For many industries, working remotely became the new norm in 2020. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, thousands of offices were forced to close temporarily. As a result of social distancing to slow the spread of the disease, millions of employees began working from home. Businesses had to embrace a remote work culture overnight. Those that were unprepared faced greater challenges than those that were. Impacts of the shutdown most likely will be felt for a significant amount of time going forward.

As an HR professional, here are a few ways to prepare for the potential long-term effects of coronavirus.

Establish a Remote Work Strategy

Create a strategy for employees to work from home. This includes technology that makes streamlines communication, collaboration, and transparency. Using a mix of technology lets you hold individual and team meetings, keep everyone updated on information and developments, and provide ongoing support. Slack is great for team collaboration and instant messaging. Zoom is a top choice for video conference calls. Google Suite is effective for email, document collaboration, file storage, and a shared calendar. Mural can be used for team brainstorming workflow collaboration. Trello is good for project planning.

Implement Metrics for Productivity

Determine which areas of team performance to track and measure. The top sales performance metrics are call volume, sales per rep, revenue per sales rep, lead to win conversion rate, and average selling price. For marketing, the leading performance metrics include website sessions, new marketing qualified leads, lead conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and return on marketing investment. The most important support performance metrics are call volume, average speed to answer, first response time, customer issues, and customer service satisfaction. For HR, the top performance metrics include profit per employee, revenue per employee, expenses per employee, payroll to revenue ratio, and employee turnover.  

Reevaluate the Need for Office Space

Discuss with key stakeholders, whether there is a need for office space. If your employees began working from home during the pandemic, they should be equipped to continue doing so. Most people are happier working remotely. They save time and money by not commuting and accomplish more without interruptions. Not paying for office space means a significant cost reduction for your company. Recruiting for remote positions broadens your talent pools. Promoting trust, control, flexibility, and autonomy through remote work arrangements improves work performance.

Address Your Company’s Hiring Needs

The effects of the coronavirus will have a long-term impact on your company. If employees are working from home, make sure they have the technology, communication, and support required to be successful. Have a process to track and measure your most important key performance indicators. Determine whether there is a need to maintain office space.  

For help addressing the long-term effects COVID-19 may have on your business, get in touch with Arlington Resources. Our staffing consultants provide innovative solutions to help achieve talent management goals and objectives. Find out more today.