While the pandemic has challenged organizations in unprecedented ways, it has presented workers with a silver lining. While working from home, they have enjoyed newfound flexibility that they are not willing to go without. According to new research from Forrester commissioned by LogMeIn, nearly three-quarters of workers indicated that they want to work remotely in the future and 62% of them are happier when working remotely.
Effective anywhere work programs require meaningful investments, which cannot be implemented overnight. The effort required is well worth it, however. Organizations can successfully enable flexible working arrangements while attracting and retaining productive, happy and diverse talent by making sure they have the right technology and strong compliance measures in place.
With this in mind, here's a look at why technology and compliance are critical to a work-from-anywhere future, as well as some ways in which organizations can strengthen their capabilities in these areas.
How to select the right technology for an anywhere work strategy
As the Forrester study confirmed, technology is a major driver behind a successful anywhere work experience. Organizations that have the right technology to support remote work are far more likely to have satisfied employees than those that do not. Organizations may want to focus on reducing costs as they emerge from the pandemic into a next normal, but they may be overlooking the ROI they could gain from increased employee engagement and productivity.
Forrester's survey data revealed that IT decision-makers find it more difficult to support remote workers, but that's because they often don't have the right technology in place to make sure that employees have a positive experience. One way organizations can address this challenge is by proactively seeking input from the employees themselves. Eighty-nine percent of the high-satisfaction employees surveyed said that their company asks them about their technology experiences and takes action to make them better. Organizations should also consider giving equal weight to recommendations from IT and HR when evaluating potential technology investments. Eighty-two percent of surveyed decision-makers said the ideal way to make purchase decisions is with fairly even input from IT and HR. However, only 51% said their organization actually makes decisions that way today. Employees' responses highlighted a similar gap. Eighty-four percent of high-satisfaction employees stated that their organization's leadership chooses technology based on what's best for employees rather than just what's the cheapest option; only 61% of low-satisfaction employees indicated this was the case.
When it comes to the technology itself, organizations should prioritize collaboration technology because it is closely correlated with remote work satisfaction. Security and collaboration are better together, giving employees all the benefits of a collaborative work environment while minimizing the security risks associated with it. Password management tools help make this possible by automating key IT processes and providing IT teams with much-needed visibility into potential security threats. At the same time, through features like single sign-on (SSO), a password management solution can also simplify employee access and deliver a more productive remote work experience.
How strong compliance enables an anywhere work strategy
Strong compliance is essential to effective flexible work, but organizations have room for improvement in this area. Although 81% of decision-makers said their organizations are effective at ensuring personal privacy among remote and in-office workers, only 58% of surveyed employees are currently satisfied with their organizations' efforts. Furthermore, even though 76% percent of IT decision-makers believe a strong remote work technology suite would improve compliance, only 58 percent believe their suite is doing so today.
One way organizations can strengthen their compliance is by implementing effective compliance policies. Organizations themselves appear to understand this; thirty-eight percent of decision-makers surveyed said that it's a top priority to define policies more explicitly in the next year. The role of password security in the work from anywhere world cannot be overstated — without strong password management in place, employees and the business itself could fall victim to data breaches. With this in mind, consider evaluating your password policy as you review your compliance measures.
Many organizations require their employees to set a strong, unique password for each of their online accounts and update them on a regular basis, for example. That said, some employees still suffer from cognitive dissonance when it comes to password hygiene. According to the 2020 Psychology of Passwords report, 44% of employees use the same or similar passwords despite knowing this could increase their personal security risks. A password manager can set employees up for success by automatically generating a new secure password for each of their accounts, storing it in a secure online vault and automatically entering it on their behalf when they need to log in. It can also alert employees when their information appears on the dark web, giving them an opportunity to take timely action before any of their other accounts are compromised.
Education is also a critical component when it comes to ensuring compliance. Although employees are well aware that cyber attacks are increasing, they may perceive their own personal risk to be lower than it actually is. Forty-one percent of respondents to the 2020 Psychology of Passwords report think their accounts aren't valuable enough to be worth a hacker's time even though this is not the case. Employees may also not fully appreciate that by using insecure passwords or sharing passwords with their colleagues, they are putting themselves as well as the business at risk of a damaging data breach.
These commonly held assumptions put all organizations at risk, but they could have especially profound legal and reputational consequences for businesses in highly regulated industries. By providing regular security awareness trainings that explain the importance of proper password management in real world terms employees can easily understand, you can improve your overall organizational compliance.
Build an anywhere work strategy that drives business success
The future of remote work is bright, offering compelling benefits to employees and organizations alike. As the Forrester report notes, high-maturity organizations that invest in flexible work see improved employee engagement, improved productivity, increased revenue and reduced costs. Proper employee security and effective management will be key to success when making the transition, however. Organizations that select the right technology and adopt strong compliance measures will be especially well positioned to maximize the rewards of a work from anywhere strategy.
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