Cementing remote work as a viable, positive evolution of the traditional approach to professional relationships and responsibilities is among the few positives the pandemic brought about. Now that the dust has largely settled, a debate on the benefits and necessity of remote work is becoming active again.
The external circumstances have changed, but remote work remains beneficial for everyone. Here’s how it helps employers and employees alike, and what you can do to successfully mitigate the data security challenges it poses.
How Remote Work Benefits Employers
The remote work discussion most often centers on employee advantages. While they’re absolutely worth highlighting, employers who aren’t aware of benefits in their own favor might need more incentives. Luckily, there are plenty of impactful ones.
Cost savings are just the most obvious one. Even if you can’t get out of a multi-year office space lease, remote work still lets you save considerably on running costs like utility bills or amenities provided to on-site employees.
Remote work is a great talent pool equalizer. It means you can grow your employee base by hiring individuals with the exact skillsets you need, when you need them, regardless of local availability limitations.
Offering remote work opportunities also makes you a more competitive employer. Happy employees make for low turnover rates, and remote work is a perk that goes a long way towards fostering employee loyalty.
Attendance also rises. A checkup or an unavoidable errand might have caused an office worker to miss an entire day. It now becomes a minor inconvenience that will only push back their daily work schedule by a couple of hours. Similarly, employees with flare-ups or minor illnesses are far more likely to put in at least some work when affected.
Why Employees Love Remote Work
Time and again, studies keep reaffirming how remote work is a net positive for most employees. It affects every facet of their work life, most often for the better.
Employers and workers alike prioritize productivity, and here the results are clear. Leaving the office has little to no negative impact on productivity. If anything, the lack of micromanagement and constant distractions helps people prioritize and focus on tasks. As long as everyone is on the same page regarding expectations and availability, meaningful work gets done reliably.
More time management freedom is another plus that helps remote employees thrive. People experience their creative and productive peak at different times of day. Not having to suffer through a daily commute or the week’s third pointless meeting means there’s also more time in the day either to destress or power through tasks come crunch time.
Navigating office politics is a major cause of work stress and contributes to burnout. While it’s not a panacea, remote work reduces the likelihood of forming cliques and their impact on individuals’ mental well-being. Plus, the virtual watercooler provides a more curated experience compared to the real one, letting colleagues socialize without belittling others.
Flexibility is remote work’s greatest strength. The sense of control this affords is both liberating and empowering. An employee who makes their own working hours (within reason and while meeting obligations) and can make changes on the fly is more motivated and enjoys a greater work-life balance. Everyone benefits in the end.
What Risks Does Remote Work Pose to Data Security?
Greater susceptibility to cyberattacks is a valid criticism of switching to remote work. After all, employees leave the highly secure and tightly controlled confines of the company’s internal networks to do their work from who knows where. Even so, the risk is only higher if you fail to implement the necessary countermeasures.
Access control is a pertinent example. Compromised credentials can expose client data, intellectual property, and other sensitive information that could jeopardize a company’s reputation. Restricting remote users through role-based access controls and improving account security with multi-factor authentication limits access and the scope of damage if an attacker does manage to gain it.
How remote employees connect to company networks matters as well. Mandating a VPN ensures that the connection remains encrypted and secure, even if they access the network through public Wi-Fi. Travel eSIMs are a better alternative to public networks. They use the considerably safer local cell tower infrastructure while offering flexible data plans at reasonable prices. eSIMs are especially useful for digital nomads and other travelers.
An adequate eSIM service should prioritize security and ease of use. Remote employees should easily be able to activate, top up, and use their eSIM data plans. For instance, when getting an eSIM Asia package, the activation process should be seamless and instant as soon as you land in the country.
Moreover, the service should also offer round-the-clock customer support and quick problem resolution to ensure as little productivity as possible is lost in the event of technical issues.
Data backup and encryption round out the crucial protection measures you need to take. The contents of encrypted data remain protected even if someone compromises your networks and steals it. Sensitive data needs to be encrypted both when stored locally and in transit.
Backups prevent data loss due to cyberattacks like ransomware. They’re also a must for quickly resuming operations after outages or unforeseen natural disasters. Following the 3-2-1 backup principle is a good start, but larger enterprises may need more robust measures.
