As a result of this and accountants working remotely, several new trends have emerged. Firms are realizing that employees are just as – if not more – productive in remote settings and workers are enjoying the increased flexibility while saving money on transportation costs.

Recently, the Adecco Group conducted a global study to analyze the shift in working attitudes that were prompted by the pandemic. In a survey of 8,000 office-based employees, managers, and C-suite executives from around the world, respondents reviewed attitudes and behaviors before and during the pandemic, revealing the following five post-pandemic trends that will impact the workplace.

1.    Hybrid working is here to stay

As many grew more accustomed to working remotely and the flexibility it provides, employees will continue to seek flexible working conditions, both in work schedules and location. In fact, 82% of U.S.-based respondents agree that employees will benefit from increased flexibility. Between eliminating commute times and allotting more time for family and household priorities, hybrid working is providing the work-life balance that employees craved long before the pandemic, and that is ultimately allowing them to put their most energized, inspired foot forward at work. Globally, this will also influence many firms to reimagine their office layouts, sizes, and locations as 49% of employees are looking to spend half of their workweek remotely.

2.     The traditional 9-5 workday is long gone

This shift to remote work has led firms to think less rigidly about their normal operating hours. While working from home, many employees have adjusted their working schedules according to their peak hours of productivity or to tend to personal or family obligations. But despite their unconventional schedule, they are still getting results, leading many employees to believe this flexibility should become normalized in the long term. In fact, the majority (67%) of respondents believe employers should revisit the length of the working week and the number of hours that employees are expected to work. This, in part, can be credited to the increase of work/life balance brought on by the pandemic, which has employees focusing more on output rather than hours.

3.     Leaders must learn how to prioritize the mental well-being of staff

The transition to a hybrid working model doesn’t come without its own set of challenges. Between exposed technology gaps and adopting different methods of communication, a majority of leaders feel unequipped to handle conversations around mental well-being. Fifty-four percent say it’s difficult to provide effective advice to staff on their mental well-being during the pandemic and, similarly, 50% say it’s difficult to remain aware of how their staff is feeling. This gap is also clearly reflected in worker attitudes, as 28% of employees say their mental health has gotten worse during the pandemic. In addition, only two in five employees say their managers have met or exceeded expectations on checking their mental well-being. In order to create more awareness around mental well-being in the workplace, respondents cite trust (79%) and empathy (74%) as top skills required for managers – two important key elements to reinventing leadership.

4.     Digital upskilling remains a top priority

While digital and remote working skills have improved for six in ten workers, more than two-thirds say additional training on remote working and soft skills, such as teamwork and problem solving, will be important in the post-pandemic workplace. In fact, digital and remote working skills are seen as the top priorities across all countries, emphasizing the need for firms to provide additional training support. Likewise, the majority of C-suite level executives (75%) and managers (69%) believe that training on managing staff in remote work settings will be critical post-pandemic.

5.     Trust is the foundation of success

The pandemic has revealed both the good and bad in our society. Seeing companies band together to support employees and frontline workers have earned employers more trust from employees than any other institution. The survey found that the majority (61%) of respondents trust their employer to support them in future crises. That trust, however, is expected to be reciprocated. Seventy-eight percent of employees say that feeling trusted to get the job done is important to their working life after the pandemic. In fact, the majority of global markets (88% in the U.S.) cite placing trust in staff as the most important managerial trait.

As we continue to reconstruct traditional workplace norms and envision the future of work, it’s critical for firms to remain agile and open to employees’ dynamic attitudes about the upcoming new era of work. To learn more, download the full research report.

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Now here we are a year later and if you asked a remote worker how they feel about working from home, a whopping 98% would say they like it, bolstering the concept that remote work is becoming our new normal. “I don’t think we’ll go back to the same way we used to operate,” Jennifer Christie, chief HR officer at Twitter, told CNBC. “I really don’t.”

It is true that working from home has definite perks, for both employers and employees. Studies have reported greater levels of job satisfaction, less stress, and higher productivity. Many employers have given feedback indicating improved retention, while also being able to reduce office expenses.

However, remote work presents its own brand of challenges, and one of the most crucial is to keep work-related information secure. A survey by Shred-It found that 86 percent of C-suite executives feel that the risk for data breaches is significantly higher with remote work.

To help companies make sure their data remains secure while employees work from home, the Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb would like to share the following 4 tips courtesy of an article at Entrepreneur.com. 

1. Ramp up user-training efforts.

While criminal attacks are responsible for the majority of data breaches, human error is also a significant contributor to digital security issues. An analysis in Australia found that 36 percent of all such cases were directly attributable to human error.

Phishing emails are one of the most common threats facing employees, tricking them into clicking on fraudulent links that are designed to install malware or steal account information. These hacking attempts can be very intricate, even going so far as to imitate official communications from your company or its partners.

Now that employees are working outside the office, you should make doubly sure that they understand the dangers of phishing and other attacks. Teaching them to identify fraudulent communications will keep many severe breaches from ever becoming an issue.

