While remote employees often benefit a business when they’re effective, there is inherent risk that businesses must assume when they open the door to this form of work. Even prior to a world crisis that required the safety of employees be prioritized through remote work, more and more businesses were opening up to the idea and hiring remote employees. However, now more than ever, businesses are truly faced with the importance of finding a way to keep their remote employees safe and working effectively. For any business interested in learning how to do so, be sure to continue reading on and taking the time to check out the infographic accompanying this post.
First things first, it’s important for any business already offering their employees to continue their positions remotely to consider the ways in which this could negatively impact their business. Being prepared for situations such as the difficulty in managing remote staff can make all the difference in ensuring the time spent remote goes smoothest. For example, many managers may feel they’re more effective at enabling their staff when they’re in person and able to effectively communicate through any problems. Unfortunately, while working remotely, it’s not as simple as strolling into your manager’s office to discuss an issue at hand. Often times there will be delays in communication, which will also impact the way that collaborative work between departments is completed.
While there can be some operational issues to resolve, often times the toughest of challenges comes from additional liability that remote employees bring to their businesses. One example of this could be an employee being injured during their remote stint. Or maybe one of your remote employees has the laptop they needed to be able to work remotely stolen. The worst of these situations typically comes in the form of a network breach due to an employee’s poor security considerations. Ensuring you have the correct insurance policy for these sorts of issues is imperative when considering the challenges of enabling remote work.
The insurance policies that most businesses prioritize is known as first-party cyber liability insurance. These policies cover damages that are a result of these data breaches. Whether it be from stolen hardware or online schemes, it is important for companies to encourage their employees to be as safe as possible while conducting work remotely. It is for this very reason that the incorporation of VPNs, up to date firewalls, and antivirus software are so important in protecting a company’s data.
While many internal and third-party tools can keep a business protected from this additional liability, there are more considerations that can be made. For more information on how your business can stay defended, take a moment to consult the infographic featured alongside this post.
Author Bio: Stephanie Blahut is the Co-Founder and CEO for B2Z Insurance, a small business insurance provider. She has over 20 years of experience in B2B, B2C, and D2C marketing and focuses on all facets of digital and content marketing.