The Nation's Pioneering Remote-Work Experience...

There is no doubt that many of us have recently tried working remotely, an experiment that proved its feasibility in record time, reflecting the great level of progress we have achieved and the importance of high-performing IT departments with practical, beneficial aspirations when it comes to preparing for crises of this kind.

Some changed little more than a few things in their systems, while others seized the opportunity of the three-week period to prepare themselves for the new mode of operation.

Contributing to this largest practical experiment in history were the departments of risk, quality, human resources and others, foremost among them being the smart and well-considered measures of the National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, and, at the very top of the pyramid, the wise leadership that spared no effort at home and abroad to confront this great global challenge.

Confronting the Challenges

Organizations faced many technical challenges, such as providing an infrastructure equipped with secure systems built to the highest security standards. The second challenge was the capacity of communication systems to support and accommodate the employees' devices, which would connect securely to the servers. The third challenge was providing devices for employees to access these systems, as well as providing the communication systems. The fourth challenge was providing electronic services to the public to ensure that all services remained available without the need for any visit. Yet a large number of organizations proved, with full professionalism and mastery, their readiness for this stage, most notably the distance-learning system, which proved its worth in record time. This is no surprise coming from the United Arab Emirates and the sons of Zayed.

A Survey and Its Result

This great and largely successful experiment revealed that there are very many benefits to be gained from all of this, the most important being that the majority of those who went through it are able to fully accomplish their tasks without the need to go to and remain at the workplace. There is no doubt that some tasks require physical presence and direct supervision, such as the sectors exempted from the National Sterilization Program.

In a Twitter poll in which 1,640 people took part, the result was that 62.6% expressed satisfaction with remote work, saying it was an excellent option that allowed them to accomplish their tasks; 25.5% said it was not suitable for them because of the nature of their jobs, a figure that is close to reality, since roughly 25% to 35% of jobs cannot be converted to remote work; and 11.9% expressed a desire to come in to work for one reason or another.

Benefits of Remote Work

Remote work has many benefits, the most important of which are reducing congestion on the roads, and consequently reducing psychological pressure on the employee, and getting work done with greater efficiency. This is what emerged from the testimonies of many technology managers, who noted that employees are more connected than before and accomplish more, perhaps owing to the factor of psychological comfort. It also saves the organization money on employee offices and on services provided at the workplace, such as parking and other facilities. As for parents, they now have more time to spend with their families, which strengthens the family fabric.

Terms and Controls

It is very important to set controls for employees and to place strong emphasis on productivity rather than merely on attendance and departure, for productivity is the crux of the matter here. This falls within defining clear tasks for each employee before assigning them to remote work from the outset, and they may be required to come to the workplace once a week or once a month for one reason or another.

The Outlook for Remote Work

This experiment has shortened much of the vision of the 'Readiness for the Fifty.' Once this global health crisis soon passes, we can reconsider the matter of remote work and adopt it for several uses. The first use is to make it available to employees for a number of days each month, from 5 to 10 days, or to allocate a set period to be used throughout the year, 45 days for example, or to make it available when necessary, in coordination with the department manager, or to make it fully available with a weekly or monthly office visit, provided it is implemented within the terms and controls. It is very important that this matter be practiced annually or every 6 months for the sake of training and studying requirements, much like the civil-defense safety drills.

Creating a New World of Jobs

By applying the principle of remote work, there are many jobs that can be created for a wide range of tasks, making use of the labor force that has so far gone untapped.

Ahmed Al Zarouni, Al Roeya Emirati newspaper