Summary:
Creating a successful remote workforce goes beyond tech tools—it requires secure processes, smarter workflows, and strategic planning. Discover the benefits of digital transformation for your remote workers including:
- Secure document and data sharing with VPNs and encryption.
- Digitized physical files to ensure remote access.
- Outsourced document management for greater security and compliance.
- Digital mailroom with streamlined inbound mail and automated manual processes.
- Reduced physical office space and increased productivity.
A successful remote workforce, whether for the short- or long-term, requires more than the obvious necessities of reliable, high-speed internet connections, laptops, and printers. Business leaders can take an open-minded, yet critical look at their remote workforce’s evolving needs to ensure a foundation for a strong organizational future.
Finding ways to improve workflows and better support remote work doesn’t have to be a monumental task. Identifying even one or two small steps to move up the digital transformation curve can yield big results.
Interestingly enough, it is oftentimes safer to outsource data management to a reliable provider than it is to maintain sensitive documents in paper form in-house under lock and key.
For example, rather than not knowing which employees are looking at stored paper documents at any given time, a hosted document management system tracks each user who accesses specific pieces of information and what actions they take—whether that be viewing, editing, printing, or downloading. Reputable vendors offering digital, cloud-based platforms for document management will be able to articulate exactly how your files will be secured and what steps are taken to protect key information. A vendor partner like Docufree invests in up-to-date technology; ensures its staff are experts in the realm of compliance; and keeps abreast of requirements and security protocols so our clients don’t have to.
1. Ensure security of documents and data
This is always an important consideration whether employees are working from home or in a typical office setting. Firewalls, VPN capability and IP protocols are typically in place to ensure the security of staff and customer data. Employees must always be mindful of how they share information; whether through email attachments, text messages or clickable links, it’s easy to get complacent. Additional suggestions to protect data include: using encryption (256 bit if possible); transferring information through File Transfer Protocol (FTP); and password protecting your files. Ensure you are communicating openly and frequently with remote employees about approved document-sharing channels and security protocols.2. Enable access to physical files
When a process is reliant on accessing physical files or paperwork—like occupational health records or employee data—and teammates are now working remotely without access to that data, a scan-on-demand setup becomes an easy-to-implement solution. Scan-on-demand means that you only scan what you need to access when you need it. Depending on your business and team members’ needs, it may be time to rethink sending ‘inactive’ records offsite for long-term storage, and, instead, digitize a full paper backfile solution so all of your records are digital and easy to access for decades ahead. Curious about the backfile scanning process?3. Explore outsourcing options
A company’s culture plays a significant role in adapting to a remote work environment. Accepting that our businesses and workforce have shifted in ways beyond our control is challenging and changing behavior even more so. Key processes are often managed in-house for fear of those functions going “outside” of an organization’s walls.Interestingly enough, it is oftentimes safer to outsource data management to a reliable provider than it is to maintain sensitive documents in paper form in-house under lock and key.
For example, rather than not knowing which employees are looking at stored paper documents at any given time, a hosted document management system tracks each user who accesses specific pieces of information and what actions they take—whether that be viewing, editing, printing, or downloading. Reputable vendors offering digital, cloud-based platforms for document management will be able to articulate exactly how your files will be secured and what steps are taken to protect key information. A vendor partner like Docufree invests in up-to-date technology; ensures its staff are experts in the realm of compliance; and keeps abreast of requirements and security protocols so our clients don’t have to.