In the past weeks remote working (or smart Working, as it has been labeled in Italy) switched from being an cutting-edge concept to an essential tool in order to contain decrease in business productivity. It is one of the most important HR initiative introduced in the past years. In 2019 around 570 thousand employees in Italy used it and Avalon has started to implement it in the past months.
According to the Osservatorio di smart Working (Smart Working Observatory) of the Politecnico di Milano School of Management, in 2019 around 58% of big enterprises used it. This percentage however drops drastically at around 12% for small and medium businesses and 16% for public administration. Despite this, in 2019 the phenomenon has grown by 20% compared to the previous year.
Smart working is more than just working from home and it requires cultural and organizational efforts. Its application requires a tailored work and business tasks reprogramming as it is based on phases and cycles and goals rather than time and space limits, as the Labour and Social Politicies Ministery declared. The Smart Working Observatory noted that businesses need to define KPIs for the people and for the business and assess the quality of the work that is being undertaken.
If on one side the effort to make is remarkable, on the other there are many advantages that businesses can profit from it. Eni’s managers confirmed this method strengthens the bond between employer and employees and employees at Microsoft Italy reported to be more productive, as noted by IlSole24Ore. And let’s not forget it is also beneficial for the environment. Limitations on commuting reduces CO2 emissions, which is good for the whole community, as confirmed by the air quality improvement in Milan at the end of February. It’s possible to state this model has proven to be a powerful tool for business management, but only if applied cautiously and with the right measures.
The exceptional circumstances of the past weeks forces businesses to implement a management model which offers several opportunities and advantages and undergo an experiment whose range is unprecedented. In the past 3 weeks Avalon has fully enhanced the potential of online platforms by organizing daily video conferences from 10 different provinces, sharing documents thanks to new technologies and keeping its training program going. It is therefore keeping its full functioning in terms of internal coordination and relations with its clients. The emergency has accelerated the spreading of already existing technologies whose potential was not fully enhanced on a large scale. Smart working has proven tp be an essential tool for businesses to keep their productivity functioning.