How to Embrace Telecommuting When It’s Your Company’s Worst Nightmare

How can you maximize your remote work experience and reduce cybersecurity risks? It would help if you first created a telecommuting policy.

• A comprehensive telecommuting policy should be created. This policy will cover eligibility, frequency, productivity and expectations.
• Make a plan to rectify telecommuting policy violations.
• Software, employee feedback and productivity software can help you determine whether your policy is a success.
• This article was written for managers and business owners who want to develop a telecommuting strategy that is effective for remote employees.

Effective telecommuting policies have been more critical since the pandemic. Many companies are now moving to permanent or hybrid remote offices. Employees must have clear guidelines to be productive and guided.

Brian Shapland is the sales director at Ancillary & Shared Spaces. He stated that allowing remote employees "attracts and retains top talent in a highly competitive marketplace." When granting remote access to your employees, you should think about how this affects employee engagement, team connectivity, and the vibrancy of the office culture.

Many employees want a better balance between their work and personal lives. Many employees want to find a better balance between work and life.

What is the importance of telecommuting?

The future of work is working from home. Gallup revealed that nearly 45% of U.S. workers work remotely, at least part-time. In addition, 60% of workers stated that productivity is the main reason they choose to work remotely or hybrid.

Companies that don't have a clear policy on telecommuting can fail. It is impossible for employees to become distracted when working remotely.

What has the COVID-19 pandemic done to telecommuting

Working from home used to be a luxury that few people could afford. All of this was changed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Remote workers were required to be available to companies to safeguard their employees.

According to Gallup, telecommuting is preferred by employees for the following reasons: Telecommuting is better for employees' health, flexibility, and productivity. They save time as they don't need to travel. These benefits were so attractive that 94% of respondents preferred hybrid or remote work arrangements (45%).

Workers are now more selective in choosing the companies they wish to work for after the pandemic. While competitive salaries are necessary, employee benefits can make a big difference in the retention and attraction of employees. This is due to the 10.4million job openings and "Great Resignation".

Employers need to be able to offer flexible work arrangements based on employee sentiment.

How do you create a telecommuting plan?

A good telecommuting policy will outline your expectations, define tools, and determine eligible positions. These tips will help you get started with your telecommuting plan.

• Define remote positions.
• Specificity is key. It is essential to set clear expectations and meet requirements.
• Establish a system of power that is efficient. Entrust managers can set benchmarks for remote workers. When will they check-in? What will they do? These procedures can be applied to your entire company if you have a small company. It doesn't matter how small or large your company is; it is essential to communicate clearly with your employees.
• Identify the tools that your employees need. You should identify which means you will use, what their purpose is and how they should work.
• Openness and simplicity are the keys.

Essential considerations in creating a telecommuting strategy

When deciding whether or not to allow telecommuting, employers should consider employees' attitudes, work ethics, and personalities. Although telecommuting may sound like a great perk, not everyone can work well when their boss isn’t available.

Phil Shawe is co-founder and CEO at TransPerfect. He said that managers should be open to all cases.

Kim Davis, a board member and ex-executive Vice President at NFP Benefits Broker, suggested setting eligibility guidelines. These guidelines can be based on the type of employee, the job performance and the frequency with which a staff member can telecommute.

1. Expectations regarding work hours

Remote work can be required to fulfil family commitments or schedules. Geographically dispersed groups can have different business hours from one another. Employers should trust telecommuters and allow them to work whenever they want.

Shapland said that it was crucial to establish clear expectations for employees. Shapland stated that it was essential to set clear expectations for employees.

Tip: Offer flexible scheduling and reduced hours if feasible for your company. If you have more information, these benefits can be included in your telecommuting policy.

Davis stated that employees need to be provided with clear guidelines and policies to understand and accept telecommuting arrangements. Davis said that employees should be given clear procedures and policies to understand and accept telecommuting arrangements.

1. Cybersecurity

Remote work poses a risk as corporate data workers directly connect to the outside world. This is something that many people forget. Hunter Hoffmann, AmTrust Financial Services' senior Vice-President for global marketing and communications and security, suggested that employees keep track of the devices and programs while working remotely. He said that security measures be put in place to protect against hacks and other breaches. It is wise to train employees to make a secure home office. Software that monitors employee productivity should be able to track and protect employees. These are our top choices for employee monitoring software.

Hoffmann stated that remote workers have a higher chance of communicating via an unsecured public network. Hoffmann noted that remote workers have a higher chance of communicating via an unsecured public network.

Davis said that employees who use company equipment for remote work should know that it is only used for work.

1. Communication methods

Because of their simplicity and ease, instant messaging and chat services are becoming the most preferred communication medium in many offices. Everyone can use these platforms within the team for quick discussions and collaboration. Remote workers must be able to make regular phone calls and video conferences to ensure that no text-based communication goes unanswered.

Tip: Video conferences can only be practical when they are used strategically. These ten tips will help you host a productive meeting.

Employing telecommuters full-time can help companies keep their culture alive. However, it is possible to use communication technology in the right way. Global key account executive for Ultra Fiberglass Systems, Reid Travis, stated that video-integrated communications are an integral part of the company's culture. He shared photos from work events and created a "fun chat" for remote employees to participate in discussions.

Travis stated that telecommuting could lead to feeling isolated and disconnected. Instead, employees should feel included and part of the team. It will help you be more productive and feel like you are making progress.

1. Policy abuse

While you want to hold your employees accountable and respectful when they use the remote work policy to your advantage, some may abuse it. Remote work is a privilege. Employees who fail to meet their expectations can have it revoked.

Shawe stated that it was possible to eradicate abuses of work-from-home policies by measuring at the individual and group levels and holding everyone responsible for the results.

He stated that managers must set ambitious but achievable goals for employees no matter where they are. The business and its employees will succeed if their systems can measure and translate relevant information into useful, digestible, and shared performance metrics.

How can you measure success if you have a remote job policy?

This is essential for creating and updating a teleworking program. This is a critical part of creating and changing a teleworking plan.

You can assess the effectiveness of your policy by regularly checking in with your colleagues. Remote workers can feel isolated from their coworkers. Meet remote workers and their managers. Ask questions about the procedure. These are all methods to evaluate your telecommuting policy to determine if it should be changed.

Sources:

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7749-create-telecommuting-policy.html

https://factorialhr.com/blog/telecommuting-software/