In the scope of #TalkswithHR STDev’s head of HR department @Anoushik Baghdasaryan shares her experience on Remote work management.
š What main departments does STDev have?
We have several web and mobile programming teams, which include quality assurance specialists and project managers. Company has a Technical and Networking Department, Design, Marketing, Business Development and Human Resource Management departments.
š Did the team have remote work experience before the state of emergency?
Yes, we had an experience as we are always flexible in assuring the work/life balance and employees can work from home if necessary. But there has never been such a need for large-scale remote work, so this was a novelty in its own right.
š What actions have you taken to make the remote work management process more efficient?
I would like to note that from the very beginning we tried to ensure the uninterrupted process of remote work. Employees took the necessary equipment (computers, telephone, tablets) to make it easier for everyone to work in their new office environment. And, of course, we worked to adapt the internal communication to this situation and to preserve the corporate culture. For HR workers it’s very important to keep the team spirit as much as possible while working separately, to be sure that everything is fine with each worker and to transfer our daily habits to a virtual environment as much as possible. Team chats, endless humor, creative birthday congratulationsÖ gift delivery, the discovery of STDev Kudos (such as best employees, the success of teamwork).
š What is the challenge for HR professionals in the current situation?
There are many challenges because of course, it is much easier to organize the work in the office. Some of them are virtual maintenance of the same corporate culture mentioned above, maintaining team integrity, close cooperation with team leaders and project managers. I will also mention the process of attracting new employees for our department. We exchanged face-to-face interviews in the format of video calls, tasks, feedback, as a result, we had 2 new employees, for whom we tried to organize the process of involving the team almost as it would be in the office.
š Were there any funny incidents that you would like to share?
I just remembered a recent incidentš. On May 1, we decided to surprise our employees and send them vitamin bouquets with the words “Thank you for your great work.” In the morning, while the deliveries were still in progress, one of the employees, having received his bouquet, placed it in the general group, so the surprise failed a bit, but instead, it ensured good mood for all day as some employees saw and some didn’t. They could not understand what was going on, and different scenarios were created in connection with it. It turned out to be much more interesting, happy and team-like.