Making Sure Your Remote Staff Can Operate Professionally

 

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Switching to a remote workforce can be tough. But remember that it’s not only you who will be impacted by this change to standard operating procedures. Your staff may find the change difficult to adjust to as well! By taking steps to ensure that your staff settle into the change well, you can maintain high levels of staff retention, maximise productivity and more. So, it’s more than worth your time, money and effort. Here are a few areas that you can focus on to ensure your remote staff can work as professionally as possible from their own homes!

Protect Them from Cybercrime

Cybercriminals are well aware that increasing numbers of companies are going remote. They know that staff who aren’t used to working remotely are particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks, as they don’t have experience of what cyber criminals do and what to watch out for. This means, your staff are much more likely to be targets of cyber crime now than ever before. So, protect them. Not only is this important for them, but it’s important for your business too. You don’t want to find yourself the victim of a data breach or data leak which could negatively impact your business’ image and reputation. So, protect your staff from cyber crime. You can achieve this by:

• Train Staff in Cybersecurity - this will help to make them aware of potential threats, such as phishing emails. The easier they can recognise these threats, the less likely they are to fall prey to them.

• Offer a VOIP Phone System - this stands for voice over internet protocol and is a form of online telecommunications system that staff can use to securely call others through an internet connection. It’s much more secure than them using their own phones or other devices to contact one another, clients, or anyone else.

• Provide Devices - by providing your staff with devices to work from, rather than expecting them to use their own, you can ensure firewall and other protective software is installed, minimising threats through the device.

Maintain Communication

This is a time where people are feeling more isolated as it is. Why? Well, the guidelines and restrictions laid out by governments to reduce and slow the spread of coronavirus have impacted more areas of life than work alone. Many staff may not be spending time with their loved ones, able to engage in many social activities, or to do anything else they might want to do. Levels of boredom, loneliness and other negative emotions are sky high as it is. So, make sure to maintain communication with your staff on both a personal and professional level. Check in on them. Ensure they know they have a support network surrounding them. Ensure they know what they need to do in terms of work, reaching KPIs and deadlines. Maintaining a general level of communication will be highly beneficial all round!

These are just a couple of areas of focus you need to focus on to ensure your staff can operate well on a remote basis. Hopefully, you can implement them into your business and your business will benefit significantly as a result!