Many business leaders have resisted remote work for years, thinking it would lead to lower productivity. But here’s a surprise: A mid-2020 study showed that knowledge workers, software developers, and IT professionals are all more productive when they work from home.

The study defined workplace productivity as spending more time on the right work—not merely being busy. Data from the study showed that compared to people working in the office, remote workers had a 4% increase in average daily time spent on their core work and an 18% decrease in time spent on emails, chats, calls, and meetings—adding up to an annual total per person of 58 more hours spent on core work, and 256 fewer hours spent on communication. That’s a huge difference!

Here’s how to support workers in delivering their best—wherever they are.

1. Help people feel valued, even when they’re far away.

When people aren’t coming to the office every day, technology plays a bigger role in helping them feel supported and cared for. Give employees PCs and accessories that are not only efficient but also a pleasure to use. Pay attention to things that make work more enjoyable, like design details, ergonomics, vivid displays, and crisp sound.

2. Champion the ongoing quest for work-life balance.

According to a study by NordVPN, the recent pivot to remote work meant more time at the desk for many people; at-home workers put in an average of two extra hours each workday.2 People need help maintaining a healthy work-life balance to avoid burnout. When you introduce new apps, devices, or other tech that helps them do more—such as changing collaboration apps to “away” at a certain time each day—be sure to connect it with benefits at the human level.

3. Invest in technologies that make work flow faster.

Worker productivity depends a lot on fast, reliable, and high-performing tech. The last thing your IT team needs is to be deluged by support requests from slow, unresponsive devices. Look for PCs that deliver blazing-fast speed, high-quality graphics, and long battery life. Choose accessories that last a long time. That way, people don’t have to stop to recharge, close out extra tabs to free up memory, or fill up IT help desks with reports on broken tech.

3. Offload mundane maintenance tasks that gobble up IT time.

Remote management capabilities can help you handle things from afar— like upgrades and security patches—without needing your end users to do anything. They get back time to focus on their work, and you don’t have to wonder if they’ve made critical updates. The right solutions automate these processes, so they don’t burden IT teams.

4. Work closely with HR to understand employee needs better.

Your colleagues in HR have a direct line to employees. They know how they’re feeling about their work and what’s slowing them down. Schedule regular check-ins with HR to get these insights—which can help you find tech-driven solutions that help employees succeed.

When your IT is at its best, so are your people.

HP and Now Micro offer the world’s most secure and manageable PCs. HP Elite Notebooks are made for today’s challenges—with hardware-enforced security features and layers of protection below, inside, and above the OS to proactively prevent threats and quickly recover in the event of a breach. Sleek and light, Elite Notebooks offer advanced features like secure, wide-angle webcams, hardened security features like self-healing BIOS, 5G, and 4G LTE connectivity, Audio by Bang & Olufsen, HP Noise Cancellation, and the power and performance for smooth virtual collaboration. Now Micro's collection of software and hardware solutions is perfectly suited to easily solve unique technical problems. Our solutions are used by over 60,000 users and have helped customers streamline their deployment process. With HP, Now Micro, Windows 10 Pro, and the Intel® vPro® platform, you get the latest software and out-of-the-box hardware security features to help defend your devices and your business.

Learn more about Now Micro's partnership with HP, Intel, and Microsoft at https://www.nowmicro.com/hp.