Flexible working policies need to be designed to meet the needs of individual workers
With companies across the country having adopted remote and flexible working practices during the Olympics, many firms have realised the advantages of such policies in terms of maintaining productivity while also taking an understanding approach to the needs of staff.
So as the Bring Your Own Device (BOYD) trend continues to grow and managers look to enhance the ways in which they can boost the morale of their workforce, allowing employees to work from home has been rising in popularity.
And with various cost saving benefits associated with BYOD and remote working, Tom Ball, managing director of NearDesk, believes that the flexible approach delivers the best results when tailored to suit the needs of individual workers.
"The biggest thing is to remember that different people need different things," he said.
"There is a danger to think that with flexible working, everyone must do the same thing but it means different things to different people.
"There are some who actually want to come into the office every single day. It is about being truly flexible."
Given that some members of staff may have kids to look after while others might face longer commutes, it seems that the ideal strategy is to adapt flexible working practices accordingly rather then implement a blanket policy across the board.
However, despite the benefits of such an approach in terms of cost saving and workforce morale, there are also the security aspects to consider if employees are going to be accessing the company’s server from their own devices.
As such, securely backing up files and ensuring that any electronic document storage procedures are still adhered to will be vital to maintaining performance and avoiding the risk that data may be exposed by online criminals – especially given the legal and financial implications of failing to properly protect sensitive data.