The ability to work from home or wherever else they want is quickly becoming a perk wanted by many employees. Managers might be hesitant to begin allowing workers to work remotely, but there are actually more than a few benefits to businesses that have remote work opportunities.
Employee Morale Will Go Up
While there will always be employees who prefer to come into the office and do their best work when part of a team, many more will be happier being able to spend more time at home with their pets, children and families. Your employees will definitely love not being stuck in rush hour while trying to get to work every day. Especially if most or all of your employees have been pushing your company to allow them to work from home some of the time, this step will prove to them that your business listens to their concerns and is willing to make tangible changes to the way your office is run. This will increase employee loyalty and help prevent costly turnover.
Your Business Might Not Have To Hire As Many Full-Time Employees
With full-time employees, your business is responsible for the costs associated with them, from the cost of insurance and other benefits to training. Hiring remote part-time or contract workers, on the other hand, can reduce the overhead costs of actually needing to have an employee present in your office, especially if work of a certain nature is only needed some of the time. You also won’t have to pay them the same benefits a full-time employee would be afforded, which is additional savings your organization can enjoy.
Building Operation Costs Will Lessen
By allowing employees to work remotely even some of the time, you will be saving your business a bundle in heating, cooling, and electricity costs over time. It’s estimated that these savings add up to an average of about $11,000 in fast cash annually for a business that lets its employees work remotely only fifty percent of the time.
Increased Productivity
Most businesses don’t seem to realize that many of their employees already work remotely at least some of the time, in that they bring work home with them. Studies have shown that working remotely actually increases productivity tangibly. In the case of inclement weather, power outages, technical difficulties (like the Internet going down at your office) or other disasters that prevent employees from coming to work, productivity will not be lost if your employees have the means and technological infrastructure to work from home.
Think It Through
Before putting a remote work schedule into place, don’t forget to take stock of your current organization and whether this change is right for your business. While most traditional office tasks, such as answering e-mail, working on documents and doing conference calls can be done remotely, some things, such as utilizing specialized office equipment or interviewing potential new hires require people to be at the office. In some cases, going remote might actually cost your business more money, so stop, think and make sure this move really is right for your business.
Allowing your employees to work remotely, or hiring remote part-time or contract workers rather than full-time employees, can be a very smart and productive move for your business. Take a careful look at how your company is run and weigh the pros and cons of remote work. When you make your decision, carefully map out a plan for implementing a remote work program and watch how your new model benefits your business and employees.