2. Require two-factor authentication.

Whether a work-issued laptop is stolen or your employee uses the same password for work as they do for another account that has been compromised, there are countless avenues that criminals can use to gain access to employee information — even when your team is using digital-security best practices.

To counteract this, an increasing number of companies are requiring two-factor authentication when employees log in to their accounts. During a recent call with Ryan Lakin, president of IronEdge Group, he explained, “Two-factor authentication adds a layer of redundancy to ensure that only the actual account owner can access their account. A hacker could steal an employee’s password, but they probably won’t have a phone that receives the verification code. They certainly wouldn’t have a fingerprint, which is used in some systems. Adding one extra step to the login process could make all the difference in keeping hackers out.”

3. Audit account-access restrictions.

With the bulk of your team working remotely, now is an important time to audit account access restrictions, particularly if everyone works within the same company dashboard. Information Security Form estimates that 54 percent of company security breaches are caused intentionally by internal actors.

Exploiting proprietary information, giving away account access and other, similar actions could compromise your company’s digital data. The more access someone has to your internal dashboards, the greater the threat. As such, you should double-check all user accounts and ensure that remote workers only have access to the information they need to do their job.

4. Provide remote security updates.

While you may have invested in firewalls and other cybersecurity upgrades at the office, your employees may no longer have access to these resources now that they’re working from home. When providing company-owned devices, make sure that all firewalls and antivirus software are fully up-to-date. Consider helping employees using their own devices with the installation of such tools.

The use of encryption software can also protect your data while your team is working remotely. This can even be done with programs like Adobe Acrobat or Microsoft Office. Files that are encrypted can only be opened by someone who has the appropriate “key” or passcode. This way, even if a hacker were to intercept a work-related file, they would be unable to open it. Data encryption can even keep someone from accessing files if they were to steal a remote worker’s device.

By implementing the above 4 tips into your company directives, the online security of your data should be less of a worry, even if remote work becomes the new normal. No matter the future, we will handle it with aplomb. The exhilarating thing about challenges is that they often turn out to be blessings in disguise. After all, as humans, adaptability is what we do best.

The post Is Remote Work Our New Normal? This Means Heightened Online Security appeared first on MoneyThumb.

However, running your business from home and/or having employees work from home presents its own specific challenges. One of the biggest of these is how to maintain close relationships with clients.  Remote workers are the face of your company brand and represent you, so it is imperative that customers see the remote worker as someone they can trust and rely on.

Today on the Rules of Thumb blog from MoneyThumb we have created a list below of the best tips for employees and business owners for maintaining close relationships with customers while working remotely:

• Establish Effective Forms of Communication--This is the cornerstone of building trust with clients and customers while working remotely. When transitioning to remote work, it’s best to reach out to your customers and ask them how they would prefer to communicate. For example, customers who normally have regular in-person meetings with you might want to schedule video calls in their place, while other customers prefer only email communication.
• Set Healthy Boundaries--One of the major downsides of remote communication methods is that they often lead to a lack of boundaries. Clients might expect you to answer emails instantly regardless of the time of day, try to call you in the middle of the night, or otherwise intrude when you’re off the clock. The best way to avoid running into those types of problems is to set clear expectations with customers from the beginning. You can easily do this when discussing their preferred communication channels with them.
• Make Sure To Meet Expectations--One of the most important things you have to do in order to earn and keep clients’ trust is to meet their expectations. If a project is taking longer than a client thinks it should, they may decide not to work with you again in the future. If you want to stay in business, you need to learn how to manage customer expectations. The best way to do that, in our experience, is to tell customers precisely what you’re going to deliver and when it will arrive.
• Take Advantage of All Technology--Real-time communication in a remote working relationship is not possible without technology. Being equipped with the right digital tools and software enables two-way communication between yourself and your client, especially long-distance clients. Such tools can comprise accessible cloud-based document storage solutions and virtual meeting software, allowing both parties to keep up-to-date with developments. Collaborative tools help simplify the sharing of information and scheduling of meetings. The provision of multiple contact methods and communication channels will enable constructive project management for a strong and successful business relationship.

By implementing the above tips we believe you can continue having success with your business in spite of the challenges of working remotely. Although lockdowns may no longer be in place in your area, and some companies have called workers back to their facility, you and your employees could discover that the advantages of working remotely outweigh ever returning to work in your former physical setting. Whatever works for you, we wish you the best of luck with your business during the rest of 2020 and into 2021. Hopefully, next year will provide us all with a little less madness.

The post Maintaining Close Relationships With Clients While Working Remotely appeared first on MoneyThumb.

In one of our previous blog posts, we offered advice to anyone transitioning to work from home situations. The advice in that post is very helpful but doesn't take into account the specific challenges of the accounting profession. A few of these challenges unique to accounting are; how to protect the delicate financial information of clients, safely transferring IT to your employees' home offices, and making sure deadlines continue to be met.

