Toggl’s Fully Remote Operating Model

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Table of Contents

The influence of Toggl’s philosophy on the employee’s culture
Toggl’s Responses to the Changes in Workplace Location
Recommendations to Enhance Toggl’s Employee Satisfaction
References

The influence of Toggl’s philosophy on the employee’s culture

According to the ROWE concept, employees do not have mandatory meetings with superiors and a fixed schedule. Consequently, the company provides more freedom to its employees. However, attention should also be paid to the fact that the quality of employees’ work is assessed by their actual performance of the tasks assigned to them. In addition, it should be mentioned that the Toggle culture is focused on mutual support between all levels of employees. This is manifested in meetings and events that are organized at various levels of the company.

Such a philosophy significantly affects the condition of employees, as they have more opportunities to allocate their time between work and personal life properly. Consequently, remote work combined with the ROWE approach can significantly transform employee behavior. They become more focused on solving specific tasks for the company (Nair & Vasudev, 2020). This is determined by the fact that employees’ success depends not on the number of hours worked but on the number of tasks completed. According to the ideologists of ROWE, this approach to work should inspire people to make a personal contribution to the development of the company, and not just to while away the hours in the office.

The method is based on revising the approach to building a workflow and creating an alternative to the outdated fixed work schedule for those employees for whom it is not mandatory. The methodology’s authors proved that the practical implementation of ROWE contributes to achieving more significant results by creating comfortable working conditions for employees and trusting relationships with them (Nair & Vasudev, 2020). At the same time, the scope of work, the required result, and the deadline are stipulated.

Thus, formally remaining in the mode of an eight-hour working day, the Toggl team works in the environment and the schedule that every employee chooses for themselves: in the office, coworking, apartment, or in a country house on the lakeshore. ROWE principles allow Toggl to deal with increased anxiety in the team (Nair & Vasudev, 2020). It consists of the fact that on the weekend before the start of the working week, an employee experiences an acute feeling of apathy and pessimism. At the same time, they may have high performance of official duties. The ROWE system, in turn, establishes a fundamentally different atmosphere in the organization based on trust, effectiveness, and enjoyment of the task. At the same time, the employee gets more freedom of action.

When implementing the ROWE method, the managerial approach to the organization of the workflow changes. It boils down to the fact that the manager sets a task, stipulates a deadline, and establishes the principle of interaction (the need or lack of need to be in touch, for example (Nair & Vasudev, 2020). The execution process is the personal responsibility of the contractor. In addition, the formation of the Toggl workforce initially provided for the presence of high self-organization skills among employees – not only among the management staff but also among ordinary specialists. For many employers, this quality of applicants often remains underestimated. However, for the maximum effectiveness of the ROWE system, the predominant proportion of independent full-time employees is significant.

Additionally, approaches to intra-corporate interaction have been changed. Communication in messengers and conferences has replaced face-to-face meetings while increasing the efficiency and efficiency of performing current tasks (Robbins & Judge, 2022). An important aspect is the high availability of IT systems, on which the efficiency of the organization of remote workplaces and the trouble-free functionality of the software depends. The ROWE system also regulates the level of team cohesion. To avoid losing the team spirit, the company should increase the number of corporate events.

Toggl’s Responses to the Changes in Workplace Location

The main system of the company’s functioning with such an approach is based on trust. It manifests in the company’s operating model operating on the principle of comprehensive interaction and communication. This structure consists of several teams of 3-5 people, each of which has its own leader who controls employees’ work (Nair & Vasudev, 2020). Therefore, it is worth noting that Toggl has built a competent system that allows the company to track employees’ work with its remote type. However, the main problem with this approach is the uncertainty that employees will fully devote themselves to the assigned tasks. Still, with office work, they can be controlled directly and not be afraid that the company will not be able to do anything on time. Consequently, the trust factor is quite unstable and can lead to Toggl losing the trust of customers or its reputation.

This statement is based on the fact that when working remotely and when introducing free hours, it is not always possible to be sure that one of the employees is not let down at the responsible moment. Thus, an essential task for the leader is the establishment of a clear communication system, as well as the creation of conditions for the adaptation of employees to the remote form of work (Nair & Vasudev, 2020). It is necessary to make sure that employees have a competent understanding of time management. The correct distribution of their forces and hours should be the basis for the successful operation of the company. It is essential for the leader of the organization to pay attention to the fact that it is not the right decision that employees are allowed to float freely without providing them with the necessary skills and conditions (Robbins & Judge, 2022). However, it is worth noting that Toggl uses various aspects of communication and interaction with its employees. Consequently, the company has built a system in which employees’ engagement, involvement, teamwork, and motivation are fully reflected.

