Arguably, 2021’s biggest professional trend is working remotely. Whether by choice and one’s desire to enjoy the flexibility and lifestyle that comes with remote work or because of the pandemic’s force of entrepreneurs, employees, and business owners to work from their homes, one thing is certain — working remotely is not going anywhere anytime soon.
Remote Work Is Quickly Becoming a Preferred Work Style
It is understood that employees are finding numerous benefits in working from the comfort of their living room, salon, or converted at-home office. Not to mention that as the world opens back up, many employees are packing their laptops up and taking their work with them on the road. From the quiet relaxed environment of working where you feel most at ease to bringing your job with you abroad to explore after a year of isolation, it’s no surprise that more than a third of 9,000 surveyed U.S. employees don’t want to return to the office they once spent 40+ hours a week in when remote work has opened up brand new doors and opportunities.
It’s Not Only Employees Who Enjoy Remote Work
In fact, it’s not just employees who are finding the benefits in this new work culture. Some of the largest businesses in the world are going remote and telling their employees to trade their former cubicles for at-home offices with mini-fridges and standing desks, funded by the businesses themselves. Whether full-time or partially, and with all the benefits involved, it is something to think about with options to be weighed as to whether or not to keep employees at home. So as a business owner now in the position of having to decide whether to recall your employees back to the office or include working from home as a part of the new norm, what do you choose?
Why One Business Chose to Start with Remote Right from the Start
The team at, TeamUp, fitness management software, can help. A remote business since launching in 2012, TeamUp’s employees watched as millions of people transitioned their work life into their home life, while they had already been doing it for close to 10 years. Not only has the software team found working remotely to be beneficial to its employees and business, but also to its clients. The ability to stay connected across multiple time zones, markets, and languages has enabled the company to grow and expand and provide gym management software services to fitness operators across the globe, proving an office wasn’t necessary to achieve its success. As a result, they want to share why this work style has been successful for them.
5 Reasons to Encourage Working from Home
If you are a business owner or employee who is unsure of the remote work lifestyle that is quickly becoming a standard rather than a trend, here are five reasons why you should consider keeping remote work in play.
Saved Costs for Both the Employee and the Business
When it comes down to it, one of the biggest benefits of remote working for both employer and employee is the saved costs. For employers, employees working from home means saved rent or mortgage on office space, electricity, shared amenities and commodities, and cooling and heating systems for starters. For employees, they save on necessary transportation to and from the office, including both public and private. Moreover, on top of saved costs, time is also saved. The commute to work adds up, and time spent on the bus, train, or car isn’t productive. Meals also add up as well, with many office employees going the route of ordering food or purchasing food from a local food truck or restaurant.
According to a survey done by Global Workplace Analytics, employers can save an average of $11,000 per employee (who works half the time from home) and employees can save anywhere from $600 to $6,000, depending on their expenses.
To offset some of the costs of employees working from home or on the road, many companies have provided their employees with annual stipends or a fixed cost to transform their spare bedroom into their personal office. Pricing significantly less than what it would be to provide this for an entire office space, employees have the ability to both set up their workspace to their liking, with the same comforts (or even more) than they would have had in a shared office space. (Hello standing desks and plant walls!)
Wider Access to Talent and Qualified Candidates
So long are the days of being limited to a specific area or range of candidates in a specific location. For quite some time, employers have struggled to find “the perfect fit” and employees to find “their dream job.” With remote work, both employers and employees have the opportunity to work from anywhere for anyone no matter where their location is. The ability to telecommute to work has opened the door to find the perfect fits and perfect companies.
This doesn’t only mean nationally. Companies have started outsourcing to other international nations via freelancing and licensed entities. This becomes another money saver, and benefit for growth on their end, while an opportunity for an employee to expand their resume and have a wider potential for finding the right job and position for them (not to mention salary). For example, an employee based in Spain, working for a U.S. company, might earn double what a typical salary would look like in Spain — that might be half of what it would cost to hire an employee in the U.S. for the same position.
Boosted Employee Retention and Happiness
Happy employee, happy work life, right? Studies have shown a boost in employee morale since the shift to remote work, and for those already boasting this work style prior to the pandemic. With less contact in an office setting, sick days have been reduced, and stress and anxiety have been improved. When taking into account that the pandemic has caused a lot of stress and anxiety globally, the ability to provide employees with safer and more flexible work situations has provided comfort and relief to employees, which has also motivated company loyalty and dedication.
Increased Productivity and Accountability
Although big brother might still come in the form of a coworker or manager even remotely, it does feel comforting knowing that your colleagues cannot run up to you every five minutes in an office to ask for a favor, or a project to be completed, or a last-minute “I owe you one.” There is a certain level of accountability, trust, and reliability needed from both an employer and employee when working remotely.
Communication needs to be better, the structure is needed, and more organization and tedious tasks need to be clarified and simplified, but none of these are bad things. With more transparency and independence to focus on the tasks at hand, productivity in the “remote workplace” has increased. Most employees don’t enjoy the pressure and fear that comes with always been watched or checked in on, and employers don’t enjoy micromanaging, either. The responsibility both parties have when working remotely bodes well for better symmetry, synchronicity, and productivity. However, that doesn’t just come, either, and both need to do their part in order to maintain this symbiosis.
More Time to Explore Hobbies and Outlets That Can Benefit the Company
To aid in boosting productivity and hard work during the workday, many businesses have instituted outside activities and hobbies supported by the business. Wellness challenges, fitness stipends, group activities, get togethers via Zoom escape rooms, and Kahoot quizzes, have enabled employees to still engage and spend time with their coworkers while feeling empowered by their business’s support to spend the time they have outside of work on their own activities and hobbies.
When in an office, while many will still try to provide these “extras” a good portion of the time, the costs that fund these events and activities go to some of the unavoidable expenses mentioned above. When employees feel the value and experience it first hand, the abilities to close their laptops, shut the doors of their offices, and fully disconnect put them in better conditions and states to show up for work the next day with great attitudes and morale ― benefits to everyone involved.
To Work from Home or the Office, It’s Up to You
While many businesses and employees did not have the choice of whether or not to work from home this year, many have found it to majorly benefit their performance, mental health, and attitude. If you are a business owner still unsure of whether or not to return to the office completely, consider offering employees the option, or instituting a policy that allows for remote work as well as in-office work. The benefits your business will experience by giving your employees the opportunity to choose where they best perform is not one you want to take a chance on, especially when productivity, morale, and employee retention are improving.
