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How can you ensure the well-being of your teleworking employees?

How can you ensure the well-being of your teleworking employees?

By Axelle Drack

Published: 27 October 2024

Teleworking and well-being are intimately linked, and depend on each other.

Initially, teleworking is a source of well-being and quality of life at work for employees. It responds to the aspirations of individuals, enabling them to better reconcile their professional and personal lives, and giving them greater freedom and autonomy.

In the wake of the Covid pandemic , the use of teleworking has accelerated and has become an essential part of corporate culture. In fact, more than 95% of them have done so where their activities allow.

However, teleworking conditions in this very specific context tend to undermine well-being and attenuate the initial positive effects, in particular with confinement and curfew measures, reduced social interaction and freedom to roam.

Now, , according to the Labour Code, "the employer shall take the necessary measures to ensure the safety and protect the physical and mental health of workers", regardless of whether they are in the office or teleworking.

So, in addition to the beneficial effects that employee well-being has on overall performance, it is also an obligation for the company.

As a company, how can you ensure the well-being of your teleworking employees? All our advice and best practice in this article.

Maintaining well-being while teleworking: a challenge for the company

1. Tailoring teleworking to the individual

Teleworking removes the office from the workplace, usually at the employee's home.

While all employees enjoy similar working conditions on the company's premises, this equality does not exist when everyone works from home:

  • some will have a bright room dedicated to the office, while others will work on the coffee table in the living room or on their sofa ;
  • some will have absolute peace and quiet, while others will be disturbed by noisy neighbours, flatmates, family members or their pets; and so on.

Each environment is unique, and it's best to discuss each individual's situation and daily routine with them, in order to propose the most appropriate solutions, and thus achieve a degree of fairness or at least guarantee optimal working conditions.

⭐️ Best practice:

  • Carry out a test period and gather feedback to adjust if necessary;
  • create the ideal teleworking arrangement with the employee, depending on his or her situation;
  • offer flexible working hours;
  • collect training and equipment requirements;
  • carry out a psychosocial risk assessment.

2. Organise virtual get-togethers

While some people are more exposed or sensitive to this than others, the feeling of isolation can have a real impact on the well-being of teleworkers.

It's true that when you telework, you lose a good deal of interaction with your superiors and colleagues, and videoconference meetings are not really social occasions.

Even if everyone's needs are different, planning these moments and leaving everyone free to participate is a good compromise.

⭐️ Best practice:

  • equip your company with videoconferencing software;
  • plan team lunches by videoconference;
  • 5-minute "virtual coffee" sessions to recreate the coffee machine or afterwork atmosphere;
  • Be particularly vigilant about people who are isolated or live alone.
  • Adapting management to teleworking

Has the idea ever crossed your mind to increase surveillance of your employees during working hours?

Although this practice is legal (as long as the people concerned are warned and privacy is respected), it is neither ethical nor effective.

Since the pandemic, intentions to purchase remote surveillance software for employees have increased 530-fold in 6 weeks.

Aberdeen Intent Score, 2020 by ISG research

This type of intention runs counter to the philosophy of teleworking, which aims to promote a culture of results rather than one of presenteeism.

It therefore seems essential, for the well-being of both the employee and the company, to rethink management so that it is better adapted to teleworking.

⭐️ Best practices to adopt:

  • Provide appropriate training for managers;
  • make trust the cornerstone of the relationship;
  • Keep in touch regularly and individually;
  • set objectives collaboratively with each employee;
  • provide training for employees who need to acquire the skills they need to carry out their tasks remotely;
  • ensuring that the right tools are provided and that they are properly adopted digitally.

3. Helping to achieve a work/life balance

Originally, teleworking was a means of enabling employees to better manage the balance between their personal and professional lives, thanks in particular to :

  • time saved from commuting ;
  • petrol savings for those with a car;
  • the possibility of being present at home (to open the door for the delivery person, to hang up the washing machine, etc.);
  • the ability to adjust working hours to suit personal needs, etc.

But the downside is that it's harder to get through the working day when the two environments merge, especially if you don't have a dedicated room at home.

⭐️ Best practice:

  • raise awareness of the right to disconnect;
  • managers can draw up a schedule for the coming week with each individual if they are finding it difficult to get organised and switch off;
  • invite employees to put away their work equipment when their day is done, especially if they don't have a dedicated room at home;
  • set an example by disconnecting at a reasonable time, not phoning or sending emails or chat messages outside the set time slots;
  • cut off access to the network outside working hours.

4. Ensure an ergonomic work environment

While it is a legal requirement to provide your workforce with an ergonomic workstation in the workplace, it is much more difficult to control this component when teleworking.

Also, all employees have a limited budget to build a comfortable workspace, and some may be at a disadvantage compared to others.

Here are the basics of the most comfortable posture for screen work:

To find out more about the main principles of workplace ergonomics, please refer to our article on the subject.

⭐️ Best practice:

  • Lend equipment or make a financial contribution towards the cost of fitting out the workspace at home (desk, ergonomic chair, extra screen, etc.);
  • provide regular information on how to set up your workstation properly;
  • encourage short, regular breaks (stretching, walking, fresh air, etc.) to promote physical and mental well-being.

Towards greater well-being with teleworking after Covid?

We are living in a time of health crisis, when teleworking is essential to ensure the safety of workers where the activity allows.

In this particular context, teleworking is experienced differently from a normal situation because :

  • it is imposed by the company and not at the employee's request ;
  • and it can be total, with no face-to-face days in the week.

It is also complicated to take advantage of the benefits of teleworking, such as the freedom to work from wherever you want, to organise your day according to your personal needs, or to work from a location other than where you live.

What's more, limited social interaction makes teleworking more difficult when you don't see your colleagues during the day and you can't see your family or friends in the evening.

The company therefore has an important role to play in the well-being at work of its teleworkers, by putting in place the good practices we have revealed to you.

The balance of well-being is particularly fragile at the moment, but there is no doubt that once normal working conditions have been restored, teleworking will be a lasting solution for improving employee well-being.

Article translated from French