The adaptation process is aimed at helping a new employee adapt to a new environment and culture, join the team, understand the processes faster and, as a result, reduce the stress level from changing jobs and enjoy achieving results. The absence of the need to maintain an office, pay for electricity, support staff, and transportation costs of employees can create a trap for the effectiveness of remote work, and the manager will begin to think seriously about the fact that this was influenced by the improvement of the work of employees (Robbins & Judge, 2022). A decrease in motivation and involvement is inevitable in the long term since employees working remotely gradually cease associating themselves with a specific company, division, or team. Therefore, Toggl needs to maintain such conditions under which the employee will continue to feel part of the team and the company.

It is essential for intellectual workers to meet the higher levels of needs of the Maslow pyramid. In order to increase the loyalty and motivation of such specialists, companies have been forming appropriate conditions for a long time, such as comfortable office space, restrooms, emotional relaxation, and other aspects. Employees often perceived all this not as an abstract social package but as relatively concrete manifestations of the company’s concern for its employees. For many employees, these expressions of concern do not have significant financial significance; however, they are one of the most critical, often subconscious, factors that form loyalty to the company and unwillingness to look for an alternative. Therefore, Toggl needs to provide a number of alternatives that will allow employees to create a sense of attachment to something more than just completing tasks.

Recommendations to Enhance Toggl’s Employee Satisfaction

It is better to use time tracking tools not as a means of coercion and punishment but as personal trackers of employee well-being. This allows the company to identify which of the performers is overloaded and take timely measures to redistribute tasks and prevent burnout. Information about employees’ working hours does not give an idea of how effectively they solve tasks. The objective assessment of a specialist’s involvement is significantly affected by the change in his performance – according to KPIs corresponding to his position. Based on changes in engagement in the digital footprint, the system can detect early signs of burnout and allow the manager to influence the situation before the employee loses efficiency.
One of the available methods is to conduct pulse surveys. Feedback allows HR managers and managers to understand which factors have a positive or negative impact on staff productivity. In addition, unlike performance measurement, feedback reflects the situation after the fact and is also a predictive indicator. With the help of pulse surveys, the company can find how to neutralize the impact of unfavorable circumstances before it affects business.
3It should be noted that employees experience less stress if they are aware of the state of affairs in the company. For these purposes, the company can launch an internal website that will serve as the primary source of the necessary information. The corporate portal contains news, recommendations for maintaining productivity, answers to popular questions, and rules for preventing coronavirus infection. Therefore, this will allow employees to understand that the company strives to maintain comprehensive communication with them. Understanding all the circumstances of the organization’s work will allow employees to focus on completing tasks and not on finding out what is happening.
In crisis conditions, it is imperative for management to maintain the cheerfulness of each team member — each employee should understand that they make a considerable contribution to the company’s life. Therefore, success should be celebrated without dwelling on adverse events. The involvement of staff in the life of the company largely depends on their support and the quality and speed of feedback. Line managers should schedule regular online meetings not only with the entire department but also individually with specialists, which will help determine the type of help and support that a subordinate needs and broadcast constructive feedback on employee performance results. One of the positive aspects may be the creation of one or two informal chats in a corporate messenger to exchange non-working moments that employees want to share. This will help maintain a good mood in the team and reduce stress due to workload.
Companies employ people with different hobbies: someone who takes pictures, engages in music, or participates in volunteer programs. If, with the help of top managers and HR specialists, the company manages to allow employees to show creativity, engagement will increase. Employees will feel like they are not just a productivity resource but people who are interesting both as specialists and by themselves. New conditions require new solutions and mental restructuring from both people and businesses.

Comparing these recommendations with the approaches of my organization, it should be mentioned that there are a number of discrepancies. The fact is that when switching to a remote type of employment in a pandemic, employees were not given the proper level of attention. This is reflected in the organization’s seeking to preserve traditional interaction methods and tracking employee performance indicators in a completely new environment. In addition, this was supported by the fact that managers did not seek to conduct any surveys that would allow them to assess the level of employee satisfaction.

Toggl, in turn, strives to create conditions under which proper communication will be built. Thus, employees feel that they are involved in the internal process of the organization’s work and are not just semblance of freelance workers. In my organization, the significant problem was that the lack of readiness for transformation was reflected in the lack of understanding of the direction of the company’s activities. This is expressed in the fact that there are no platforms for providing news about operational activities within the business. Consequently, employees’ motivation gradually decreased, as they did not understand how the company was being restructured and transformed.

Thus, in conditions of reduced opportunities for non-material incentive measures and the potential need to maintain a remote form of work sufficiently long term, companies need to develop and implement new practical measures to stimulate motivation and employee engagement adapted to the circumstances. Intellectual workers are interested in continuous development and self-improvement. Since, in the conditions of a pandemic, it is impractical to attend events in person, the role of online seminars, courses, and training is increasing. The employer’s emphasis must not be on paying the seminar employee who liked it but on organizing a unique event for their employees. The company should contribute to the team’s preservation and maintenance of informal ties.

References

Nair, J., & Vasudev, B. (2020). Toggl’s fully remote operating model. IBS Center for Management Research, 1–6.

Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. (2022). Organizational Behavior. Pearson.

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Toggl’s Fully Remote Operating Model

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