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April 07, 2021
New Forrester research commissioned by LogMeIn shows remote work is now essential to business success. Though many organizations have done an admirable job supporting their workforces remotely during the pandemic, companies must put the right structures and strategies in place to succeed in the new normal. For many, this means enabling flexible work by improving existing IT support for employees.
In fact, 70% of decision makers surveyed from organizations with highly mature remote work structures report that improving existing IT support for employees is their #1 priority for 2021. Less mature organizations will prioritize reducing costs related to flexible work while high-maturity firms (those that are by all accounts winning at remote work) consider this the second-lowest priority. About half are still interested in lowering costs, but they are more focused on things like improving IT support and allowing more employees to work remotely.
The priority and effort that high-maturity firms put on flexible work comes with substantial benefits to the business. High-maturity firms see improvements across numerous metrics, including:
So how do you become a high-maturity remote-work organization? Forrester names four pillars of remote work:
Let’s look at a couple of these pillars and what they mean for IT.
Eighty-three percent of employees said they are more likely to stay at their company if they are allowed to work flexibly in the future. This of course requires effective IT support for remote employees. In turn, flexible work can drive talent acquisition, diversity, and retention. In fact, 77% said flexibility is an important factor they consider when looking for a job. This goes for your IT team, too. Flexible work is important to all employees.
But it requires trust, a big component of workplace culture. Antiquated perceptions that remote workers aren’t as productive are causing a disconnect. While 56% of employees said they are more productive when working remotely and 61% said they can get more done in an 8-hour workday, only 5% of remote-work decision-makers said they think remote workers are more productive, and 70% said in-office workers are more trustworthy.
Ensure employees stay up and running with the technology they rely on to be productive and to always have a lifeline to on-demand remote support whenever they run into an issue.
Remote work runs on technology, and high-satisfaction employees are far more likely to be at organizations that provide them with remote work tools to be effective at their jobs. Forrester finds that while organizations rushed to purchase technologies to enable remote work, practically overnight, many of these technology decisions may not have been the best long-term choices, and they may cause problems down the road.
For one, make sure employees have the tools to do their work seamlessly and support the technology that makes employees’ jobs easier.
Don’t ignore the needs of IT pros. Forrester’s survey data reveals that IT decision-makers find it more difficult to support remote workers, often because they don’t have the right technology in place to ensure employees have a great experience. Reevaluate the tools in your toolkit and be sure they actually help IT troubleshoot issues and automate the most mundane tasks that prevent them from focusing on improving the employee experience.
Forrester points out that effective anywhere work programs are not something that happen overnight. They take real work and investment from organizations. Check out more details on Forrester’s four pillars of remote work: structure, culture, technology, and compliance by downloading the whitepaper, Build An Anywhere Work Strategy To Drive Business Success.
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