3 Indispensable Tools for Keeping on Top of a Growing Workforce

Anyone who has made the transition from ‘employee’ to ‘employer’ will know that managing a team, and being responsible for an entire workforce, is not without its challenges – and, of course, a few moments of corporate vertigo.

While it may look relatively straightforward from the outside, that is only ever down to years’ worth of practice and perseverance on the part of the employer. In reality – and particularly in the very early days of taking on additional employees – it places an incredibly long list of demands on you, and ensures that, whether you are at the office or attempting to relax at home at the end of a long week, there are moments when taking a breather and allowing the business to sustain itself for a few hours can feel like an impossibility.

It will inevitably be a shock to the system to any new employer – particularly if you are recruiting during the current pandemic – but that’s not to say that there don’t exist plenty of easy-to-use tools that will prove invaluable to you as you navigate the complex waters of running a workforce for the first time.

Read through our list of indispensable tools below.

1. A Free to Use Pay Stub Generator

While Wix may well be better known for its website builder and templates, it also offers an incredibly wide variety of free tools and business solutions for a whole host of business types and purposes – one of which is a free to use pay stub generator, which requires only the salient details from you in order to create professional pay stubs for employees.

What’s more, you can issue your pay stubs directly from Wix’s eCommerce site, without the processing necessitating any additional steps, ensuring that the entire procedure of customising and sending pay stubs to your employees is as streamlined and simple as possible. A task that may otherwise represent a significant drain on your time – and a poor reflection on you as an employer if you forget to complete it on time – now takes moments thanks to this simple tool.

2. A VPN

Now more than ever before, workforces are growing increasingly geographically disparate. Even in long-established offices that have, for many years, been far more community-centric, the events of 2020 and, for now, 2021 have forced offices around the world to separate and scatter themselves across the length and breadth of the country.

This holds many ramifications for companies – far too many to list here – but one of the most pressing concerns posed to any business owner is the increased risk to the company’s cybersecurity.

Even prior to the pandemic, a more spontaneous approach to working had many employees dividing their working hours between the office, home, and public spaces, with the unfortunate consequence being that these employees were creating new vulnerabilities all over the place.

Maintaining a secure network for your business, whether your employees are working in-house or on the go, is essential to your ability to continue on, protect sensitive data, and prevent a potentially devastating breach. A VPN will encrypt you and your employees’ business-related traffic, effectively masking it from those who want to cause problems for your company, and it needn’t necessitate a big investment. Here is a list of the best VPNs for businesses in 2021 – and a little more info on why you should be deploying one across your workforce’s devices.

3. Endpoint Protection

In a similar vein to deploying a VPN on company devices, you also need to maintain an awareness of the ever changing landscape of cybercriminals and malware creators looking to exploit that growing roster of endpoints – all of which represent an Achilles heel for your most sensitive digital assets.

Endpoints are any device connected to the company network. From your printer to your smartphone and watch – even your smart light bulbs – any device which communicates with the network represents a gateway into that network. In other words, a red zone for potential malware attacks.

The trouble is – and this is one that is increasingly acting as the downfall for businesses that do not take the time to prepare for growth – the more employees you take on, the more endpoints your company has.

Fortunately, while the problem lies in physical objects, the best solution lies in cloud-based endpoint protection software. This is particularly beneficial given the rapidly-evolving nature of endpoint security; by deploying a readymade, cloud-based solution, you are protected by the ongoing monitoring and fixes offered by industry leaders.

While preparing to step into the role of employer, rather than lone entrepreneur, may seem like a case of preparing to build, guide and oversee a growing team, there are other logistical factors to take into consideration, and endpoint security just so happens to be one of the most pressing.

By utilising these tools as your workforce grows, you can ensure that you not only stay on top of the daily demands of running a team, but also that you are prepared against all manner of potential pitfalls and issues that have, historically, tripped up even the most hardworking and dedicated of business owners.