Managing the Rise and Risks of Working from Home

Technology has made it possible. Can you imagine if the same situation had occurred 20 years ago — without smartphones, online videoconferencing, or, for that matter, reliable and widespread home internet connections?

This working-from-home experiment may have also ushered in a permanent change in how organisations operate and manage technology, as well as what employees demand from their employers. The International Labour Organization estimates that in high-income countries, 27 percent of workers could work remotely. While that doesn’t necessarily mean they will do so going forward, the remote-work habits these workers have formed during the pandemic raise the possibility of a shift in that direction. When companies such as Twitter and Facebook announce that their employees can now work from home permanently, other organisations are bound to follow suit – or risk losing ground to competitors who give their employees such flexibility.

Building a better foundation for remote work

Organisations that anticipate this shift will be in a better position to manage it. That will involve adopting policies – and technology – that govern how their employees work both onsite and remotely. For starters, organisations will need to ensure their employees have the equipment they need to work effectively regardless of their location. It will be more important than ever to use up-to-date technology that protects the security of information employees can access from home, and to reinforce it with ongoing training on such cyber protections as using multi-factor authentication, choosing strong passwords and updating them regularly, and identifying phishing emails and potential breaches. VPN connections, commonly used to help employees work from home, require extra vigilance and maintenance to prevent hackers from infiltrating them. The same is true of personal mobile devices, which companies are increasingly allowing employees to use to conduct work.

Beyond the cybersecurity challenges remote work can pose, managing the productivity of remote workers can be challenging as well. Technology that tracks employee productivity and encourages team collaboration and communication can help – though old-fashioned human connection will require more focus within organisations too, and will be critical to reinforcing brand values in a more decentralised workforce. That could mean creating more frequent opportunities for sharing feedback, identifying mentoring partnerships and other opportunities to encourage professional development, checking in regularly about work, connecting socially, and providing mental health resources for employees struggling with isolation.

“As we emerge from the pandemic, many organisations will need to be able to adapt to support remote work – as a business continuity precaution and as a means of attracting and retaining talent,” said Alex Smith, Regional Underwriting Lead for Technology at Travelers Europe. “That will require them to monitor and fine-tune their technology on an ongoing basis, protect against technology risks, and develop policies that help ensure employees are using systems and software to everyone’s benefit.”