Lisa has been working for a major retailer for three decades. She answers customer calls, takes orders over the phone (although that started dwindling as online shopping became a thing and fewer and fewer people called) and satisfying customer complaints. She is a good employee, a loyal employee who values the company she works for. She just found out that the office she has worked in for the last thirty years is relocating. The new office is too far from her home for her to commute, and she starts to consider the possibilities of starting over with a new company.
But, thanks to technology, that isn’t her only option! Lisa gets to keep her job. With a good computer and internet connection, a home phone line, and an ergonomic chair, she can start to work her shift from home.
Remote work is growing in popularity (and easily incorporated into agile transformation), as more and more employers turn to it as an answer to so many workplace issues.
Lisa’s situation, where she will be working entirely from home using a computer and a home phone line, is not the only way to work remotely. But it is an increasingly common way and it has a lot of benefits that employers should consider.
There are so many good reasons to allow your employees to do remote work, that it is a growing trend in the workplace. Here we will discuss a handful of the best reasons:
You can hire employees from further away.
By opening your workplace up to remote work, you can hire employees who live further away. You have just expanded the hiring pool you can pull employees from because you aren’t limited by just the people who live in your area, or are willing to move to your area.
This also means that as you pull from that larger hiring pool, you will be hiring employees who are ready to work sooner rather than later. You won’t have to wait for them to move closer to the office, or relocate their families for them to get started on their work.
You can hire employees that may be overlooked otherwise.
Opening yourself up to remote work opens you up to untapped talent pools. There may be people who can excel in your company, but have not applied for the job at hand due to physical disability, or because they are also taking care of a sick parent. There are so many talented potential employees who may be hesitating to send their resume to you because they struggle to commute for some reason. Regardless of what may be holding them back, once hired you will find so many of these people will add amazing things to your business.
You save money.
It costs a lot to maintain offices and cubicles for your employees. When you have employees working from home you cut back on all those costs. You can maintain a smaller office, use less electricity and cut back on other expenses that may be hard on your overhead.
It’s better for the environment.
This one works in multiple ways. By having fewer employees in the office you can cut back on the space you are renting or leasing. With a smaller physical office you will use less in air conditioning and heating, less electricity and less in other utilities. All of this is better for the environment.
When you eliminate your employee commute you also decrease your company’s carbon footprint. Think about the commute time of your employees who come the longest distance, and imagine how much gas they are putting in their cars. The planet is sure to be grateful for all that saved mileage.
It’s healthier for your employees.
Employees that work from home are often happier and healthier. Being close to home, close to their families, they are less stressed and able to balance work and home life in healthier ways. Healthier employees are more loyal and more likely to remain with the company that offers them a more augmented career path. They don’t have stressful work commutes, they don’t have to rush home for their son’s soccer game and they don’t have to worry about what piece of furniture the dog may be chewing up while they are at work. Of course, don’t forget to do your research and collect employee feedback on any changes that are made.
Lisa is not alone. As technology offers us more and more ways to stay connected without actually going to the office, more employers send their employees home to work. And more employees are asking for remote work options. A growing number of job hunters are including the words “remote work” in their job searches, and people are leaving jobs that don’t allow this option for ones that do. Instead of waiting for your employees to come to you and ask to work from home, take the initiative. Create a remote work option for your workplace now.