Is Telecommuting the Future?
The world has changed tremendously since the Great Recession. The internet and the ability to go mobile has had a positive impact on businesses and paved way for a new era of employees, “remote workers.” Around 4.3 million people work from the comfort of their home, at least half of the time.
Taking advantage of the constant innovation in technology, companies have shifted their perspective on productivity and instead of forcing their employees to work on-site all the time; remote and flexible work have totally become a thing.
Hours worked aren’t a metric for productivity any more and many businesses are implementing new ways to improve company culture and boost their employees’ performance. For many modern businesses, telecommuting has become ingrained into the culture for certain job roles and provided employees with the ability to work at any time, from anywhere.
According to a study by Deloitte, 94 percent of c-suite execs and 88 percent of employees believe a distinct workplace culture to be crucial to its success. Furthermore, 83 percent of execs believe that engaged and motivated employees contribute to a huge portion of a company’s success. Companies with strong cultures reported an increase in revenue growth by up to 4x as much.
Remotely Interested
Employees feel more comfortable working in their own homes and research suggests that employees are 12 percent more productive when they’re happy. Studies have found remote workers to be more productive and turnaround the same jobs as office workers, at a faster rate. According to Hubstaff, 61 percent of 2060 professionals considered loud co-workers to be their biggest distraction. Eighty-six percent prefer to work alone to up the ante on their productivity.
A real world example is when Best Buy introduced a flexible working program to develop a more agile, organizational structure, that saw their employees’ productivity increase by 35 percent.
Engagement is everything. As the keystone of communication and building successful relationships, engagement seems to show an improvement for remote employees. According to a study by Gallup, 32 percent of remote workers were more engaged than the 28 percent of workers on-site. Furthermore, the same study has proven that telecommuters log around four more work hours, per week.
The productivity doesn’t end there. According to Softchoice Infographic: The Death Of The Desk Job, telecommuters are making sick days a thing of the past, as they take fewer days off and often work while they’re sick.
Scale and Save
Using remote employees has more perks than just productivity. Scaling operations and downsizing overheads can be done by utilizing remote teams.
The main savings are made by leveraging remote employees that don’t need to occupy large office spaces. According to Global Workplace Analytics, around $11,000 can be saved per employee, every year, if the employee works half of that time away from the office.
There’s no need to worry about being snowed-in or stuck in a traffic jam. Remote employees don’t need to commute to the office to get their work done.
Those Lazy Millennials
Often stigmatized as lazy and entitled—Millennials are going strong at around 80 million in the United States. They make up 27% of the population and a vital part of America’s workforce.
In a study by Bentley University, they found that out of surveyed respondents, 77 percent of Millennials find flexibility in the workplace more productive. Millennials have been put under the strain of more work hours, while they’re in the process of starting families. In a survey by FlexJobs, 85 percent of Millennials wanted the ability to telecommute and 67% of those surveyed stated that family was the number one reason for a flexible work schedule.
Conclusion
Are businesses allowing more flexibility in the workplace? Absolutely. The figures and facts state a clear incline in productivity, decline in company expenditure, employees are happier and company culture is stronger.
Are you interested in learning more?
