After a mental health charity has warned that UK businesses could lose money and employees if they continue to ignore remote workers[1], IQ:timecard has encouraged businesses to adapt to their workers’ flexible working patterns.
“Remote and flexible working is steadily becoming the norm, but if managers think the only team that matters are the nine-to-five workers in the office, they are failing,” said David Lynes, Director of UniqueIQ, the parent company of IQ:timecard. “Remote working can be isolating and if managers don’t make the effort, they can push out flexible workers and make them feel as if they’re not part of the team.”
With figures for stress, anxiety and depression accounting for 11% of all sick days taken in the UK, senior staff need to ensure they’re fostering a company culture that emphasises support. One way they can do this is by frequently checking in with remote workers, making sure that their workload is manageable, and integrating them with office staff. IQ:timecard, for example, lets managers assign and check in on work, has protections in place for lone workers in the field, and is a user-friendly way to schedule communication between managers, office employees, and remote workers.
Checking in with those who work out of the office means that they are likely to feel more included as part of the company, and more able to come to their managers with issues that need addressing instead of keeping them bottled up.
“It can be easy to lose sight of workers if you don’t physically see them every day,” added David Lynes. “Managers need to work out ways to communicate with remote workers before problems arise.”
The post Ignoring remote workers could spell danger for businesses appeared first on HR News.