Remote work survey captures optimistic results

With most staff transitioned to work from home, a remote work survey was released to collect feedback on the current working conditions. Schulte Group employees from various departments and locations submitted a total of 506 responses.

The results of the survey were primarily positive (57% positive, 33% neutral), with “hopeful” and “optimistic” being the most expressed sentiment. Despite the unprecedented nature of COVID-19, the BSM Pandemic Policy was quickly adopted, in alignment with local government restrictions. Staff feedback indicates that the communication shared by the company was helpful (88% agreed/strongly) in knowing how to respond to the pandemic and the available healthcare and benefits shared were clear (85% very/extremely clear). This is thanks to the various team leaders (89% expressed positive support from manager) and HR, who are effectively communicating changes and expectations on a rolling basis.

Team leaders were rated as supportive and resourceful; however, some locations need more frequent team meetings and proactive communications. Therefore, we asked all staff to complete the Virtual Meetings training on our LMS platform. This training focuses on maximising the effectiveness of virtual meetings/calls.

The Information Technology (IT) teams have received very positive feedback with 89% of staff moderately/extremely satisfied with the support they have received. The IT teams effectively transitioned staff to work from home, without affecting business continuity.

Some common challenges have been identified, including; poor connectivity, limited access to files or servers, insufficient laptops for staff, and lack of printers, monitors and desk chairs at home.

We also recorded their feedback on increasing work from home days and flexible working hours in the future. Our aim is to evaluate their feedback and revert with actions in the near future.

Some constructive feedback we received includes: reduce commuting to work or creating safety steps for public transportation to work, standardise and align best practices for all locations (i.e. wearing masks in the office in all locations, having weekly team update calls), check-out necessary equipment from the office, managers to recognise individual performance more frequently and celebrate the wins, and practising more empathy between colleagues.

The honest feedback received by our colleagues, allows the Schulte Group to stay relevant in our actions and it helps us to keep growing and improving. An unexpected takeaway from this survey was that this experience has given staff more confidence to manage tasks from home.