March 23, 2020
March 23, 2020
Contributor: Jackie Wiles
Organizations in Asia, after months of managing the impact of coronavirus, offer lessons on remote work success and keeping employees engaged.
Organizations around the world find themselves in different phases of managing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the challenges vary by location, industry and business maturity, identifying and implementing the right employee policies and smart approaches to remote work emerge as the most difficult — and the most important.
Employers in Asia have been tackling these issues for months. In the process, they’ve narrowed down critical success factors for remote work.
“It’s important that organizations in other parts of the world look to their peers in Asia,” says Brian Kropp, Distinguished Vice President, Gartner. “While companies in Asia have not yet come out on the other side of this COVID-19 crisis, they’re further along than many in newly affected regions and have valuable insights to share.”
Read more: HR Under Pressure to Cut Costs? Know How to Protect What’s Important
“Our research shows that only a minority of employers plan to downsize or ask employees to take unpaid leave,” says Kropp. “Instead, most organizations are focusing on alternative measures such as using technology more effectively and freezing new hiring to cut costs.”
A March 17, 2020 Gartner online poll showed organizations’ policy response to the crisis:
Read more: With Coronavirus in Mind Is Your Organization Ready for Remote Work?
Insights that Gartner has gleaned from employers in Asia show these five actions are critical to the success of remote work:
Watch webinar: Lessons Learned from Asia on Managing Talent in a Crisis
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Recommended resources for Gartner clients*:
Peer Polling: Organizational Responses to Coronavirus
Coronavirus Resource Center for HR Leaders
*Note that some documents may not be available to all Gartner clients.