The number of remote and hybrid workers is far higher today than in 2019. For employers, this radical shift in how and where employees work makes it more important than ever to ensure continuity programs support hybrid workforces.
How to make sure they do? Business continuity software is part of the answer; we discuss how in the following article.
The permanence of the hybrid workforce
The hybrid workforce is here to stay. According to Statista, only 32% of U.S. workers reported working in a hybrid manner in 2019. The number skyrocketed to 53% by Q2 2024.
The pattern is similar around the world. Only eight percent of the U.K. workforce operated in a hybrid capacity in May 2020. However, 31% did by November 2023.
It’s not hard to understand why. Hybrid work brings with it a host of benefits that can both improve individual contributors’ performance and deliver quantifiable advantages for leadership and stakeholders.
These benefits include:
- Lower commute times
- Greater flexibility
- Enhanced productivity
- Reduced feeling of burnout or fatigue
Business continuity challenges of a hybrid workforce
Managing a hybrid workforce isn’t without its logistical challenges, though, as many employers have learned the hard way.
Cybersecurity concerns stand out. When working remote, hybrid employees must use an off-site means of connecting their office-issued equipment to the internet and elements of the organization’s ICT infrastructure. These arrangements have introduced cybersecurity risk, upon which cybercriminals have been quick to seize.
Hybrid workers also rely heavily on accessible communication channels to perform individual work, participate in collaborative efforts, and stay connected to both other team members and the wider business. When a downtime event occurs, however, hybrid workforce members working remotely can lose access to ICT applications and systems. And, unlike their on-site peers, hybrid workers when remote can completely lose visibility of the issue’s magnitude and recovery time needed.
The role of business continuity during disruptions
Given their likelihood of occurring, these scenarios are often accounted for in an organization’s business continuity plan. Business Continuity teams, as a result, often enable a VPN service for their hybrid workforces, mandating its use to ensure off-site connection security.
Similarly, an organization might provide its hybrid workforce with strict guidance regarding which kind of network connections are safe for use and what to do if a hybrid worker suspects an attack has occurred. The organization might also invest in a centralized remote communication system to help maintain communication with hybrid workers during downtime events.
The role of business continuity management software in supporting a hybrid workforce
But as the hybrid workforce model remains popular, organizations will also need tools capable of maintaining business continuity simultaneously for on- and off-site workers. This way, no matter where workers are operating from on a given day, the organization will be able to resolve disruptions as they arise, stay connected, and keep business moving.
Where to turn? Well, digital solutions like business continuity management software are among the most advanced ways to centralize, monitor, test, and, should the need arise, activate a business continuity plan that’s been optimized to support a hybrid workforce.
Business continuity software also makes it easy to update the business continuity plan as changes to the risk landscape demand, track performance to drive continuous improvement, and scale up as your hybrid workforce grows. Indeed, the best business continuity software should enable your team to:
- Simplify your BIA process and drive engagement with built-in, step-by-step guidance to ensure the capture of rich, insightful data that helps you truly understand your business
- Identify and map dependencies quickly, stay informed when one is at risk, and visualize and track them to make informed decisions and take effective risk mitigation actions
- Input a consistent recovery strategy across your organization including response plans, roles, responsibilities, and checklists, which can be deployed in seconds when needed
- Test event scenarios to ensure your teams are prepared to handle any situation
- Manage business continuity processes proactively and uncover valuable insights with consolidated data and business intelligence visualization on interactive dashboards
Business continuity software also helps organizations replace their paper-based, static business continuity plans with dynamic, digitized plans that are easy to adjust, always up-to-date, and available on any device. But before they update their BCPs, organizations might want to ensure their business impact analyses (BIA) are optimized for hybrid work.
How to streamline the BIA process, though? Check out our Guide to Pragmatic Business Impact Analysis (BIA) for Continuity Professionals.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg)