TRUMBULL, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--“Meetings for meeting’s sake” and “a lax attitude to cybersecurity” have topped a list of bad remote-working habits. Employers should check what issues their teams have had over the last year, according to Questionmark, the online assessment provider. These issues can then be addressed when shaping post-pandemic working culture.
For many employers, remote working has been a productivity success story. Numerous companies will allow staff to work from home for at least part of the week as the global economy reopens. But in some cases, bad habits have crept into working culture.
Leaders must understand which habits are prevalent in their workforce. When they do, they can set expectations and nurture a working culture that maximizes productivity.
The top five worker bad habits
- Meetings for meeting’s sake – 45% of employees report attending more meetings now than they did before the pandemic. They find these meetings mentally exhausting.1
- A lax attitude to cybersecurity – 47% of workers admit that working-from-home distractions make them more likely to fall for a phishing scam, according to a survey for tech firm, Plugable.2
- Lack of focus – some 40% of workers find it hard to focus while working from home, according to research by workplace safety company, JDP.3
- Procrastination - 37% of workers admit to browsing the internet during work hours and about one-quarter (26%) pop out for non-essential personal trips when they are meant to be working.4
- Unclear boundaries – while some workers have found remote working has improved work/life balance, others have struggled to switch off. Being unable to switch off can contribute to burnout.
Lars Pedersen, CEO of Questionmark said: “The last year has been extraordinary on every front. Some bad habits that workers have developed are understandable and will correct themselves. But given the importance of remote working to the future of many businesses, employers must nurture the right culture and set appropriate expectations.
“Measuring the skills and attitudes of workers will help employers understand where great habits exist and where they need to give greater support. Employers can make better decisions on training, mentoring and support.”
Online staff assessments can help employers measure skills and attitudes among workers. The results will give them a clear read on the nature of specific problems. By introducing appropriate training and setting clear expectations, they can ensure that they build a productive working culture that suits their post-pandemic working arrangements.
Questionmark has developed the cybersecurity for home-based workers assessment to help employers identify whether workers have the required cybersecurity knowledge to do their jobs. The assessment also enables organizations to meet their compliance requirements and avoid cyber breaches when their people are working from home.
About Questionmark
Questionmark unlocks performance through reliable and secure online assessments.
Questionmark provides a secure enterprise-grade assessment platform and professional services to leading organizations around the world, delivered with care and unequalled expertise. Its full-service online assessment tool and professional services help customers to improve their performance and meet their compliance requirements. Questionmark enables organizations to unlock their potential by delivering assessments which are valid, reliable, fair and defensible.
Questionmark offers secure powerful integration with other LMS, LRS and proctoring services making it easy to bring everything together in one place. Questionmark's cloud-based assessment management platform offers rapid deployment, scalability for high-volume test delivery, 24/7 support, and the peace-of-mind of secure, audited U.S., Australian and European-based data centers.
