There is no one size fits all approach when it comes to ensuring your workforce is set up for success. Businesses are faced with multiple challenges to adapt to when considering how to support employee productivity.
With increased demand for flexible working, while still accommodating employees who want to be office based, or take a hybrid approach there are a number of elements to consider.
This 5-step plan aims to give you a good start when evaluating how your business operates and where to start when it comes to ensuring you have the right technology and communication strategies in place to ensure the success of your people and your business.
Step 1 – Evaluating your Workforce
Understanding your workforce is a good place to start, this will help you get to grips with the type of tools employees need access to, so you can ensure they can be productive within their role and that the business is supporting them in the right way.
Here are some areas to consider:
- Where is your workforce based?
- How do your employees communicate internally?
- What tools are currently available to your employees?
- Is your current strategy or workforce toolkit scalable?
Remote working experts have estimated that hybrid working arrangements could result in around 25% of working days transferring to remote work.
Step 2 – What are your Technology Objectives?
Technology has a critical role in offering flexible working. Your employees need to be able to work seamlessly from anywhere at any time, and there needs to be ease of connectivity between people in the office and those working remotely.
You should consider the following:
- Support employees in to use all available technology, as well as using them in a way that supports health and wellbeing.
- Review systems and equipment available within offices and assess whether it will transition to support remote working.
- Provide a range of tools to enable hybrid meeting and collaboration.
- Ensure you have appropriate security measures in place to maintain system and data integrity when employees are working remotely.
- Consider whether other equipment can support effective and healthy remote working. This could be the provision of office furniture or mobile devices.
Step 3 – Consider Employee Wellbeing
Employee performance is key to business success, and research shows that employers who invest in the wellbeing of their workforce see a positive impact on their business outcomes.
Here are some areas to consider when looking at how you can support employee wellbeing:
- Creating communities, this can encourage employees to stay connected with their co-workers personally and professionally
- Leading by example, line managers should encourage their team to take time for themselves, ensure they are taking lunch breaks and not working additional hours.
- Encourage a work life balance, set clear guidelines around the business stance on flexible working so your employees can get the balance just right.
Step 4 – Choose the Right Solution
Remote workers still face incredible challenges and frustration when they don’t have the right tools to keep them aligned with the rest of the organisation. So how are these challenges overcome? What solutions can be put in place and how do you know which solution is right for you?
- A Platform to Unify your Business Communications
Unified Communications is a reliable infrastructure which enables businesses to integrate all of the ways they communicate, including voice, video, and data. It’s easy to deploy and roll out to employees around the world, as well as being a cost-effective solution. And, crucially, it can help to facilitate remote working and communication between teams in different places - A Business-Grade Mobile Service
Traditionally, businesses have been hamstrung by limited access to good value, reliable mobile data services, often having to rely on products initially created for the consumer market. Your employees will have a wide range of requirements from their mobile service, from using it to make and receive calls, to it becoming a potential source of connectivity should their home broadband fail.
- An Integrated Cloud Based Phone System
Hosted phone systems have long replaced traditional desk phones and taken advantage of today’s high-speed broadband and mobile technology. Combining fixed and mobile telephony into a user-controlled online interface equips employees with powerful and flexible usability features to ensure they have the full fat technology they are used to at their office when based remotely. Many cloud-based phone systems offer CRM integration – this can be an easy way to ensure your teams can access the right contact details for customers and suppliers for mobile workers.
Step 5 – Implementation
Once you’ve found the right communication solution for your business the final step is implementing your business change. Engage with your supplier early so that they can get to know your business and offer their knowledge and support to ensure your implementation is smooth and your business can have a straightforward transition.
Give us a call today to discuss how our Account Management Team can help your business choose the right solution for your needs.