Communications of the ACM
Hr and Virtual Employees
Credit: WebNetSolutions
Within the structure of the modern organization, HR does not always understand the role of virtual employees who work off-site. Given the rapid pace of technological change in the industry, there are some serious issues that HR needs to address. In many ways, HR departments are basing their outlook on the days when "remote employees" were one or two road warriors and most people were still working at headquarters. There are ways HR can re-think its role to adapt to the rapidly growing virtual workforce.
The new reality of remote workers surprised many companies, and they're scrambling to make sense of what's happened. It's impossible not to acknowledge that while IT was busy building tools to cut costs and minimize travel, the discussions frequently didn't include HR beyond how much they could cut costs and head count. This has led to some areas that different, and sometimes competing, business units within organizations need to work together to address.
Virtual workers need to work with HR to create policies and systems that actually let them get their work done while addressing the needs of the organization. That being said, HR still faces a number of challenges, most importantly: How do companies measure effectiveness if you can't poke your head over the cubicle and see people working? HR also needs to consider their expectations that managers and project teams need to communicate, as well as their expectations for running (and attending) virtual meetings. Managers still need to see each other in person and find ways to collaborate, but they also need to adapt to the needs of their virtual workers.
From Management Issues
View Full Article
No entries found