When a business owner plans to hire remote employees, then it is imperative to determine the ways to overcome various hurdles. During the remote operation, employees and employers face various hurdles such as communication gaps, bad performance, difficulty in managing a team. Well, it is possible to overcome these challenges by doing proper planning. Along with proper planning, it is equally important to pay attention to providing equipment for remote workers. Business owners who are trying to operate remotely should maintain a separate budget to overcome the challenges and maintain a high level of productivity. Here, in this article, we are going to discuss different ways to equip your remote employees with necessary equipment and appliances:
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Option 1: Provide All Required Equipment
The first option is that the employers take the entire responsibility of providing the necessary tools and equipment to the remotely working employees. It is considered as the “Cadillac plan” for the remotely operating employees. This philosophy explained that employers should provide their employee’s laptops, mobiles, printers, and fax machines as well. Also, including the office furniture such as a chair, lockable file cabinet, etc.
There are so many advantages of this approach. Firstly, you can learn to control over equipment which is used by the remote employee. It can help you to ensure that the appliances you are giving to your employees are compatible with the tech at your office. But this plan needs a huge investment. This plan might be a little bit expensive for employers.
Option 2: Deliver Only Laptop
It is quite a popular option among the various company that is trying to operate remotely. This technique offers various support and security features as that of the above technique. But the advantage of this approach is that employers need to invest less. You can choose to deliver the office laptop at their home or pay the specific amount for the laptop so that they can buy a new one. You can choose any of these options. Despite some disadvantages, this approach of equipping your remote employees is perfect for small companies and start-ups.
Option 3: Provide A Technology Stipend
Sometimes, it is not possible to deliver the laptops or other equipment to the place of the employees. In this scenario, the technology stipend by employers to the employees is the best approach. The biggest advantage of this model is the high flexibility, both for the company and remote workers. The companies can set the specific allowance amount for different appliances such as monitors, printers, chairs, etc. After taking the specific amount, it is up to the employees whether they want to add more from their pockets or the available amount is sufficient.
In case you are choosing this approach, then you should properly describe your technical needs and requirements. Make sure that the equipment your employees are purchasing is up to the mark and compatible with office tech.
There is one negative side of this plan and that includes tech support challenges. For example, if the remote worker faces any problem with the laptop and he is the only one using that model, then it will be difficult to fix it. Ultimately, it will lead to low productivity and high frustration for employees and employers as well. This type of approach poses one disadvantage which is administrative headaches. It is required that you frequently revisit the amount of stipend and reimbursement during the time of purchase.
Option 4: Follow “Bring Your Own Device” Policy
Bring Your Own Device is abbreviated as BYOD. The BYOF approach may look like the best choice, but it will lead to a financial burden on the company. Simply tell your remote employees the minimum standards they need to meet while purchasing the equipment.
After that, you should leave it to the employees what kind of appliances to integrate together that work.
This small benefit can lead to a big loss in long run. When you are allowing your remote employees to use their own devices, then you will have no control over their equipment. When you allow the employees to choose any devices, then the different remote employees will choose different devices. Some may be completely incompatible with office technology. Moreover, when the employees have their own devices then there is a huge probability that they will immediately switch when better opportunities come along their way.
Final Words
These are different ways to equip remote employees with different equipment and appliances. If you are providing office appliances to employees, then ask them to sign a remote employee returning equipment agreement. Employers should choose the right equipment that meets their needs, objectives, and budget. It is very important that you formalize the office equipment selection process to streamline the workflow.
