Businesses were forced to react to the impact of Covid-19 with little time to prepare their employees for remote working. Many businesses scrambled to provide “temporary” remote working solutions that were never intended for long term use.
It now looks like remote working is here to stay in some form or another for the longer term. What have we learned so far, and what should we do to improve?
Is your business doing enough to ensure remote workers are both productive and secure?
Feedback from employees working remotely
Growing numbers of employees in various businesses worldwide report that they “lack the tools and services for effective home working”. Many say their “employer is not taking remote working serious enough”. Some saying they “often have to improvise and use a mix of home laptops, free file sharing tools and even use their personal mobile phones to communicate with customers”.
The negative side effects
Employees report that the lack of services and tools is demotivating, impacting productivity and loyalty to their employer.Business stakeholders are often unaware of the negative impact on employees. Many are unaware of the increased risk of data loss and cybersecurity breaches due to improvised setups.
Time to review and take action
Everyone accepts that emergency measures had to be taken in unprecedented times. However, businesses must review the suitability of the tools and services it provides to remote workers to ensure they are fit for purpose. Any investment will help keep employees motivated, productive and secure in times of change.
Remote Worker Checklist – Increase productivity and cybersecurity
Based on common pain points reported by remote workers, we have devised a simple checklist to help you get started.
- Ensure your employees can securely share files and documents with their peers. Note that remote access VPN’s are often sluggish and cumbersome over slower broadband connections
- Ensure the devices your employees use to connect to your business systems have adequate security protection, such as encryption, security domain joined, password-protected, antivirus and are routinely patched and updated by your IT provider (Try to avoid home laptops as they tend to lack security and internet usage discipline which can lead to malware and spyware)
- Ensure your employees have high-quality internet connectivity and that it’s not impacting overall performance
- Employees should be able to make and receive phone calls just like they did in the office. Consider providing them with a familiar desk phone (using voice over IP) or a softphone that connects to your office phone system or cloud-based phone system. (same number everywhere)
- Setup Microsoft Teams for internal and external video conference calls.
Consider integrating Microsoft Teams with your phone system. Give your employees the ability to make and receive regular phone calls from within the Microsoft Teams platform and mobile app.
Vividblock Remote worker bundle
Vividblock has the “remote worker bundle” consisting of productivity tools, support and security services. The bundle is designed to make it easier to understand and avail of essential business services for remote workers.
In some cases additional services can be added or modified, please contact us to discuss your specific remote worker requirements.
