When Catho, a leading Brazilian job posting site, began implementing remote work policies, it was only a viable option for a few departments. And even though the option was available, few employees used it.

“I don’t have the courage to do it; I only do it in my department,” or “What will people think if I’m not in the office?” were some of the concerns that team members expressed.

These ways of thinking did not help employees shift their mindsets. But the company understood that little by little, people would see the advantages until they thought of this as a different way of working.

With time, the departments that could work from home did so three times a week and support for remote work gradually increased.

This required continuous learning and step-by-step accompaniment, so the process was directed by a consultant specialised in remote work.

Last year, the employees’ initial concerns were proving productivity to their managers and leaders, and they ended up working 12 to 14 hours a day.

With practice, consistency, trust and time, they overcame this fear. Although, as at about four months ago, there were still people who were adjusting.

A six-month project completed in one week

When the pandemic struck, the IT teams mobilised at hyper-speed to prepare 370 computers and 100 internet modems for each employee in order to fulfil the teams’ and company’s commitment to achieving a successful result.

It was also important to keep each individual’s situation in mind and take their general technical limitations and even family situations into account.

Checking internet access, physical space, and available time were key to assemble a fleet of workers ready to work from home in quarantine.

Understanding these peculiarities was the company’s objective, and it was handled accordingly: case by case. It also relied on the collaboration of team members.

Team members quickly made everything they had in terms of infrastructure, computers, internet access and their homes available. They opened their homes to the company.

“The challenges had become about something we had no control over: what happened in everyone’s homes,” said Tábitha Medeiros, senior manager operations at Catho.

Shifts in mindsets for leaders

Letting go of controlling each team member’s minute-by-minute activity and, instead, concentrating on productivity was essential.

This is a complex change when the team is used to working in the traditional work environment with a less autonomous model.

It was an enormous paradigm shift that was impossible to accomplish without changing the leaders’ mindsets.

Changing daily routines that included morning meetings was a challenge. It was essential to understand and revalue face-to-face communication, which is important but can also be done with a webcam.

People who had never worked from home before had the idea that working from home had many benefits without challenges, and they had to adapt to the reality that working from home is not that simple: it requires effort, dedication and training.

Discipline is fundamental and in order to achieve this result, the company assembled a group of facilitators and points of contact in the company’s most essential departments, for example, people who were helping 24-hour team members with IT matters.

Catho was already using various online resources such as Drive for sharing files to the cloud and Hangout also became a vital tool that made virtual get-togethers and work meetings possible.

Another important initiative used during the transition was having a group of psychologists available to everyone, which ended up being an excellent idea because it was well viewed.

Disruptions in the company call centre team

The entire call centre team, both for incoming and outgoing calls, began working from home.

Making sales by phone, working from home and doing what worked in order to monitor the processes meant a huge paradigm shift. To achieve all this, good communication was key.

So, the company communicated clearly and transparently about the situation and did everything it could to empathise and understand that everyone was experiencing the same circumstances.

Contextualising what people are experiencing gives them a shared vision of what they are experiencing, which is what the company was hoping for and something that everyone could contribute to.

The Catho of the past is no more

One thing is certain; nothing will be the same as before at any company. It is very likely that not all employees will return to work at the office full time like they did before.

The home office is here to stay. It is about continuing to learn how to make the most of it.

Training has to be sustainable and training programmes must be centred around training leaders who need to understand which processes need to be improved, what behaviours to promote and what tools to use so everything works like a well-oiled machine.

A new possibility is presenting itself; more and more people will be chosen based on their people skills and technical skills, and geographic location will no longer be an obstacle to work.

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