In light of recent global events, many organisations have had to forego traditional ways of working and transition to remote work environments. With uncertainty in multiple facets of our everyday lives, it’s important that businesses do everything they can to provide a positive employee experience for their workforce, ultimately supporting business continuity.
The Current State of Remote Work
So, what happens if a large proportion of an organisation’s employees are suddenly working from home? For most organisations, the type of scenario many of us experienced this year is unprecedented. With a transition to remote work, there are physical, cultural, and technological aspects to take into consideration. From a physical perspective, many employees will have to turn part of their home into a workspace and then share this workspace with other members of their family who are also at home. Culturally, some employees will miss the daily human interaction that an office provides while they are working from home. And then there are the technology implications to consider. Will employees be able to bring home a company laptop or desktop or have to use a personal device? What if a corporate laptop breaks or needs servicing? Can the organisation’s VPN handle the capacity to support this large influx of remote users?
While this might seem like a lot to think about, asking these questions upfront will allow organisations to build a more comprehensive plan to deal with a distributed workforce. The more prepared an organisation is for unprecedented circumstances, the smoother the transition away from traditional work environments will be, and the easier it will be for employees to adjust to this new normal and remain productive.
Focus on Employee Experience
At the end of the day, the most important piece of the business continuity puzzle is an organisation’s people and their experiences. Josh Olson, Head of Experience Solutions at VMware, said it best: “business continuity is a team sport.” Employers must facilitate an environment where IT and HR work together to provide employees with the tools, like digital workspaces, virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and app virtualisation technology, to effectively do their jobs no matter where they are physically located. With this teamwork in place, employees will be satisfied, and business will continue as smoothly as possible.
Adopting a remote-first strategy can have lasting positive implications for an organisation and overall employee experience. Although many organisations and their employees have recently felt the effects of life’s unpredictability, implementing a successful remote-first strategy doesn’t have to be stressful. In fact, there are a number of secrets to success when it comes to remote-first working and Employee Experience. Some of these best practices include:
- Hosting virtual happy hours
- Ensuring that all corporate resources are readily available and stored in a single, secure location
- Turning video on by default for virtual meetings
- Utilising real-time collaboration tools.
Following these tips will not only set remote employees up for success, but also help them feel more connected to their colleagues.
To learn more about how VMware and TD SYNNEX can protect your business continuity, click here.