3 Future Roles of the Remote Corporate Office

The mass adoption of remote work worldwide due to the pandemic will make a lasting impact on a wide range of businesses. Understanding the future of the corporate office is essential as we slowly get closer to the end of the pandemic. According to a recent report from Cognizant, the corporate office will most likely play three significant roles in the near future: a showroom, research, and development lab, and a party zone.

The showroom will be the place to impress customers, prospects, industry analysts, and the media. In comparison, the research and development lab is constantly studied to improve essential business functions and test innovative ideas. The party zone will consist of monthly gatherings between employees and others to help develop culture and create networking opportunities.

Some organizations will contain all three office functions in one space, while others will most likely distribute these roles in different areas. The daily commute of driving back and forth to the office will most likely be eliminated in some organizations within the next 24 months.

This article will review the report findings from Cognizant and how these 3 Future Roles of the Remote Corporate Office will become the new workplace imperative – for employee retainment and business success.

Holistic Employee Well-Being

The combination of cultural shifts around the modern office will likely increase accessibility for mental health services. Organizations can now design jobs intended to safeguard employee mental health, whether it’s real-time biometric data from using wearables or AI-assisted healthcare. Finding ways to strengthen the minds of employees is essential to running a successful organization.

The study also highlighted the importance of personal wellness while using new models to enhance our spaces further. Building a culture of care will require companies to develop new roles for improving mental well-being, as this is a core aspect of meeting the needs of employees.

New job roles will most likely be in demand, such as a mental wellness coach or a chief purpose planner that will help define the employee experience centered around mental health. These changes are designed to help employees work at an optimal level, which is a win-win situation for everyone involved.

Focused Work Is Possible Anywhere, Anytime

The report also states that organizations are already beginning to use a shortened workweek to enable remote employees to unplug and take a break from technology. Companies such as Microsoft Japan have already tested the four-day workweek, as they reported a 40% increase in productivity by giving employees Friday off for an entire month.

The study also said that allowing employees to work fewer days did more than increase productivity. It also boosted creativity, improved retention, enhanced recruitment, resulted in less burnout, and created a much more balanced and sustainable work-life balance for employees.

The pandemic has shown that “heads-down work” can often be achieved anywhere by coding, typing, form-filling, and other activities. However, COVID-19 has also demonstrated that “heads-up work” is best face-to-face, whether it’s testing new ideas or collaboration on a new project.

Companies will need to continue redesigning workplaces to accommodate a flexible work environment better. They need to understand which tasks need to occur face-to-face or if it’s better done in a work from anywhere setting.

Employee-Employer Relationship is Quickly Changing

The study also believes that the employee-employer relationship is changing rapidly, as more people desire greater flexibility and more freedom at work. Reiterating this point, Elements Global Services surveyed remote workers and found that 74% of respondents are concerned about how and when their employer monitors their work. Dealing with this new reality will require companies to change how they monitor employees.

Businesses now need to invest in leaders to create core skills for these emerging trends, whether expressing empathy, limiting micromanaging, and avoiding other negative behaviors.

Choosing to increase transparency, remain authentic, focus on collaboration, and stay empathic are critical aspects of improving employee well-being. Managers need to understand how to demonstrate these skills to become even better leaders in the new normal, as the future of work will be more based on trust.

Role of Virtual Reality in Learning and Development

Virtual reality is much more than simply a gaming system, as it’s now being used more in the business world. The role of virtual reality in helping employees learn and develop new skills will continue to be even more popular, as there is a significant need for exposing new employees to a variety of realistic experiences to improve their adaptability in handling numerous situations at work.

For example, virtual reality training to improve diversity, inclusion, and empathy enables employees to experience working in another person’s shoes. Using virtual reality training can help build empathy, allowing call center agents to be more compassionate in responding to customers.

Using this technology allows employees to experience and retain this training in a completely different way. Immersive learning can also further boost engagement and retention throughout numerous industries and applications.

Closing Thoughts

The role of technology is ever-expanding, as the future of the corporate office will most likely look much different for many businesses in the future. Taking the time to prepare for these changes is essential in allowing your business to remain cutting-edge and create a vibrant work environment. Now is one of the best times to stay proactive and begin preparing for long-term sustainability.

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