In the COVID-19 era, employees have found a silver lining in the rather big global pandemic cloud in the form of “work from anywhere” technology. While statistics differ, there is evidence in the U.S. that at least a third of employees are working from home, at least part of the time. It’s good for employees: it cuts out lengthy and expensive commutes, improves work-life balance, and has not been shown to correspond to a drop in productivity.
Challenges remain, however, not least because of technology challenges, such as network and connectivity insufficiency. Australian performance management and analytics company IR recently announced the findings of research undertaken in conjunction with Ecosystm, a digital research and advisory platform. The study revealed that nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of employees prefer the “work from anywhere” model, and 50 percent want the choice of where to work to be left up to them. At the same time, though, more than one-third (35 percent) continue to face technology issues – specifically, network and connectivity issues – that create subpar experiences.
Certainly, there are certain basic requirements in terms of connectivity, hardware, and software for effective remote work. But, even with those in place, workers have challenges. Technology teams can mitigate some of these ongoing challenges through better monitoring of network, application, and device performance, and alerting employees on interoperability issues.
Security is also a very real concern, and businesses must not only have effective security solutions in place, but need complete visibility into their network and device ecosystem to prevent security incidents. Having full visibility of usage and potential threats is key.
Organizations can also better shape their hybrid work environments and improve efficiencies by listening to employees proactively. Feedback from employees on their technology needs and preferences along with addressing interoperability issues will enable organizations to build a customized working model best suited for them.
"In addition to improving network security and mitigating cyber threats, organizations must implement technologies to enhance employee experience,” said John Ruthven, CEO and Managing Director of IR. “Employees are constantly shifting between collaboration platforms such as Zoom, Teams and WebEx depending on their preferences and the nature of the interaction.”
Remote and hybrid models are part of the future of work. It’s up to businesses to ensure their employees and IT teams have the tools to navigate them successfully.
Edited by
Erik Linask
