Working from home may alleviate the problem of a big office overhead and improving the work/life balance for employees – but for brokers, it can pose problems when handling client information.
“I love the idea of working from home; before I took my current position, I had my own company and so my office was in my home” says Kat Macaulay, of Rogers Insurance. “However, for our brokers dealing with sensitive information, how do we protect the clients we serve?”
The advantages of working from home can be a savings on utilities cost, rent and on payroll as remote workers are usually willing to take lower salaries to enjoy a better work/life balance, says Sharon Emek, CEO and president of Work at Home Vintage Employees.
“Today, you can work from anywhere,” she says. “Certain industries lend themselves to remote work, and insurance is one of them. In an agency office, there is a lot of process work so outsourcing some of that, or having people work remotely, is actually more advantageous.”
But with the explosion of cyber hacking – especially in light of the recent move by the Canada Revenue Agency to shut down public access to its website over security concerns posed by a breach to encryption technology – the need for strong internet security is needed, says Macaulay, who chose not to handle such sensitive information when she worked from home.
“I didn't (and still don't) work with confidential/sensitive information due to the nature of my role,” she says. “In light of news exploding with cyberattacks and threats, to me the question isn't about whether someone is actually more productive by working at home or saving the company money – it's whether we're considering adequate infrastructure and security necessary to safely facilitate these types of solutions.”
