Does your business include wellbeing for remote staff in your risk assessments?
If the answer is no, you’re in the right place to find out why more and more businesses are getting proactive around wellbeing for remote staff.
Remote working can mean a number of things, like being an ‘on the road’ salesperson, or a secondee to a branch in another part of the country or another part of the world. People have worked remotely for decades before a global pandemic enforced physical closure on a high % of businesses.
But working remotely has naturally become most closely associated with working from home (WFH as we’ve come to know it) since March 2020.
As a Manager, it’s more difficult to identify any issues with team members who aren’t in your sightlines. And, if you can’t spot problems, you can’t help to start resolving them.
This brings into perspective just how important it is to establish clear and regular lines of communication to help ensure wellbeing for remote staff isn’t overlooked.
Gone are the days when these are taboo subjects. Any reputable nosiness will now how clear policies in place for their staff’s mental health.
Warning signs to look out for amongst your team members who work remotely are:-
- Absenteeism, presenteeism and leavism – Taking too much time off sick regularly, spending too much time working and/or working through holidays.
- Lack of boundaries – Difficulty separating work life from home life in the absence of having to physically leave a workplace at the end of the day, potentially resulting in overworking and burnout.
- Unsuitable home environment – Adversely impacted performance due to lack of a suitable physical space to work from at home or ill-suited domestic arrangements.
- Withdrawal and disengagement – Becoming difficult to get hold of, shutting down and distancing themselves from you and other team members.
At Sales Training International, our Wellbeing, Mindfulness, Stress Management, Resilience and Mental Toughness have been some of our most popular courses in the past 2 years.
By having the right training and policies in place you’ll be better equipped to define and enhance wellbeing for remote staff so that every team member can thrive in the workplace and away from it.
