Planning to work from home? Learn about the benefits of a remote workforce

benefits of a remote workforce

Working remotely is no longer an unusual emergency allowance, it is now a typical offer that applies to a wide variety of jobs.

Some companies struggle to properly manage the compliance of their remote personnel. A common inconvenience when it comes to employees working from different provinces or states, or even other countries, it’s a disconnection between compliance measures, location tracking, and policies.

Among other issues, we find the provision of effective collaboration and communication tools.

Key benefits of a remote workforce

key-benefits-from-proper-remote-workforce

There are many benefits to having a remote workforce. Not only can you save on costs, but you can also improve your productivity.

With a properly implemented remote workforce, businesses can benefit from increased employee collaboration, stronger employee engagement, access to global labor pools, and, as a result, the same security levels as in-office environments.

Here are a few of the key advantages of a connected and organized remote workforce.

Improved informational sharing

Some staff members performing at home might hoard needed information. The now days business runs on data, and knowledge hoarding can limit innovation and hamper the customer experience. 

This problem existed decades before Covid-19, except for some companies, remote working exacerbates data hoarding. However, it should be noted that the pandemic accelerated the digitization of services and remote work dynamics, as well as the problems associated with these practices.

At-home workers sometimes don’t use the company cloud networks to store data, or they mix their personal and work data into the company’s network. This also puts pressure thereon to take care of data compliance standards, and to remain within employee privacy guidelines if data is mixed.

However, there’s a chance with a properly implemented remote workforce to extend collaboration through better information sharing. IT can give remote staff better processes to share data through new technology or procedures. This might include directions on deleting old emails, files, and other non-essential content, as per company and any regulatory guidelines.

It offers a chance to scale back the quantity of such data, in order that more insights are often drawn from the info that matters. It’s also how to prevent “cloud sprawl”, which happens when firms navigate a variety of cloud providers and structures, like hybrid, private, and public clouds.

Reduce silos with collaboration

Leaders in IT and company should work together to scale back remote work silos. Consistent with one study of Microsoft workers published within the journal ‘Nature Human Behavior’, people performing from home during the pandemic became more siloed.

They were less dynamic and weren’t as likely to form new connections within their company, compared to once they worked within the office before Covid-19. Correcting this problem could require adding communication tools, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, to a company that previously used just email or personal device texting.

The Microsoft employee study notes remote work requires changing communication methods: “For example, previous research has shown that establishing a rapport, which is a crucial precursor to knowledge transfer, is impeded by email use, which in-person and phone/video communication are more strongly related to positive team performance than email and instant message (IM) communication.”

C-suite executives and IT leadership that improve communication will see broad benefits. These include better collaboration, improved innovation, transparency, and trust between departments and therefore the end consumers.

Lowered security risks

Reinforce-your-remote-workforce-cybersecurity

A remote workforce can help to mitigate some cybersecurity risks associated with a traditional office setting.

A globally operating remote workforce presents a number of security challenges. Companies can manage these risks and maximize the expertise and productivity of worldwide teams by managing security with the proper policies and technologies.

Here are some proven ways to scale back exposure:

  • As collaboration and data sharing improve, there’s increased strain on VPN networks. IT must bolster VPNs to handle the bandwidth strain, while also ensuring data is fully encrypted and guarded from outside agents.
  • Require strong passwords with multi-factor authentication, and encourage changing passwords frequently. Businesses also are headed towards biometrics like fingerprint and even voiceprint as how to verify identities that’s far more difficult to hack.
  • Companies should consider providing employees with corporate laptops and phones to stop blending of private and professional data and tasks.
  • IT teams that put in situ strict remote work security policies on the front can then free time for revenue-generating projects and innovation, rather than managing a disconnected group of worldwide workers. They will improve collaboration tools, utilize AI, perform data analyses, and other functions that spur innovation and growth.

The productivity gains from remote work only happen when companies develop strong remote workforce structures. This needs a breadth of policies and changes including: improving information sharing, adding collaboration tools, and shoring security to make sure workers can access data without potential devastation of a breach.

Within the broader sense, remote workforces need some structure and predictability. For instance, when managing global teams, you would possibly get to set variable meeting times to account for zone differences. Workers got to know what others do within the organization, and understand how their role fits into the larger picture.

Conclusion

When planning to start working from home, it is important to learn how to properly work from a remote location. This includes setting up the necessary tools and software, as well as developing good work habits and protocols.

But having a remote workforce involves much more than simply following work-from-home protocols. 

Preparing your staff properly for remote work requires the reinforcement of cybersecurity measures, workflow monitoring and discipline. It could be summarized as educating the employee to be able to meet the objectives and not affect the work dynamics.

Let’s remember that a proper remote workforce strategy can bring several benefits. It can even increase productivity, as well as the well-being and work structure of both, employees and the team in general.

Are you ready to work remotely?

You might be interested in:

The 12 most in demand jobs this 2022

An affordable version of Microsoft Teams for small businesses

Home Office Security – Never too late to evaluate

Call us

Got questions? Get Answers

Get Our Free Video Guide Now!