Business Management and Remote Work in Canada: An Overview for Leaders

How things have changed in recent years in the employment landscape, and nowhere more so than in Canada. Modern business management has new key feature — the transition to remote work. Digital platforms, cloud computing and flexibility allowed more businesses across the country to undergo remote work as the new normal. By the same token, there are new potential and challenges that Canadian business leaders are faced with regarding fostering remote team work, productivity and corporate culture.

In this blog we’ll learn about the important aspects of remote team management for Canada, our business leaders, who are looking for the effective ways to prosper in the ever-changing environment. Now let's get started!

Canada's Growing Remote Work Trends: A New Normal

Once a temporary solution to a global crisis, remote work is becoming a preferred way of work for many Canadian employees. Statistics Canada revealed 40% of Canadian employees worked remotely at some time during the pandemic, with many businesses opting for hybrid post pandemic.

The workforce finds itself needing work life balance and technological prowess more than ever; this is why remote work has become an option to be adopted or more preferred in the light of businesses and individuals. At the same time, Canadian businesses are tapping into a greater pool of talent by recruiting workers to whom it’s not necessary to pay the relocation costs from other provinces or even abroad.

While these benefits bring their own share of freight for leaders to haul, however, such as employee engagement, new management techniques and new approaches to operational effectiveness.

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What to Consider When Managing Remote Workforces in Canada

1. Creating a Culture for Strong Remote Work.

Working remotely does not mean you can give up on corporate culture. Yet, leaders still have an obligation to build team community, even when team members are spread across cities, or provinces.

a. Foster regular communication: Use digital tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom so that teams guarantee frequent and transparent communication with each other.

b. Promote inclusivity: Empower remote workers to feel as included in business news, updates and decision-making procedures as in person employees are.

c. Encourage virtual social interactions: If you want your team to get to know each other better, organise virtual team building events, for example game evenings or coffee breaks.

2. Digital Tools and Technologies Integration.

Every successful remote work strategy is founded on technology. Keeping the right tools digital and at hand allow for clear communication, enhanced efficiency and streamlined workflow.

a. Collaboration tools: With tools such as Asana, Trello, or Monday.com you can assign tasks, work with deadlines, and follow the progress within the project.

b. Video conferencing: Zoom and Google Meet tools are crucial for face-to-face conversations as well as create a feeling of connection.

c. Cloud-based storage: For seamless file sharing and real time document collaboration, tools like Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive are essential.

Canadian businesses have rules for having data privacy and the most important are the Personal, Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), which are useful for any Canadian business, that deals with personal information while using digital technology.

3. Learning how to Manage Productivity and Performance.

One of the biggest worries for the bosses of remote teams is preserving productivity. That’s the problem, getting tasks done efficiently when they are not actually being supervised.

a. Set clear expectations: Set the performance indicators and goals immediately. It assures that workers, even though working from home, recognize accurately what is required from them.

b. Flexible work hours: Consider flexible work hours to provide. Working remotely may help employees better control their work-life balance and studies have shown that productivity could improve if their hours are flexible.

c. Use performance tracking software: Tools like Time Doctor or Hubstaff can help you keep an eye on when and how staff work, without the micromanagement level.

4. Encouraging Work-Life Balance.

Major employees' reason for seeking remote work options is to improve work-life balance. Working from home can make a division between business and personal life harder.

a. Encourage regular breaks: Burnout is common among employees so encourage frequent, short breaks, even if only for 5 minutes - so they can come back and keep working. They also advocate to use focus maintenance tools, like the Pomodoro Technique (work in 25-minute intervals with a short break).

b. Respect boundaries: Instruct employees to shut down after work and not to text them off time unless it is an emergency.

c. Mental health support: Offer employees mental health services, and a safe playing field to talk about the things they’re going through.

5. All legal and compliance considerations.

Canadian business leaders need to know the legal and compliance implications of managing a remote employee. It goes over taxes, payroll, labour laws and workplace safety.

a. Provincial labor laws: The rules cover work hour (and overtime including), health and safety standards and so on. Make sure you keep to these rules, especially if you have employees dotted across various regions.

b. Worker’s compensation: Businesses, to comply with legal norms have to for sure ensure that remote employees are covered by the workers' compensation sufficiently.

c. Tax considerations: To prevent compliance issues, the tax implications of remote work (and when hiring out of country or province) must be understood.

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Tips for Leaders to Be Effective in the Remote Management of Their Teams

Managing a remote workforce, on top of process changes, requires a different leadership approach. To guarantee effectiveness, consider the following leadership tips:

a. Adopt a servant leadership approach: What this comes down to is ensuring your team is coming first by pushing them over hurdles, mentoring them, and ensuring they have the resources needed to succeed.

b. Be adaptable: You need to be flexible. Not every worker will succeed in a remote environment. You can always be ready to use adjusted management approaches towards specific requirements.

c. Lead by example: Showing your colleagues how you manifest positive remote work habits can help show them that working remotely can be as fulfilling and effective as working on site.

d. Stay empathetic: It’s important to realize that your team members might be dealing with different challenges — child-rearing challenges, office at home or whatever it may be — and realize that if you work with them, be supportive of them, and trust them, they will be loyal to you.

Remote Work in Canada: Future Trends

Clearly, remote work is here to stay and will continue to influence Canadian business leadership. As more and more Canadian organizations start using hybrid work models, leaders must be prepared to adjust constantly on how they manage their employees. The key is flexibility—making investments in new technology, or remote work, or changing performance indicators, and so on.

The ability of Canadian companies to save on operating expenses, to increase work-life balance of your employees, and to access a very deep pool of talented individuals through remote work is an exciting prospect. Through the effective management strategies, leaders might pledge that their remote teams work not just effectively but also thrive in this new era of work.

Conclusion

Remote work presents special opportunities as well as pitfalls for Canadian business leaders. With the use of digital technologies, the development of a robust remote work culture and awareness of laws and regulations and employee demands, leaders can keep an eye on their remote teams and drive their businesses ahead.

If you aren’t able to stay adaptable and imaginative as the workplace is frequently transforming, your continued success in a remote work setting may not be guaranteed. Investing in your people and technology isn’t a pipedream; so, go ahead! Lead your team into the future of work with confidence.

The New Brunswick College of Business & Technology (NBBT) offers a large assortment of programs which are there to assist you to gain the skills you’ll need to achieve success in the dynamic business atmosphere of today and if you are a Canadian business leader, it is in your interests to upgrade your expertise technologically or in business management.