Organisations have responded to the pandemic by trying to ensure business continuity through a variety of activities, including home working. Whilst this should ensure that services are delivered, it may not guarantee that the same standards of work are being delivered.

Remote, or home working, on a ‘whole team’ level can also present several new risks to a business, in addition to those people risks which are often highlighted, which may not yet have been considered.

Sudden remote working on a mass scale is unprecedented and may be a quick fix for many companies. In the urgency to create a solution, it is often the case that there is the assumption that everyone will have the tools and skills to do exactly the same job as they did previously, just in a different environment.

This is further complicated as a number of staff may also be managing multiple roles such as worker, schoolteacher, carer, volunteer and so forth in addition to taking responsibility to get the job done.  Whilst delivering as best they can, their performance may be adversely affected.  Additionally, without the support network that usually allows people to “bounce things off each other” in an office environment, they may not understand the intricacies of the decisions/actions that they are taking without formal referral to someone else.

As there is currently no known end date to remote working, organisations are not necessarily prepared for this process being anything more than a short term fix.

In conjunction with MRP Consultants we are supporting our clients by helping them measure,  monitor and deliver a quality assured claims service to internal and external customers.

By identifying people and operational risks as early as possible we are enabling clients to enhance their home or remote working processes and to address and overcome the challenges which may impact on their efficiency and damage relationships.

In addition, we are able to support  those clients who are preparing for the eventual return to the office environment and those who are re-evaluating their working model post COVID-19.