The COVID-19 pandemic has really shaken things up for businesses, and many have had to adapt quickly to remote work setups. Although working from home has been a convenient option for some employees, it’s presented new obstacles for senior workers who are nearing the end of their careers. These valuable team members might need more support in order to keep contributing effectively while also taking care of themselves.

In this article, we’re going to take a look at some ways that companies can step up and help out our older colleagues as they navigate the world of remote work.

1. Flexible Work Schedules

One solution is offering flexible schedules that allow seniors to juggle responsibilities like caregiving or managing health issues alongside their job duties. By giving them room to adjust when they start and finish work or even by condensing down their hours over fewer days each week, companies can make sure these seasoned pros get more time with loved ones while still making meaningful contributions on the job. 

Plus, being open about different scheduling options could be key in encouraging seniors close to retiring not to bail quite yet!

2. Virtual Training and Development Opportunities

Another avenue through which firms could offer support is by providing virtual training opportunities like webinars, online courses, and virtual conferences. Keeping up with new industry trends helps keep seniors engaged in the marketplace while staying motivated throughout their careers with your organization.

3. Supportive Technology

While younger colleagues might be comfortable using technology without assistance, it’s not always true for seniors who did not grow up around computers and related tools most commonly used today. 

However, this doesn’t mean they should face any disadvantage because of their lack of exposure; therefore, companies must provide adequate support when adopting new technologies such as video conferencing software or collaborative tools along with necessary equipment including laptops/headsets, if needed.

4. Mental Health and Wellness Support

Senior workers operating remotely–just like anyone else–would benefit tremendously from access to mental health resources (like counseling) or wellness programs provided by companies. Considering how isolating remote work can be, it’s important to support senior employees’ mental health and well-being.

5. Encourage Connection and Collaboration

Remote work can be extremely isolating for anyone but arguably even more so for seniors. Companies must endeavor to create virtual team-building activities or social events like coffee breaks/happy hours that will allow the remote workforce to connect with each other organically. Maintaining a sense of community is essential when working remotely from home.

6. Support for Retirement Communities

Companies should also provide support and resources (both networking events and information on community resources) dedicated explicitly towards senior team members who may live in retirement communities. Ensuring these workers feel connected within their community while managing caregiving responsibilities at home makes all the difference between quality life-work balance or not.

Conclusion

Supporting senior employees working from home requires a combination of flexible policies, technology support, mental health and wellness resources, and virtual training and development opportunities. By prioritizing the needs of senior employees, companies can help their employees continue to contribute to their company’s success while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Whether you’ve just recently begun working from home or have been doing it awhile, you know that the work-from-home lifestyle isn’t for everyone. There are pros and cons to it, but in most cases the good outweighs the bad. If you want to get the most out of working from home, read on – here are 3 helpful tips just for you. 

Separate Work From Play

One of the biggest challenges that comes with working from home is that it can be difficult for many people to separate their work from their home life. For example, at home there can be many distractions such as pets, children, or piles of laundry. It may be hard to get any work done because you’re constantly thinking about how badly you need to replace your bathtub stopper. 

If you see this type of stuff out of the corner of your eye while on a conference call or while you’re buckled down trying to meet a deadline, it can really throw you off. For this reason, you should try to set up a workspace at home, away from any possible distractions. A home office with a door that closes works well, so your family members will know that whenever you’re in that room it means you’re working. 

Another thing that can happen as a product of working from home is that you can actually end up working too much. Since you have no commute and you’re not clocking in and clocking out each day, lines can become blurred pretty easily. Make sure to put an end to your work day and spend time with your family because that’s what’s truly important. 

Cook At Home

One of the major perks of working from home is that you’ll save money – not only on gas and mileage but also on food! You’ll no longer have to think about where you’re going to go to get lunch on your meal break each day and can instead cook and eat at home. This is a huge plus because you’ll be able to choose healthier and tastier options for yourself. 

You may find that when working from home you have the time to whip something up each day, or you can also plan ahead and meal prep so that all you need to do is re-heat. You’ll also be able to eat or snack while you work which is something you definitely can’t do in the majority of offices, so no more having to listen to your stomach growling! 

Set Up A Savings Account

Why not set up a new savings account to keep track of all the money you’re saving from working from home?  You may be surprised at how much less you’ll be spending on gas from not having to commute. Watch your money grow in a savings account and then use it to go on a trip, pay off bills, or purchase something nice for yourself! 

Working from home is a great lifestyle that works well for many people. Hopefully, these tips can assist you in making the most of it. 

If you own a business or manage someone else’s business, you might be coming to the realization that you simply can’t do everything on your own. However, with young businesses, hiring full-time employees or even part-time help is often out of the question from a financial standpoint. Luckily, outsourcing may be an option that you could consider trying.

To help you determine if this might be a good course of action for you, here are three things to consider before choosing to outsource work. 

How Much Time These Tasks Take You

When your plate is overloaded at work, some of the best things to begin outsourcing are the things that take up a lot of your time during the day. For some businesses, this might be administrative tasks. For others, doing the loading and unloading of your freight could be the things that you most benefit from outsourcing. But if what you’re really wanting is to be able to focus more of your time and attention on more important things for your business, finding the tasks that eat a lot of your day can be the best place to start. Especially if these tasks won’t cost much to outsource, this move could prove to be very beneficial to you. 

How Much Ownership You Feel Over These Tasks

Off-loading some of your professional responsibilities through outsourcing can be hard for many people who like to be able to touch and control as many parts of their business as they can. So if you’re needing help, you might want to begin outsourcing tasks that you don’t feel as much ownership of. 

If there are tasks that you really think need to be done by your hand and that will stress you out if you’re not a part of, those are the tasks that you may want to keep in-house. But if there are things that you’re okay having someone else manage, those are great tasks to consider outsourcing.

How Much Expertise You Bring To The Table

For some aspects of your business, you might really be the expert. So for these tasks, it’s usually going to be better for your business if you hold onto those tasks yourself. But there are also likely going to be many things that could be done just as easily and just as effectively by someone else. So if you can pinpoint what the tasks are that you aren’t an expert at and that might actually be better done by someone with more experience than you, your business could see vast improvement in those areas and others by outsourcing that work. 

If you’re thinking about doing some outsourcing of your work, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get started on this process.