The Popularity of Flexible and Online Jobs
By Floyd C. Paguio
It was on March 16, 2020, thirty days before the April 15 Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) deadline for the filing of the annual
Income Tax Return (AITR), when it all began by the imposition of enhanced community quarantine which restricted everyone’s mobility
to their own homes. Employers and employees have no other alternative but to forcibly adapt a work-from-home arrangement, which posed
serious challenges to audit and assurance practitioners.
More than two years after the pandemic lockdown, most of us are yearning to go back to the way they used to be – from face-to-face mode
of teaching, networking and until recently, travel and leisure. This “new normal” scenario includes the return of face-to-face office
workplace scenario, albeit there is now some resistance both from employers and employees, to return to the old norm. Work-from-home
arrangements, in whatever form, are now more popular than ever because of its flexibility and cost-reduction benefits. As the chief
marketing officer of CareerBuilder, Ms. Kristin Kelley have stated in her article entitled Remote and Hybrid Jobs are Attracting 7 Times
More Applicants than In-person Roles, people are not going to return to work the way they have in the past. Flexibility is the new norm
and expectation from employees – we’re going to see this trend continue in the months ahead.
Flexible work arrangements have now become a critical component of employee management. As I have observed in our own practice, applicants
are now including in their preference a work arrangement either working fully at home or a mix of working at home and the office.
As flexible work arrangement is the future of workforce environment, the constant challenge that confront employers is how to monitor employee
conduct and output. Indeed, a friend of mine said he worries sometimes if his employees are actually working at home. It is thus imperative
for employers to adapt a system fluid enough to manage and oversee employee.
I found an interesting article by Email Analytics entitled Ways to Monitor Employees from Home, which enumerated some best practices both for
employers and employees. I found these recommendations effective:
a. Track employee email activity – employees are given a certain period of time (i.e. within 24 hours) to respond to emails of clients.
Even a simple acknowledgement is expected from the staff whenever a simple email advice is provided by a client.
b. Tasks Lists – agree with the employee his tasks list for a particular day, week or period. Employers may not need to check if the
staff is up by 8:00 AM, instead, an output-based approach is more applicable.
c. Self-reporting – at the end of the day, the staff may be required to send a brief report to his manager or supervisor for accomplishments
during the day and pending items including deadlines and challenges encountered. This is useful because staff could identify if they
overworked, underworked or a balance workload for a particular day or period.
d. Observe subjective factors – We may want to pay close attention to our employees behavior when they are in the office or when you talk to
them over the phone and use those behavioral cues as guide for establishing current workloads. Those employees who are grumpy when they talk
or more stressed than usual might have an excessive workload. Those staff who usually hurriedly minimizes their web browser whenever they
notice a supervisor walking by might have a smaller workload than they should. This could assist the supervisors in balancing the workload of
their people.
e. Availability to talk over the phone – Staff should be advised to pick up phone calls from clients, supervisors, and office staff. However,
supervisors and clients should be clearly advised to respect private hours of the staff as well such as beyond office hours.
f. Integrity in the workplace – work if we are supposed to and save socializing, snacking, searching the internet and personal phone calls for
break time. Adhere to company policies and procedures. Be responsible – Do what you say you will do.
With this, trust increases between the employers and staff with the proper systems in place for the flexible work arrangements. Employers are
expected to embrace this flexible work arrangements as the future demands flexibility.
Floyd C. Paguio, CPA, MBA is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Paguio, Dumayas & Associates, CPAs (PDAC),
the Philippine Member Firm of PrimeGlobal International. He is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Philippine Review Institute for
Accountancy (PRIA), a CPA review school in the southern part of Metro Manila. He is a member of PICPA and currently a member of the committees
on Quality Assurance Review (QAR) and Media Affairs. The views and opinions of the author do not reflect in any way those of these organizations.
Source: The Popularity of Flexible and Online Jobs - Manila Bulletin