As COVID-19 affects companies and employees, the nation is transitioning to a remote workforce for the foreseeable future. We are here to help you navigate this process to maximize your productivity without sacrificing security.
What is telecommuting?
Telecommuting can be defined as a setup where an employee works outside of a company’s central office, warehouse, plant, or store. An employee may work at home, on the road, or in a satellite location for all or part of their workweek. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many employers are now advising non-essential employees to work from home specifically.
Differences between telecommuting vs. remote work
While similar, telecommuting, and remote work have distinct characteristic
s. Telecommuting, or telework, can be defined as employees working outside of the office but within the geographic area of the office. Under normal circumstances, they can be at the work site when necessary. Remote work implies that the employee lives outside of the geographic area of the work site but can also be defined as working away from the office on a more permanent basis.
Telecommuting pros and cons
Work-from-home policies are essential in situations such as a public health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic or other major business disruption that prevent employees from physically coming into work. While many businesses and employees may currently be required to work from home, there are many telecommuting pros and cons to consider if you’re considering putting a policy into place.
Collaboration tools and videoconferencing
Applications such as WebEx and Zoom are popular videoconferencing tools to leverage for meetings and periodic check-ins. This can also help employees – who may be struggling with feelings of isolation since they no longer have daily face-to-face interactions with teammates – stay connected to others. Your coronavirus telework policy may want to address which technologies are approved to use, as well as any training for using them.
Protect important information with remote cybersecurity measures
As noted above, businesses may be vulnerable to cybersecurity threats when employees are home and working online. To mitigate potential threats, make sure that you follow cybersecurity best practices around passwords and approved programs, and communicate these guidelines to employees.
