The idea of sending out a presentation or an email to a client from a hiking trail or a coffee shop in a remote town is fast becoming a new norm for professionals. As long as people have a reliable connection and a hardy laptop, they can work from just about anywhere. With technology only getting better and more affordable, remote working is gradually becoming a viable option ― not just for employees, but for employers as well.

The concept of remote working first came into prominence in the early 1990s with the arrival of the modern internet. However, for most organisations, offering employees the option to work from home was, until recently, an exception rather than the rule. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed how we look at working from home — or for that matter, anywhere but the office. The ongoing pandemic is redefining and redesigning the ‘workplace,’ with technology bridging the gap between employers, employees, and consumers across the globe.

At this point, there is no definite answer to when the pandemic will end. To ensure businesses continue running smoothly, and the workforce remains as engaged and agile as in the pre-Covid times, organisations need to be ready with a long-term strategy for remote working. Empowering employees with the newest technologies, applications, and cloud-based capabilities according to their needs can improve overall operational efficiency and business productivity.

A virtually connected, engaged, and agile global workforce offers several benefits. Studies reveal that remote working has led to enhanced employee productivity. Workers are 13 per cent more productive and take fewer sick leaves compared to their office counterparts. This means remote employees work an extra 1.4 days per month that add up to nearly 17 additional workdays a year.

With remote working a viable option, organisations can also get access to a wider pool of potential talent across the world. For millennials, the freedom from a 9-5 office routine is a key factor when looking for a new opportunity. It has been found that for 80 per cent of young talent, remote working is a key consideration when picking a job. Unfettered by the need for an office, organisations can look to hire from anywhere around the globe and minimise the risk of losing on-ground talent to nimbler organisations. When employees predominantly work from home, companies can save a significant portion of real estate costs.

Re-imagine the global workplace

A recent Gartner survey states that 74 per cent of the CFOs of global companies plan to shift at least 5 per cent of their on-site employees to a work-from-home model permanently post-Covid. It is increasingly clear why.

Will physical workplaces disappear in the future? Certainly not, but the workplace, as we know today, will take a new meaning: a place that encourages flexibility and promotes wellness, collaboration, and innovation. As employees expect greater flexibility in deciding whether to work remotely or from the office, enterprises will have to rethink the purpose of their workplaces.

The workplace of the future is no longer a swanky office, but a collaborative environment ― both virtual and physical. This means redesigning the physical workplace to promote innovation, collaboration, and flexible work arrangements. People still need to come together to iterate, experiment, discuss, and create. Future workspaces will rely on visual cues, emotion, empathy, ethics, teamwork, and social context.

They will need tools and technologies to help people see and explore the art of the possible, such as 4K screens, 3-D printers, and interactive whiteboards. These spaces allow multidisciplinary teams to assemble and integrate agile development methodologies with customer experience methods such as customer journey mapping or design thinking.

They also need to be capable of being assembled rapidly, allowing teams to work as required in the moment. While employees have the flexibility to work remotely, future workplaces will enable them to spur innovation, break down silos, boost productivity, and craft a new narrative for enterprises. Organisations need to build a hybrid approach ― a combination of solo activities and team-based projects so that employees can switch between teleworking and being in office.

Key challenges

There are two challenges enterprises need to address as they accelerate the shift towards remote working: a sense of mistrust and the rise of cyber threats. The reason why remote working never became a huge success in the past was due to companies’ inability to measure employees’ output and work efficiency remotely. Incidentally, this presents companies with an opportunity to redefine trust with employees. Companies can recognise and award employees for mastering the art of working remotely. For instance, will they be allowed to engage in more meaningful work virtually and select working hours according to their choice? The key is to keep people motivated while working remotely, which can’t always be measured in numbers. If they remain motivated, most employees will work to the best of their abilities, regardless of whether they are at home or in the office.

Also, as remote working expands, cybersecurity threats will multiply. It is increasingly challenging for IT teams to protect their companies’ brand, while ensuring smooth remote operations for employees. Enterprises must make security automation a core element of their enterprise IT defence mechanism. Although software bots can’t prevent cyberattacks from happening, they do enable a much faster response. It is the speed of response to an attack that determines the scope of damage to your critical assets. Also, leverage machine learning to make IT infrastructure predictable. Imagine if your automated IT infrastructure could predict malicious cyber activities and employees that are more prone to cyberattacks. It’s time to turn security strategy proactive to support the future of remote work seamlessly.

Even past the pandemic, it is unlikely that offices will become altogether redundant, but employee expectations will certainly change. Over the last few months, most organisations have understood that it is no longer necessary for all employees to be present in the office all five days a week. Organisations that are open to changing their policies and keeping pace with changing employee demands and workplace scenarios will stay ahead of the curve in the post-Covid world.

The writer is Assistant Vice-President, Centre for the Future Work ― Asia Pacific, Cognizant

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