Offering Your Employees Remote Working

August 2018

Offering Your Employees Remote Working? Here’s What You Need to Consider First

Remote working is becoming hugely popular, with technology and a new model of living encouraging employees to work from coffee shops, home and even abroad for more freedom and a fulfilling career.

For employers, remote working has its own rewards – as we’ve outlined before on our blog – including a leaner operation, greater scope for attracting talent and lower costs. But before businesses can cash in on these benefits, they need to make sure that they’re totally prepared to introduce remote working, which means being aware of challenges and asking difficult questions.

Don’t fret if that seems overwhelming: Team Lunar are here to help! Below, we’ve detailed a few key areas you’ll need to consider before introducing remote working to the team – and doing the hard work now will make everything much easier moving forward.

 

PAYE Outside the UK

There’s so much variety present in remote working – where employees are working from, how long for etc. – that you need to prepare for the different challenges it can present. One of them, which only really applies when employees are working outside of the UK, is making sure you know tax laws you need to obey in order to stay compliant.

Not all countries have the same arrangements with the UK, and as the employer, ensuring the right PAYE is being paid will be down to you and your accounting department. Luckily, the government has provided a thorough guide to overcoming this hurdle, available online. If you’re still unsure, it pays to talk to a finance professional to stay on the right side of tax law.

 

Getting the Best Tools

Remote working’s mass expansion has been made possible thanks to the rise in Cloud-based technology and the solutions its paved the way for. Obviously, if you’re going to implement remote working, then you need to make the most of these solutions and have them put in place before an employee orders their first latte and settles down to work in their local coffee shop.

You’ll be glad to know that there are plenty of tools available to help remote working take off smoothly (and stay under control), such as Lunar’s bespoke CRM solution, featuring integration with a multitude of third party apps. Well, we couldn’t not mention it, could we?

 

Understanding Expectations

Remote working success is built on a foundation of trust, and a huge part of that trust means meeting expectations – both between you and the employee(s). This means outlining what is expected from different members of the team, including catching up at regular intervals, and explaining the conditions for remote working (for example, if it’s two days in the office, three out).

On your side of the table, your team need to know what to expect from you, for instance, if they need help or want to catch up. Between you, you’ll need to foster the kind of trust which will leave both parties feeling confident, connected and ready to be remote.

 

Communication, Communication, Communication

Whether it’s through email, phone calls, WhatsApp or your bespoke CRM, you’ll need to work out how communication will be carried out, as well as how often. The best teams are the ones who stay connected and on the same page, and it’ll be up to you to work out how best to approach this challenge.

Managing this communication is also part of the package, and ensuring that everybody is adjusting to the new way of communicating will be a task in its own right at the beginning – but once everybody is used to the changes, it’ll come naturally.

 

Ask Yourself ‘Is it Fair?’

Finally – and an important aspect of remote working, but one that is often overlooked – you must ask yourself if the remote working scheme in your business is fair. Are you offering it to everybody, or just a select few? Will you consider requests from some but not others? Is there a way you can make the whole process fairer?

They’re tough questions to ask yourself, and yet they’re key to making sure the whole team is happy with the remote working opportunities on offer. Answer them honestly and act on your decisions to create a remote working opportunity to be jealous of!

What are you waiting for? Get started on your remote working journey with a cloud-based bespoke CRM from Lunar CRM – available with third party integration to enhance your experience (and keep your favourite apps). Find out more on our website or get in touch to arrange a free demo.