The unique situations in the world these days have brought about a lot of changes, affecting everyone from individuals to families to businesses. Most enterprises now have a number of employees working from home to also provide care for their children. Although it can be challenging to accomplish, there are a few things employees can do to help those parents working from home.

Be Creative

Although your operations may have stuck to certain protocols and policies for many years with great success, these difficult times may necessitate new ideas. Be creative. Invent new ways of doing the job, and stretch the company thinking to accommodate the changing circumstances. Don’t be limited by what’s worked in the past, instead allow fresh ideas and out-of-the-box concepts on the table. It might surprise everyone how well something new will work out.

Sensitivity

Changing times require new ideas and fresh perspectives. Listen to your employees. If you have trusted, seasoned employees, they probably know your operation almost as well as you do. They may have ideas and suggestions that can resolve their personal scheduling conflicts while maintaining productivity in your business.

Adjusted Scheduling

While many workplaces are centered around daytime operations, it may be possible to allow some remote employees to work other shifts in the evening or nighttime hours to accommodate their needs. Evaluate your worker positions and determine if offering other shift options is a possibility. You might be surprised how much that can help them with their family needs, and still keep your dedicated employee on the job.

Task-Based Assignments

Most employee work schedules are based on time, assigning specific hours of the day to each task. During this difficult time, it may be beneficial to switch to task-based assignments. By directing an employee to a list of tasks that they need to complete, they can determine their own schedule to fulfill each job. By allowing the worker to fit the work in around their own schedule, they can make better use of their available time and accomplish more.

Connecting Points

Communication is the key to finding solutions. Provide a common office group chat or other connecting resources to help all workers share concerns and information, and work out ideas to make things run smoother. Be sure to include management, so the entire team can work together to resolve the issues. The more the whole team faces the challenges as a unit, the easier it will be to meet everyone’s individual needs.

Provide Resources

Depending on your type of business, you may have wholesale access to school materials, craft supplies, online portals, or other programs that you can offer employees to make their work from home experience less stressful. Many of the parents are serving double duty as school teachers as well as employees of your company, so anything you can provide to make their tasks easier will benefit everyone in the long run.

Enlist Assistance

Sometimes an external influence can provide insights and help manage the challenges businesses face today. HR@Work is a full-featured HR management center, providing quality consulting services and HR management options. For help with the unique situations employers encounter these days, click here and see what HR@Work can do for you.