Working from Home the Smart Way: 3 Tips to Unify the Workforce

Featured article by Remi del Mar, Epson

Just past the halfway point of 2016 and the workforce is continuing to see the number of remote employees increasing. In fact, currently, 3.7 million employees work from home at least half the time and 80 to 90 percent of the US workforce prefers telecommuting part time. As this employee preference continues to grow, businesses looking to retain top talent are revisiting their work from home (WFH) policies with as many as 54 percent of respondents according to a Wainhouse Research report commissioned by Epson planning to adopt enticing WFH initiatives. In order to successfully launch a viable WFH policy, businesses must revamp their technological offerings to ensure that all employees, whether remote or in-office, are able to connect, engage and collaborate seamlessly to achieve maximum results.

For CIOs and IT managers, telecommuting initiatives present an entirely different set of obstacles and considerations. However, with the proper technological deployments these obstacles can be overcome.

Below are three ways technology can be leveraged to best manage a growing remote workforce:

1. Use BYOD to your advantage

Even though telecommuting employees aren’t physically in the office, the devices they use while remote – laptops, computers, smart phones – need to serve as the bridge that connects them to the workplace. Through interactive display solutions in meeting rooms and huddle spaces, participants all across the globe can have the ability to interact, interface and conduct business as usual. Using BYOD to their advantage, CIOs and IT managers can keep financial overhead at a minimum for the business all the while fostering a productive and collaborative environment.

2. Secure network access for all participants regardless of location

For all of the good that WFH initiatives bring to the table with regard to employee sentiment, there is one glaring concern that is top of mind for CIOs and IT managers – security. As crucial enterprise data now becomes scattered across multiple devices via widespread BYOD adoption (see #1 above), maintaining a secure connection to safeguard this information becomes paramount. When incorporating telecommuting employees into standing meetings, trainings and brainstorms, leveraging technology that operates on a virtual private network (VPN) will help mitigate the threat of malware and infection. In an ideal world, the collaborative technology utilized would take the VPN one step further and allow for the presenter to share a customized link to the secure network access complete with unique log-in credentials and pin. Given that the credentials shared are for one-time use, the integrity and safety of the network is preserved, making it exponentially more difficult for a breach or lapse in security to occur.

3. Contribute, take notes, share

Whether employees have to attend a meeting or training from a cab as they rush to the airport, from the comfort of their home office or from corporate headquarters, all participants need to have the ability to contribute to a presentation, take notes and distribute meeting collateral and action items in real time. Interactive technology that incorporates each component of the traditional meeting and streamlines the efficiency and productivity of the time teams have together is what CIOs and IT managers should strive to implement. Specifically, technology that makes once analog practices digital. Meaning, giving a white board, easel pads and sticky notes (among others) a digital footprint that facilitates the creation and dissemination of information.

The growing number of employees electing to work remote presents a new set of considerations for CIOs and IT managers to keep in mind, as businesses and workers alike aspire to maintain a constant level of work despite potential technological barriers. The key to success, however, lies in the adoption of the appropriate technology that unifies the workforce, protects the business from security threats and enables interactive engagement in real time.