility takes many forms. But employee centricity is essential to sustain a successful business. Consequently, an important shift such as changing the entire way your workforce works requires considering both points of view: the employer and the employee. Is your staff ready to do all their meetings online? How are you going to maintain a corporate culture? The working model must reflect the business’s needs and fulfill your team members’ expectations. Getting their feedback and discussing the best strategy to put in place is fundamental. Is switching to a remote work schedule the right move? What are the advantages and disadvantages of remote working? This article details the pros and cons of remote work for employees and employers. Hopefully, this will give you a better idea about if prioritizing a “work from anywhere” policy is the right approach for your flexible company.

Communication and collaboration

One of the main challenges of remote work is maintaining clear and effective communication and collaboration. Without the ability to meet in person or have impromptu conversations, it can be more difficult for employees to stay up-to-date on projects and for managers to ensure that work is being completed effectively.

To address this issue, it is important for both managers and employees to establish clear communication channels and protocols. This may include setting regular check-ins via video call, using project management tools to track progress, and setting up virtual meeting spaces for team collaboration. It is also important for both parties to be proactive in communicating any issues or concerns they have, and to make an effort to be responsive to communication from the other party.

Work-life balance

Remote work can blur the lines between personal and professional time, which can lead to disagreements over boundaries and expectations. Some employees may feel that they are expected to be available at all times, while others may feel that their manager is not respecting their personal time.

To address this issue, it is important for both managers and employees to establish clear boundaries and expectations around work hours and availability. This may include setting specific times for meetings and check-ins, and allowing for flexible scheduling within certain limits. It is also important for both parties to be mindful of the other’s needs and to communicate openly about any conflicts that arise.

Performance evaluation

Evaluating the performance of remote employees can be more difficult than evaluating in-office employees, as managers may not have as much visibility into the day-to-day work of their team. This can lead to disagreements over how work is being measured and how to fairly evaluate the performance of remote employees.

To address this issue, it is important for both managers and employees to establish clear goals and expectations, and to regularly communicate about progress towards those goals. It may also be helpful to use a variety of methods for evaluating performance, such as self-assessments, peer feedback, and objective measures of output. By using a diverse range of evaluation methods, managers can get a more complete picture of an employee’s performance and avoid any potential disagreements.

Productivity is not the only place where managers and employees disagree. They also have very different ideas about the disciplinary consequences of not coming into the office. We asked both managers and employees what happens to workers who stay home on “work days.” Employees were far more likely than managers to answer “nothing,” while managers were more likely to say that the worker was risking termination.

These differences in opinion reflect the need for more clear-cut policies on working from home. The best available approach for most companies is organized hybrid. Employers should choose two or three “anchor” days a week that all employees come into the office — typically between Tuesday and Thursday because Monday and Friday are the most popular work-from-home days. These in-office days should include the bulk of meetings, group activities, trainings, and lunches so that employees see the value of coming together. And attendance should be enforced the same way it was pre-pandemic: Not coming to work on anchor days is not acceptable, except in the case of emergencies, like a sick child or a burst water pipe. Finally, managers should actively encourage working from home on non-anchor days, so employees can enjoy the benefits without fear that they’re missing out on something at the office. 

Conclusion

Remote work can bring about many challenges and opportunities for disagreement between managers and employees. By establishing clear communication channels and protocols, setting boundaries and expectations around work-life balance, and using diverse evaluation methods, both parties can work together effectively to overcome these challenges and ensure the success of their remote work arrangement.

It’s natural that a massive shock to working conditions like working from home would cause disagreements between employees and managers, but we’ve had more than two years to navigate this change and the outlines of the new era are coming into focus. The best evidence we have suggests that organized hybrid raises employee and firm productivity. Managers and employees need to get on the same page.

Given our current situation knowing that your colleagues or employees are best suited for this new scenario we find ourselves in. Finding the right talent, the best fit for the job and your organisation can be a very challenging task. It is now important to find out whether your managers or your team is well-equipped of working together from various locations. It requires deep knowledge of their personalities, strengths, weaknesses, interests, work style and other characteristics. Our technology and solutions will do the work for you, helping you discover if your people are resilient during times of hardship, if they are autonomous, if they are team players, without actual human contact. Given that our platform is cloud-based, everyone can use it from home as well. Humanity finds itself at a crossroad for various reasons now, why not help people discover and develop themselves from the comfort of their own homes?      

Request a free demo: 

Sources:

https://headtopics.com/us/research-where-managers-and-employees-disagree-about-remote-work-33689105
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/01/remote-work-culture/
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20210908-what-bosses-really-think-about-remote-work