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With the expansion of remote working, many businesses have had to review their personnel management policies to adapt to this new reality. For its part, the legislator has included in the Labor Code an annual interview dedicated to teleworking. It aims to assess the situation and all the issues specific to remote work, and to change things if it no longer suits the employee as it stands. For HR, how should this specific interview be organized?
Why should remote working be evaluated regularly?
According to a study by the Institut Montaigne, 33% of French employees now work from home at least 1 day a week. In 2017, they were only 3%. This is to say if the health crisis was the trigger for the great democratization of remote work. But in order to continue, it must be evaluated regularly.
This is how Teleworking maintenance is now essential once a year for all employees who practice this mode full-time or not. Knowing that distance can lead to other types of difficulties than working on site — isolation, poor installation, managerial problems... - his analysis is essential to adjust the system and ensure the quality of life at work.
For the alignment of the employee with the company
For the company, the primary objective of this regular evaluation is to ensure that remote collaborators remain aligned with the strategy. The decorrelation between this and the daily life of remote work is often singled out in the disadvantages of teleworking.
At the same time, employees may suffer from a certain isolation and, to reverse the trend, seek to feel connected to the company. This can precisely be achieved through regular feedback, in other words this interview, which is an opportunity to carry out an assessment and to place the first stones of the year that is beginning.
To assess collaboration
The annual remote work interview also has the mutual benefit of discussing communication and collaboration with managers and teams. Some problems may indeed occur and be linked to a poor synchronization of exchanges or misunderstandings that would not appear face to face.
The important thing is then to talk about it in order to find solutions that can satisfy everyone.
To find answers to daily challenges
The problems are also often linked to the remote work situation. Some employees like this mode, but may have requests on specific topics. They may be about time management, work-life balance, mental health, or overall well-being. The first step in talking about it can paving the way for solutions to overcome them.
On the contrary, other people are more perplexed about remote work, even after having tested it over the long term. The telework interview can then be an opportunity to put an end to it., or to pause it before coming back to it later.
Consider training courses dedicated to teleworking
Finally, the regular evaluation of remote work is an opportunity - even if it is not the only one -, to discuss opportunities for skills development in connection with teleworking. For example, this includes:
• Virtual communication on a technical but also behavioral level
• Time management
• Autonomy, etc.
How to organize remote work interviews?
Evaluate performance
The first thing to consider during the annual interview is the performance evaluation. For the good of employees, it is necessary to appreciate their achievements, while considering the difficulties they may have encountered during their transition to remote working.
Improving communication
With remote working, communication is very different compared to on-site communication. During this interview, HR must therefore discuss communication expectations, but also the tools used. In addition, there are pragmatic aspects about the availability of remote workers for video conferences, phone calls and emails, not to mention all the other applications.
Assessing well-being and mental health in the face of teleworking
The mental health and safety of remote workers are also key topics to explore during the interview. Difficulties may occur at this time. In particular, HR must ensure that these employees have access to concrete resources to help them manage stress and maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Define future goals
Discussing remote work goals for the coming year is the final point to discuss. For example, this may include elements related to productivity, collaboration, and skills development.
While teleworking is now widely practiced for the professions that are eligible for it, it must be considered as a fully-fledged way of working, with its own rules and borders. This is the purpose of the telework interview, which must review and define expectations on both sides as closely as possible to ensure its long-term success.
Do you need a framework to organize your telework interviews? Download our template!
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