Motivating Employees Who Work from Home
Working from home. It sounds amazing. But is it? CNBC/Change Research reports that 42% of their survey respondents are working from home, versus 9% who said they solely worked from home prior to the Covid-19 pandemic (1). Of these, 19% are working from home for the first time. Positives? One is saved commute time. Another is productivity, with 60% saying they are more productive or as productive as in the office.
Motivation is a central issue, though, because unusual stressors are evident that are unique to the pandemic. In a recent Harvard Business Review article, researchers found that the biggest single negative effect on motivation is not having a choice in where you work (2). The pandemic also brings together 3 of the biggest negative effects on motivation: emotional pressure, economic pressure, and inertia.
On the upside, the authors stated that there are 3 big motivators that managers can take advantage of: play, purpose and potential. The quarantine often makes researchers stick with the mundane, regular duties of jobs. This means employees are suffering from those 3 major demotivators and not benefiting from the 3 major motivators. They suggest giving workers more latitude to be creative - revamping how work is done or address problems that otherwise haven't been tackled.
The University of Pittsburg is one example of an organization offering suggestions to staff in being productive during COVID (3). They suggest 'spring cleaning', focusing on long-term planning and organizing, as well as reflecting with team members on the projects they are working on. The site references tools available through the university (e.g., Qualtrics) that workers may not remember are there.
The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) proposed a different perspective to make sure workers are in frequent communication and not disrupting work-family balance (4). Workers may not have child care or other normal assistance at home. Clear goals, recognition and collaboration can all keep employees connected and feeling supported. On the people side, a SHRM article also proposed virtual happy hours for that moral support and backing off from micromanaging (5).
CNBC provided an applicable quarantine term: "productivity shaming" (6). We often have a distorted view of others in what looks like their perfect adaptation to home work and balance. Routines are important, but the simple suggestion to 'set a routine' or 'limit' certain behaviors is unrealistic to take effect right away.
Topics
Performance, Goal setting, Equity
Student Discussion/Assignment
Adaptive performance. Creativity at work and looking at problems from different perspectives.
Routine task performance. Maintaining 'sameness' and addressing necessary tasks to fulfill responsibilities.
Goal setting. Setting daily/weekly goals that keep a person on task.
Equity. perceived fairness in what other people are dealing with at home versus what you are facing (lack of child care, for example).
References
Burke, J. (April 24, 2020). As working from home becomes more widespread, many say they don't want to go back. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/24/as-working-from-home-becomes-more-widespread-many-say-they-dont-want-to-go-back.html
McGregor, L., & Doshi, N. (April 9, 2020). How to keep your team motivated, remotely. Harvard Business Review. Accessed July 30, 2021 at: https://hbr.org/2020/04/how-to-keep-your-team-motivated-remotely (note: HBR is making its coronavirus publications free for anyone to view)
University of Pittsburg Human Resources. COVID-19 Pandemic: Supervisor Tips & Tools for Motivating Remote Staff to Stay Engaged and Productive. Accessed Oct. 21, 2021 from: https://www.hr.pitt.edu/news/covid-19-pandemic-supervisor-tips-tools-motivating-remote-staff-stay-engaged-and-productive
O'Connell, B. (March 31, 2020). Don’t Micromanage During the Coronavirus. Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/people-managers/Pages/coronavirus-micromanaging.aspx
Mauer, R. (April 6, 2020). Virtual Happy Hours Help Co-Workers, Industry Peers Stay. Society for Human Resource Management. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-news/pages/virtual-happy-hours-help-coworkers-stay-connected.aspx
Locke, T. (May 23, 2020). How to deal with productivity-related anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/23/how-to-deal-with-productivity-related-anxiety-during-covid-19.html