INCOMING

The big question

While there has been an increase in home working in recent times, taking that concept one step further, what are your opinions on staff going on a staycation or even abroad on company time but still working?

Join the conversation

@biz_cornwall /businesscornwall businesscornwall.co.uk

ADVERTORIAL PLANNING FOR THE WORST

By Paddy Paddison, chief technology officer at Wildanet

If you run a business, the recent outage experienced by three of the world’s biggest apps - Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp - should have had you wondering how long your business could survive if it went completely offline, and what plans you have in place to ensure you could recover your systems and data after such a significant outage.

Even if you don’t do social media, the ramifications of the event rippled right across the Internet as major telecoms providers and their servers globally came under pressure due to the disruption caused from being unable to resolve requests to access the downed platforms.

The contingency planning and multiple layers of protection available to a tech giant like Facebook will be considerable, to say the least, and if such a significant disruption can hit them, then it can certainly hit you.

A major factor in how you insure your IT against accident, incident or attack is going to

ALEX CALLISTER

Well Placed HR

I think it’s still too soon to offer any concrete certainties on the long-term future of remote working. Operating in the staffing and recruitment sector, we’ve observed several changes in approach with many (most), employees now returning to their respective workplaces and an increasing number of employers operating a ‘blended’ strategy of part remote, part site-based working. Very few employers in the south west are promoting a 100% remote working policy although there are some surprisingly large organisations that appear to have chosen this path.

I think the difficulty with remote working is achieving equilibrium and fairness amongst teams of colleagues because some vocations are better suited to remote working than others. For example, there is no reason why a proof reader couldn’t work remotely from anywhere in the world, but many reasons why a group human resources manager could not. It really comes down to employers analysing the performance effects of remote working on their respective businesses. We’re certainly seeing a change in attitude, but the jury is still out as to whether or not this will be a permanent shift.

VERONA COCKS

Paddle & Cocks

We are a flexible firm which allows our consultant lawyers to work from where they want when they want. Some work from home but some also pick up bits of work while they are on staycations. Consultants may do this while they are abroad as well. Indeed, with our people, provided they can access our systems from abroad, they could base themselves there as long as they can also service the clients sufficiently.

We have already, therefore, experienced this with our model of business and it works seamlessly as it is no different to them working in another part of the country from home, and we have consultants in different locations nationally. Being on staycation makes little to no difference. It again allows people more flexibility and to take time out when they want/need to but still managing their work. And it could be that being in a relaxing place, where one may be on vacation or staycation, is a more conducive environment.

KAREN OLDHAM-WARING

Sunflower Training

These new ways of working are definitely not going anywhere soon and perhaps that’s a good thing. But there needs to be boundaries. I’ve long been an advocate for flexible working hours and environment because it can provide people with the opportunity to work when they’re ‘switched on’ and ‘in flow’ – as long as they are able to switch-off again and respect the need for breaks and their own wellbeing. If you and your employer are both in agreement that you can work remotely from anywhere in the country, or the world for that matter, then great. But I think there needs to be conditions attached. For example, the arrangement needs to be a joint agreement and not something that’s ‘put upon’ staff. There also needs to be an understanding that other leave breaks are used for down-time and switching off the mind. And finally, if it is something that people want to do, make sure you get agreement from the rest of the holiday party and keep to planned hours. Managing expectations here can make it work for all parties.

FRANCESA REED

Unique Home Stays

Interesting question – one of our team is currently working from Turkey in fact! Her daughter had a baby in lockdown and we’ve allowed her to work from there for a month so she can spend time with her new grandson. On a personal note, I hope it’s something we can do more of. It’ll be a case of ensuring our service and levels of work don’t slip ultimately – but I think that comes down to having the right staff in place.

TOBY PARKINS

Headforward

At a team level there is lots of evidence to show things have worked well, but the question that needs asking, is what is not working so well? Generally speaking, the areas that are more challenging are ad hoc interactions between teams, wider company culture, non-work focused company social, and innovative corridor conversations springing new ideas. These activities may not be classed in normal productivity terms (eg. how many invoices were processed, customers were dealt with, etc) and therefore there’s a tendency to consider the former items over the latter ones. Those that see just the outputs will judge things as going well. Those who measure the wider, bigger picture of a business still have questions left to be answered.

be the quality of your Internet connection and whether you have the fast, reliable broadband necessary to put in place a comprehensive package of protection.

Data-critical businesses should start by considering whether one Internet connection is really enough and whether you should be considering a second independent line.

Secure backups are absolutely vital but it is simply not enough to be relying on just local back-ups that can all too easily become damaged or corrupted, along with your main servers, by catastrophic events such as fire, flood or malware attack. and helped them recover and get quickly back to their feet following a crisis - but have you got the fast, reliable broadband connectivity to make the most of this?

If you lost the use of your business premises and everything in it, do you have the capability and bandwidth to upload your backed-up data to virtual servers and set up your staff to work effectively with this?

There are a lot of questions there, but they are as relevant to your business as they are to Facebook and the time to be considering them is before you’re faced with a full-blown IT meltdown. Wildanet is the Cornish broadband provider bringing superfast and superreliable broadband to communities and businesses throughout Cornwall. It has a range of options including discounted home connections for staff if your business is connected via Wildanet’s network. Call 0800 0699906 to find out how Wildanet’s broadband can help your business.