Every employer that can, needs to allow their employees to work from home as often as they can. Allowing remote and hybrid working is just smart. It’s how employers like yourself can offer perks that matter most and keep employees for longer. Think they’ll get distracted when working from home? They’re just as distracted at work. If someone comes and asks someone else a question, or just engages in small talk, that’s distracting. In fact, you’re actually more likely to have distracted employees in the office than at home.
That being said, WFH can only be possible if the setup at home is good enough. At a minimum, employees need a computer and fast enough internet to seamlessly remote in to the computers that you have at the office. They can then control the computer as they would if they were in the office, only without having to come in. If you need them to be more engaged, then they’ll need an even more advanced setup. It’s perfectly reasonable to only allow WFH if and when your employees’ home offices fulfil this checklist:
Fast internet is the bare standard. Set the minimum, and even find better internet for working from home yourself. If your area is covered by fiber optics, for example, you can request that employees who work from home have that internet. Depending on what their job entails, you can even require them to have 1gbps speeds for seamless remote work.
If your employees work from home the majority of the time, you can also downsize your office and save so much on rent and utilities, but unless you’re providing them with the computer anyway, you’ll want to add some hardware and software requirements for staff who want to work from home either full-time or most-of-the-time. This is particularly important when it comes to security measures and special software. Again, you can get around this most of the time by just using a remote-in system. This way, your computers can have the software and files needed, and your employees just need to be able to run that remote-in software, but it’s up to you and your workflows.
Seeing someone in crystal clear definition can improve the camaraderie and also communication. That’s why you’ll need your employees to have an HD camera setup and professional mike. These two things alone will help improve the quality of remote meetings and the engagement levels of all your staff.
Even with a digital-first mindset, there will always be instances where things need to be printed, scanned, and sent over. That’s why you’ll need your WFH staff to have a great printer that can do it all, and fast.
For best results, give your employees a checklist with specific requirements, including the system requirements. This is an absolutely fair compromise if you’re wary of allowing WFH to continue. From there, it’s just a matter of changing your management approach towards a results-focused approach, rather than a time-focused approach. Do this, and you will attract amazing talent that will work hard to stay in such a wonderful working environment.
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