A perfect “work from home policy” is perhaps the need of the hour, and also, a corporate should have a contingency plan of work from home for its employees in times of need.

Let us see some of how a corporate can create perfect work from home policy. Maybe an HR outsourcing company can play a very major role in this regard. Today almost every major business across the globe offers its employees the option to work from home in times of their personal need and cases of extreme emergency such as one prevailing now. It maintains a regular workflow even in times of a crisis. Few steps that will help you to set up a good work from home policy.

• Decide who can work from home: Not every employee can work from home effectively with little supervision. An effective HR management system often decides which of the employee is in a better position to determine who can work from home. Those employees should be given preference who demonstrate good work ethics and have a distraction-free living situation. Employees who would like to work from home should be organized, disciplined, and self-motivated. Their position needs to suitable for work from home. To keep track of all these requirements, a corporate should have an excellent HRIS system.
• Define Expectations: Be sure to set clear expectations for all the workers. There will be employees for whom you might need to do this daily. Expectations include the hours that are put in by the employees and, finally, the output that is achieved. Though there should be setting expectations for the quality and output of every employee’s work, however, the deadlines set must be reasonable. An HR outsourcing company can lend a valuable service in this regard.
• Choosing the right means of communication: An effective means of communication is many times the biggest challenge in managing employees. Remote workers can be reached only by digital means, and hence mode of communication is very important. A good HR management system should take care of this strategic requirement. There must be multiple forms of communication in place. Remote workers should always keep their phones on and close to their place of work. There can be regular meetings through video conferencing. Remote employees should be aware that phone calls, meetings, and emails still have to be part of their work.
• Data and Device Security: A big concern for the telecommuting workforce is digital security. The IT team of the company must ensure that every device that accesses its network has sufficient levels of protection in the form of firewalls, anti-virus software, encryption, and other forms of software protection, both on the user’s device as well as on the servers. Remote employees should be educated on basic security policies like securing passwords, logging off while away from devices, and avoiding public WIFI. Remote -wipe solutions can be installed as that can erase the hard drives of any lost or stolen device.
• Clarification regarding expenses: A remote employee may incur certain costs at home like high-speed internet, electricity, phone, and such other utilities. There can be a provision of a virtual employee allowance for these costs.

Work from home may be of an advantage. There can be circumstances when you need your workers to work from home, and at such times you must be clear on your expectations. You may hire an HR outsourcing company for this purpose.