We found this great article at the Journal of Accountancy with sage advice from seasoned accounting professionals who are way ahead of the curve when it comes to working from home. The article discusses how not all accounting firms, or other businesses for that matter, are as prepared for all or large segments of their staff to work remotely. What can organizations do if quarantines or other travel restrictions preclude staff from coming into the office? What technologies will be needed? What policies will need to be in place? Can even organizations that have so far eschewed remote work cobble together a workable solution? The article addresses those questions and more.

The article points out how accounting firms who have already moved to the cloud are in a much better position to handle having employees work from home. "That’s because cloud applications and infrastructure provide much more scalability and accessibility than servers and software housed in the office," said Marc Staut, a shareholder and chief innovation and information officer at Boomer Consulting and former CIO for CohnReznick, one of the dozen or so largest U.S. accounting firms.

Fortunately for businesses, even those largely not in the cloud, several large technology vendors have provided a silver lining in the form of free access to products or certain features within products. For instance, Microsoft, Google, LogMeIn, Cisco, and Zoom are all offering free licenses during the COVID-19 outbreak to their meeting, collaboration, and remote work tools. “This is a great opportunity for firms that haven’t planned for a full-scale remote working scenario,” Staut said.

With security being one of the major issues accountants deal with, accounting firms and finance departments often have applications, data, or computing resources that employees must access directly. “Security is critical no matter the systems used,” said Lisa Traina, CPA/CITP, CGMA, a partner with cybersecurity firm CapinTech, a CapinCrouse company. As an example, Traina said that accountants should not be working at home on computers with outdated anti-virus software, especially if others in the household use the computer.

“So, any system used must have security measures in place, including things like current operating systems, updated software, virus and malware protection, encryption, login restrictions, IP address restrictions, and employee-acknowledged acceptable usage policies,” Traina said. “The list is long. Employers should also have multifactor authentication in place for all key systems, including email," she said.

All of this advice is for naught if accountants can’t access stable and secure high-speed internet access. Traina recommends that accountants avoid using public Wi-Fi networks, such as in coffee shops or some public areas, and should also make sure that the security on their home Wi-Fi connections is set up.

In a pinch, accountants can use their cellphones as mobile “hotspots” through which their computers can access the internet securely. Search your phone’s settings menus to access its “hotspot” controls, which often provide instructions on how to use it to connect your laptop or another computing device to the internet. "The use of mobile hotspots can help accountants avoid public Wi-Fi and stay online if their home internet connection goes down," Traina said.

Another connection concern is capacity. Can a firm’s VPN and technology infrastructure handle a larger percentage of its workforce connecting remotely? “That’s a great question,” said Les Nettleton, director of information technology services for Metairie, La.-based accounting firm Bourgeois Bennett. “So, I think … you’ve got to set up some test procedures and make sure that your people are able to get connectivity into your office.”

One approach, which Nettleton said he is aware of a firm using during the current pandemic, is to have a certain percentage of staff working from home on a Saturday and see if they can work effectively without major slowdowns in computing performance. The firm can assess the results of that test and then do another assessment with everyone working remotely.

The article also discusses how the ultimate success with remote working arrangements is as much about cultivating the right culture as having the right technology. Liz Mason, CPA, the CEO, and shareholder for High Rock, the Arizona-based accounting firm that she founded, has this to say on that subject,

“Make sure you are setting expectations upfront with your team,” she said. “If you bill hourly, set billable hour goals. If it is project-based, set expectations of what project milestones need to be completed each week. Set up virtual team meetings or one-on-ones with anyone planning on working remotely. It helps keep projects moving as expected and avoid the last-minute delays to clients. I would say project management or a practice management application with milestones, deadlines, and assignments is a must for anyone planning to have remote workers.” In the end, employers may be surprised at what they learn when staff works remotely. “Embracing the remote work life might give some firms a taste of the potential where they would not want to go back,” Mason said.

The MoneyThumb team strongly suggests that if you are an accountant who is transitioning to work from home, you read that article in its entirety. We'd also like to share with you this free downloadable whitepaper from CPA Practice Advisor titled, Solve for Now While Preparing for the Future. Here is a description of what the whitepaper covers:

"In the midst of the 2020 tax season, CPAs were challenged with yet another mandatory regulation: stay home. And what was first classified as a short, temporary, relocation has now extended into... uncertainty. The truth is: no one knows when life will return to "normal." The situation has been further exasperated by firms making snap technology decisions going back to “old and familiar” manual ways of doing things, a practice that leads to data loss, unsecured internet connections, and more. But these are unprecedented times; how is a firm employee expected to manage their workload the same way they would in an office setting?" Download this free whitepaper by following this link.

These are definitely trying times for everyone, but we will make it through. Nothing is stronger than the human spirit and our indomitable will.

The post Rising Above Challenges Unique to Accounting When Working From Home appeared first on MoneyThumb.