Tips for Managing your Staff Working from Home
In this brave new world of COVID-19, many people are working from home. Even after there is a cure for the virus, this trend will likely continue.
Researchers at Harvard University have come up with some good ways to ensure you get maximum productivity and loyalty from your employees working remotely.
Key points
- Both managers and staff miss face to face meetings – managers worry how effectively their people are working and employees miss the support and guidance they get from managers.
Managers should introduce structure and discipline into their interactions with their staff – setting up a time each day (or whatever is needed) to connect to each other and, possibly, the team the employee is in. This can cover all the employee’s and team’s work requirements, bringing them up to date with events in the company. Not only does this improve productivity but it increases staff morale and loyalty.
- Access to information can become difficult between staff members – for example, a relatively new employee asks a staff member for information who initially ignores the request until the new staff person starts sending out more aggressive emails.
Managers need to be aware of this type of conflict and focus on new employees to iron out any potential difficulties.
- Employees get lonely and can over time feel they’ve been cut adrift which is bad for their stress levels and can lead to a drop in productivity.
If managers don’t have good listening skills and empathy, then they need to add these to their armoury and be on the lookout for loneliness manifesting in people who report to them. In the initial stages, it may pay to also have Human Resources contact employees working remotely.
- Home distractions. Working from home can lead to distractions of members of staff by spouses and family.
The company needs to ensure that the employee has the required technology and IT security in his or her home. Having a separate office in their homes is also important.
- Staff need time to catch up with their colleagues’ personal lives and the manager should allow time for this when there are video calls. This will reinforce that employees belong to and are part of a team.
There is much to learn in terms of skills and keeping staff morale and productivity at high levels, when employees work from home.
Be Ready for a SARS Lifestyle Audit
We read about Eskom staff having to undergo lifestyle audits so that corruption can be identified and stamped out.
SARS have been conducting lifestyle audits since 2007. These audits are conducted when SARS suspects that the taxpayer is not declaring all his or her income and thus is underpaying tax due.
SARS have access to many sources of information
Data can be accessed from:
- Your banks
- The Deeds Office for property transactions
- Financial institutions for mortgage loans or motor vehicle finance
- Vehicle registrations
- Social and other media where your lifestyle can be ascertained
- Perhaps most significantly jealous neighbours or “friends” who tip off SARS that your lifestyle exceeds the purported income you earn (SARS actively encourage people to tip them off when they think people they know are living beyond their means).
How do SARS select people for lifestyle audits?
SARS does not disclose the criteria it uses to start probing taxpayer’s affairs or how it selects those who have to complete a lifestyle audit. If you are selected, you have to complete the audit in the time set out by SARS.
One individual selected demanded to know the reasons why he was picked, and refused to complete the 26 page “lifestyle questionnaire” sent to him by SARS (seemingly after a ‘third party’ tip off). He had never registered as a taxpayer, nor had he ever submitted tax returns. The matter went to the High Court which rejected the individual’s right to demand “SARS confidential information” and ordered him to provide the information required by SARS, on pain of committal to prison for contempt of court until he submitted the lifestyle questionnaire.
What to expect if you are selected
You will need to provide details of day to day living expenses including rent or bond payments, groceries, entertainment, vehicle expenses, holidays – in fact every item of cost you and people related to you incur. These will be reconciled to bank statements. In addition, SARS will probe all sources of your income.
In doing this process SARS can request information going back five years. If you don’t have the necessary documentation to justify income or expenditure, then SARS can levy taxes on these amounts. Keep good records.
It pays to be honest and as thorough as possible when completing this process. As noted above SARS have many sources of information to check the data provided by you.
The bad news
If a taxpayer has been under-declaring income or cannot justify expenses that have been claimed, then SARS will issue assessments for these amounts. Penalties of up to 200%, plus interest may be levied by SARS who can also report the taxpayer to the National Prosecuting Authority for potential criminal proceedings. The only bit of good news is that SARS do not use search and seizure operations when conducting lifestyle audits – these are for criminal cases that SARS pursues.
Lifestyle audits are nerve racking and risky for taxpayers. Keep good records and consult your accountant before submitting information to SARS.
Businesses: How to Survive the Coronavirus Panic
“Never let a good crisis go to waste” (Winston Churchill)
Globally, the COVID-19 coronavirus has spread panic amongst societies and markets. Businesses are suffering their most challenging times since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.
This is the time for urgently reviewing how events have affected your business and how you can respond to the seeming chaos.
Cash is king
When faced with great uncertainty, conserve cash and shore up all your credit lines. This will give you greater flexibility when strategizing a response to the coronavirus. You may, for example, be able to buy a crucial stock item for a discount from one of your suppliers, thus ensuring that you can continue operating. Apart from strengthening your position with your competitors, this could help the supplier to remain in business – relationships are important, and this supplier will be grateful to you.
Trim costs wherever you can – some of this is being done for you as many companies are cancelling travel, resulting in many meetings and conferences being called off. Capital expenditure is being pruned globally and there may be opportunities to delay some of your current capex.
Keep your staff healthy
Apple has already told staff to work from home to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the coronavirus. Desks are being spaced to reduce the possibility of catching the virus and meetings are being cancelled or are taking place electronically.
Make sure the risk of staff catching the virus is minimised and have a succession plan if some key members are incapacitated by the coronavirus. Take particular care of staff members who have health issues, as they could become seriously ill or die if they catch the virus. As health authorities are advising people to frequently wash their hands, ensure that you have enough hand washing dispensers.
As many of your staff will be working from home using smart phones and their own desktops, have your IT department mitigate the risks of hacking or computer viruses getting into your IT platform.
Perhaps, most importantly, communicate often with your employees and managers. Regularly follow updates from the World Health Organisation and the local Department of Health. This is a time of uncertainty, as there is no definitive knowledge on how the coronavirus will evolve and thus sharing the information you gather on the disease, will improve the health and morale of staff in your business.
The Occupational Health and Safety Act imposes obligations on employers to provide a healthy environment for their staff. Much of the above is in line with ensuring that you comply with that Act’s requirements, but you need to ensure your organisation is compliant with the legislation.
Your supply chain
This is clearly a key area and working out the risks of suppliers and contractors being unable to supply you is a key task. Some of the important areas will be changing your safety stock holdings, reviewing your contracts with stakeholders and assessing the risks and the consequences of default. This is where it really pays to have cash.
As we said above, keep in mind the long term relationships with suppliers.
You also need to review your insurance policies – will they pay out if certain scenarios unfold? Do you need to take out different policies?
Reacting, planning and preparing strategies will ensure you have the agility to ride out this crisis and may even strengthen your position with competitors.
