In the Face of Coronavirus: the “Work From Home” Model that Kosbit Offers as an Example

Flexible working hours? Working remotely? Telecommuting? Work-life balance? A month earlier, before the Coronavirus outbreak, all these words looked fancy and distant to the organizational cultures of South-Eastern Europe. But, voluntarily or involuntarily, it seems like these organizational culture phenomena are slowly penetrating the work culture of the region in general. ‘Not invented here, not working here’ mindset typical for this part of the world is already looking like a cliche. Millennials seem to have the same norms and values wherever they are as a result of a globalized world and the usage of technology. We expect a more productive and increased workforce morale.

Proactive, rather than reactive

Kosbit, a leading Kosovo network engineering company, launched its flexible working hours between home and office for all its employees at the beginning of March 2017. The strategy for hiring the best talent included our mission to become the best place to work. In this aim, flexible working hours was one of the advantages, among others, that enabled us to hire the best network engineers in the country and beyond. Flexibility was mentioned at 40% of the employees as the main concern for their career during one-on-one feedback sessions.

Research has a say

The most successful companies in the USA are all actively hiring employees that will work from home. According to data published by the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), 53 million Americans now work from home. Technology Advice Research published data in 2015 suggesting that 61% of people find their productivity increases at home due to reduced office politics, fewer interruptions, and reduced stress. In addition, data just published this month from Gallup shows that employees who spend 60-80% of their time working from home are the most engaged with their job and employer. Those who spent either all of their time at the office or all of their time telecommuting reported the lowest levels of engagement. Office hours enables cohesion and mire effective team dynamics. It enables a personal touch, loyalty and a family belonging as well as knowledge sharing. It enables face-to-face team meetings, presentations and training. It helps the problem even the global multi-billion companies are facing: employee engagement and motivation.

Our model

Four weeks have passed now and the entire Kosbit workforce is working from home on full time. This has happened even before the first case of infection was reported in Kosovo. For management, there was no hesitation whatsoever that this must be a way to move forward in order to protect our team members’ health and ensure that their wellbeing is the most important factor in this situation. Our relationship with our team members was always based on strong principles and this relationship has proven to be the right one; no simple issue or unexpected occurrence has come out regarding the quality of service, which for Kosbit is an obsession. These principles are simple and straight-forward, we lead as a form of “sailing” as opposed to the form of “driving”:

• Lead by example and provide a vision for the future;

• Set-up clear expectations on the roles people perform;

• Establish the relationship on mutual trust;

• Treat people as managers of their work,

• Treat people equally and fairly;

• Keep responsibility and accountability for people’s actions,

• Celebrate victories and mourn losses together;

• Facilitate personal and professional lives; and

• Create an environment for making work fun.

Conclusion

Ignited by the new regulations imposed by the Government in the face of force majeure, all companies are forced to implement a work-from-home strategy. Our advice on this:

• Create a simple plan on the structure of your people and their work;

• Use available technologies as platforms to communicate and organize your work;

• Communicate regularly and clearly on daily-basis (fun activities more than welcome); and

• Monitor quality of services by closely monitoring performance KPIs.

At the end of the day if we don’t trust our people, then why hire them in the first place? As Seth Godin nails it, “What happens when you expect a lot and trust the people you work with? At first, it seems crazy. There’s too much overhead, too little predictability, and way too much noise… Then, over and over, we see something happen. When you hire amazing people and give them freedom, they do amazing stuff.”