Spurred on as a necessary response to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote or at-home work has become increasingly prevalent in the professional work environment. Employees have discovered the benefits of working from home by reducing costs associated with commuting to an office. Avoiding fuel costs, saving on childcare and more time spent with family are just a few key benefits of working remotely. In a study conducted by Owl Labs, people are saving up to $500 a month by working remotely which translates into a savings of close to $6000 per year.

Employers are increasingly becoming more accepting of the work from home format and have discovered there are benefits for their company as well. In fact, according to Mercer, an HR and workplace benefits consulting firm, 94% of 800 employers surveyed stated that work productivity was the same or higher since remote work began.

Remote work challenges

Despite the benefits of remote work there are still some challenges that need to be overcome to keep business running smoothly, including making equipment return and exchange easy for remote workers.

These include:

➡️ Ensuring performance and output

➡️ Team and company culture

➡️ Connecting team members

➡️ Equipment upgrades, exchanges and returns (and automation)

Remote Employee Agreement Policy

To guarantee that company equipment is well taken care of and returned when an employee leaves your company a remote employee agreement policy should be established. With this agreement the employer is legally obligated to provide equipment and supplies needed to perform the job and employees are required to return them once they have stopped working f0r your business.

As part of your company’s work lawsuit policy a work-from-home stipend may be provided.

Security Concerns

At-home workers are at the first at risk of attack from cyber criminals that are targeting a business. Personal and company information can be held hostage and any network issue can bring operations to a grinding halt.

It is crucial for at-home employees to be able to identify potential risks and be trained in cyber security.

Training would include creating strong passwords and changing them frequently, adding multi-factor authorizations, keeping antivirus software constantly updated, identifying phishing emails and fake or risky websites.

There is a solution. It’s called ReadyReturns!

When companies need to offboard leaving employees, perform equipment upgrades, exchanges or returns there usually isn’t a set process. The lack of a defined process can lead to time wasted and company merchandise being misplaced or lost entirely.

An equipment returns software such as ReadyReturns makes streamlining equipment returns during employee offboarding easy. With options including:

• Sender photo requirement of merchandise before sending
• Shipping labels with QR code and 5000 drop-off locations nationwide
• Parcel insurance providing a peace of mind
• Front-door pickup and boxing
• SMS/text message alerts and tracking

If your business is ready to streamline returns of company property ReadyReturns has the solution