Creating an effective and sustainable remote workforce discusses 4 practical steps organizations can take to create a successful remote workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic: 1) Consider company culture by focusing on trust, accountability and communication. 2) Identify realistic roles that can work remotely with creative thinking. 3) Pick the right remote worker candidates based on characteristics like discipline and humility. 4) Tap new technologies like videoconferencing apps and cloud services that have seen increased demand. By following these steps, the pandemic may foster positive long-term changes by allowing more workers to work remotely.

1. Creating an effective and
sustainable remote workforce
The need for a sophisticated remote workforce strategy has never been greater.
As organizations plan new ways of doing business because of the COVID-19
pandemic, they need consider creative approaches to maintain critical systems
and operations with little to no physical presence of their workforce.
D O W N L O A D N O W
The facts:
of U.S. jobs could plausibly
be performed at home 1
3x increase in remote work
over the past 15 years 2
of CFOs expect some of their
employees to continue
working remotely after the
pandemic ends 3
Almost 80% of the global
workforce was already
operating in a “deskless”
capacity 4
However, this distributed workforce still needs access to tools and training
to maintain productivity. And while it is common to quickly look to
technology for answers, other factors need to be considered.
Here are 4 practical steps to create a successful remote workforce.
Step 1: Consider your culture
34% 74% 80%3x
A successful remote work culture requires a foundation of
trust, accountability and open communications.
of employees say
culture is important
to them 5
74%
The most important attributes of a strong culture include 6:
39% 23% 9%
Respect and
fairness
Trust and
integrity
Teamwork
You've invested all of this time in vetting them… Why would you
now say I don't trust you, because I'm not staring at you?
Ryan Malone
Founder & CEO, Smartbug Media
Step 2: Identify realistic roles
Some roles that seem unlikely at first glance become
reasonable options after some creative thinking.
Demand for telehealth will soar by
64.3% in the US in 2020 7
64%
80%
year-on-year rise in online sales for
traditional chain stores in US and Canada 8
There are both right and wrong ways to implement remote work.
If you’re holding back because you’re only looking at the wrong
examples, you are going to miss out on many rewards.”
Laurel Farrer
President of the Remote Work Association and CEO of Distribute Consulting
Step 3: Pick the right people
A recent Infor report identifies five characteristics to
consider when evaluating a remote worker candidate:
Discipline
increase in work production with the
right person 9
300%
61%
of executives say employees are terminated
because they lack the behavioral fit or
cognitive ability needed for the job 10
Humility
Emotional
consistency
Pace
Need for
recognition
Step 4: Tap new technology
Videoconferencing apps saw a record 62M
downloads during one week in March 2020 11
$62 million
775%
Microsoft officials say the company has seen a 775%
increase in demand for its cloud services in regions
enforcing social distancing and/or shelter-in place 12
We prioritized a cloud-based, global platform to transform how
we deliver HR across the enterprise and to ultimately enhance
the experience for our employees.”
Walt Malone
Koch Industries, Vice President of Human Resources.
The new Normal
Every crisis presents opportunities for innovation
and evolution. By considering your culture,
identifying realistic roles, picking the right people,
and tapping new technologies, organizations may
discover that the coronavirus pandemic and
resulting remote work revolution fostered a
positive change for workers everywhere.
To learn more about this topic and gain some
practical information about steps your
organization can take to create a remote
workforce, check out this eBook.
1
Study conducted by the University of Chicago, March 30, 2020
2 Article in The Atlantic, March 13, 2020
3 Gartner study, April 2, 2020
4 Forbes Article, The Billion-Dollar Ideas That Could Transform the Deskless Workforce June 17, 2019
5 Speakap Research Study, The Culture Factor: Improving Employee Loyalty and Relationships, April 2019
6 Speakap Research Study, The Culture Factor: Improving Employee Loyalty and Relationships, April 2019
7 Frost and Sullivan report, Telehealth to Experience Massive Growth with COVID-19 Pandemic, Says Frost & Sullivan, May 2020
8 Bluecore report, COVID-19 Retail Trends in An All-DTC World, April 2020
9
Lighthouse Consulting Services, Time to Develop a Remote Workforce Strategy, March 11, 2020
10
Predictive Index report, The State of Talent Optimization, January 2020
11
AppAnnie Report, Video Conferencing Apps Surge from Coronavirus Impact, March 2020
12 Microsoft Article, Update #2 on Microsoft cloud services continuity, March 2020
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