Guest Commentator: Tammy Harper, Chief Human Resources Officer, CAI @ComputerAidInc
With the continuation of social distancing, how can businesses codify their temporary remote working environment into a more permanent solution?
The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on daily life, both personally and professionally. As individuals, we have all had to adopt unprecedented measures to help ensure the well-being of our families and communities. For our business, we had to transition to a fully remote workforce quickly and methodically in a matter of days. CAI’s successful transition has proven the flexibility, agility, and endurance of our organization which is driven by our workforce.
As we take a deep dive into our journey of transforming into a remote workforce, we would be negligent not to think about what the future looks like and the benefits of what we have accomplished — ultimately, what advantages there are for establishing this workforce model as the “new normal.”
At CAI, many things come to mind that have positively driven productivity and proven to be the critical success factors; carrying these forward as we move towards new beginnings will be engrained in our cultural footprint:
- Transformation from in-person to virtual: re-engineering in person programs and processes to a fully virtual platform. As a technology company many obstacles were easy to overcome; however, managing a diverse workforce comprised of individuals who flourish in a high touch in-person work environment was a short-term critical focus area for CAI. As an example, CAI’s Autism to Work (A2W) program, which was established to provide meaningful employment for those individuals on the Autism Spectrum, was initially built as a fully supported in-person business model. Our A2W leaders and associates have successfully transitioned to a fully remote model that provides the appropriate oversight and support of our A2W teams virtually and has proven to be highly successful through productivity and personal satisfaction.
- Flexibility and understanding. Having tolerance and understanding is what has allowed our associates to be comfortable in their new workspace and provides for a less stressful work experience. Accepting the occasional dog barking or small child interruptions are a normal course of business today.
- Associate connectivity: ensuring you stay connected and foster an interactive environment. Whether it is a meeting focused on collaboration, innovation, brainstorming, problem-solving, or even a fun virtual event, we ensure that everyone is staying connected and interactive.
- Stay the course: staying focused on and intentional about ensuring the continuation of strategic and critical business activities, but being thoughtful about the approach.
Supporting and maintaining a remote work environment is an opportunity for continued growth and success. Our ability to attract talent has increased significantly, as a much larger pool of candidates and expertise across the nation become available. As we move forward, CAI is dedicated to continuing the practice of active listening to both our clients and associates, continuous evaluation of our processes and procedures for improvement, and leveraging technology where feasible. At CAI, we are looking forward to the next chapter in this book.
The Chamber’s Talent Action Team, a cross-disciplinary group of 120+ leaders focused on creating clear pathways for the alignment between individuals and employers, supports human resources professionals’ needs to enhance connectivity to and engage early- and mid-career employees.
