The year 2020 marked a turning point in the world and workforce as we knew it. Businesses all over the globe had to rethink their staff working arrangements in order to keep operations running. For many this meant abandoning our CBD offices and adopting the work from home or hybrid business model, so many of us have become accustomed to. The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census data shows, that of the 12 million people employed on census day, more than 20% worked from home.
Three years later, with the world returned to a semblance of normality, numerous companies have come to recognise the many benefits of adopting a hybrid working model. Many have identified that they are more productive, less stressed, and healthier overall. This in turn has provided people with more leisure time they are able to spend with loved ones and when they are in the office, they feel refreshed and more social. As a result, hybrid working has become a permanent fixture for many companies.
From fixed schedules to flexible work arrangements
In 2023, flexibility in the workplace is key for attracting new talent, retaining employees and for strengthening client relationships. A recent study by Thomson Reuters found that young lawyers feel so strongly about remote work that 44% of them reported they would leave their current jobs for a workplace with greater flexibility. Source: Thomson Reuters Institute 2023 Report on the State of the Legal Market
Alongside remote work, a debate over a four-day week, has taken place in Australia after successful trials in places like the United Kingdom and New Zealand. For many the 9-5, 5 day work week is outdated and no longer necessary to keep businesses running. What you can see is people are wanting flexibility as the way of the future, so how does your firm plan to embrace this emerging era?
Adapting to job requirements: technology solutions tailored to our needs
All this change in the way we work has prompted conversations around how technology can best fit our needs and job demands. In the legal and conveyancing sectors, the process of verifying clients' identities has undergone significant changes for most practices. They have shifted away from the outdated manual method of physically meeting with clients to scan or photocopy their identification documents or arranging for verification of identity through an agent.
In 2018, well before the remote or hybrid working we now know and embrace, InfoTrack launched its verification of identity solution, InfoTrackID, to provide additional due diligence measures for verification along with flexibility on how you verify. InfoTrackID enables you to verify your clients in-person, remotely or to send them to a participating pharmacy to verify them in-person with PharmacyID. Our aim in creating this product was to provide you with an online verification tool that not only integrates with your practice management system but provides additional layers of verification.
Digital Verification of Identity innovations play a huge role in legal practitioners being able to keep that flexibility with working arrangements we have all become accustomed to over the last few years for both the practitioners and their clients alike.
