What to Consider When Implementing a Remote Work Policy

With today’s technology, building an effective workforce with remote employees is much simpler. Hiring a remote workforce offers cost-saving opportunities as well as increased productivity and skilled talent accessibility. Implementing a work-from-home policy, however, can be difficult since there are many factors employers need to consider beforehand.

Analyze the Need for a Remote Workforce

With social distancing recommended to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies resort to a work-from-home policy. But there are other reasons why companies might look to a dispersed workforce and institute a remote work policy.

Reach a Broader Talent Pool

By embracing a remote work policy, you open the door to an additional talent pool. This is especially important when you’re looking for experts not available in the immediate geographical area of your business. Candidates who might be unwilling to commute or relocate will also become available.

Hiring top-qualified candidates without worrying about geographic restrictions eliminates relocation expenses. And, in case of a mismatch, there’s a lot less hassle involved in parting ways for you and the employee.

Extend Your Workforce

Companies also seek to implement a remote work policy to extend their on-premise teams. For example, when creating more workspaces would require extensive financial investment (e.g., changing venues), hiring remote employees gives companies access to the necessary workforce without the need to augment the office>.

Another aspect to consider remote employees is to hire a team versed in a specific field. The remote team will act as an extension to an existing department to boost their area of expertise.

Evaluate Eligibility

Determine which employees and departments are eligible to work from home. Only employees whose duties don’t require a physical presence at the office can be offered a remote work policy.

Making the employees aware of their remote work eligibility early on helps eliminate potential future inquiries regarding remote work. You should state which employees are remote-eligible in the policy.

Estimate Cost-Saving Opportunities

A remote workforce can be used to introduce a considerable cost-saving opportunity. In the long-term, remote employees let companies save money on real estate, electricity, technology, equipment, and other costs.

The shift to a remote workforce could potentially generate $700 billion/year if half of eligible employees in the US worked from home.

To determine how substantial the cost-saving opportunity could be, calculate the cost of real estate per employee. If removing eligible employees from the equation significantly helps your bottom line, then embracing a remote workforce policy could yield considerable yearly savings.

Establish Your Readiness

To harness the benefits a remote workforce offers, you should evaluate the available software and hardware. Check how much it would cost you to offer a complete remote-work solution for every eligible employee. You can also compare the expenses with the earlier real estate calculation per employee to arrive at a tangible figure.

To build an efficient remote workforce, you’ll need:

• Fast internet connection. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, many countries around the world reported poor internet connection. The slow connection was caused by the sudden surge in online traffic. To mitigate a possible loss in connection quality, consider having an alternative provider. Also, invest in reliable and highly performant internet providers.
• Efficient notification system. For important updates and announcements to your remote workforce as well as emergency notification, consider implementing a mass notification solution.
• Quality interactive communication tools. When telecommuting, a rich experience is critical to employee performance and engagement. Invest in remote work tools that offer interactive solutions to working remotely. To facilitate communication among employees, you should also consider implementing a communication hub where employees can connect.
• Appropriate hardware. You might either provide your employees with appropriate devices (laptops, tablets, mobile phones) to carry out their tasks or introduce a Bring Your Own Device policy.
• Productivity tools. To keep employees engaged and track their performance and progress, consider using management tools such as Trello or JIRA. Employee productivity trackers are also worth considering (e.g., Asana, Time Doctor).

Security

Security is of paramount importance when it comes to a remote workforce. The first thing to do when preparing a remote work policy is designating a dedicated IT security team. The security team will ensure the remote work infrastructure is safe and always up to date.

Other important factors to consider:

• Organize awareness workshops. Make employees more aware of possible attack vectors and best practices to avoid them. Have security policies in place that outline what to do in case of a variety of attacks.
• Install appropriate security software solutions All devices assigned to remote employees should have the whole set of technology solutions installed (e.g., firewall, VPN, antivirus software, encryption tools, server protection).
• Ensure security patches and updates are performed regularly. Potential software vulnerabilities might be exploited if left unattended. Your IT security team needs to actively seek for any potential entry points.

Remote Work Policy Can Give Your Workforce a Boost

Remote work is an increasingly effective initiative in today’s business world, where companies can leverage modern technology like meeting and portal solutions to achieve industry-specific objectives. When implemented, a remote work policy can result in a significant boost to your company. By increasing performance, output, and expertise with remote employees, you can save money, improve quality, and keep employees safe.