How, do you ask?
The simplicity is brilliant: you can set up remote capability for your company without necessarily going completely remote for any (or all) employees.
In other articles and all over social media, we’ve shared the many benefits of a virtual office setup. Whether it’s a small company with no real need for a physical office or a larger company with hundreds of employees who fight traffic, subways, busses and more to get to work every day (and are inclined to take a sick day more often as a result), all it takes is a few communications adjustments to allow for telecommuting and therefore improve the quality of work, life, and expenses for everyone involved.
Here’s how:
Reduced overhead expenses
There are a multitude of small wins any company who allows telecommuting will see in terms of reduced costs, but here are a few of the more noticeable ones. First, allowing an employee to stay home and work due to sickness not only improves their morale and reduces their sick day absences (more on this later), but it also means they can still get some work done (especially when it’s just a cold but still can be contagious and requires rest). Most of us know how annoying it is when a coworker with the best of intentions (to not miss work) brings germs to the office and spreads sickness that leads to more unnecessary sick days.
Secondly, you have much better options for talent acquisition as well as retention: it’s much more expensive to hire a new employee than it is to improve the situation for an existing one.
And finally, this may not be as measurable but it has been proven time and again: allowing your employees to work from home when desired directly leads to an improvement in employees’ physical and mental health. Just think about how much of a relief it is when they are able to embrace the increase in flexibility and decrease in rush-hour commuting that comes with the freedom of working at home. Less stress equals more success.
Improved morale and employee satisfaction
The capability to work remotely – whether on occasion or full-time – can be a dream come true for parents who occasionally have to stay home with sick kids (and are fully able to work yet must miss work if their job can’t be done at home), employees with cars in the shop, those who would greatly appreciate being able to avoid the commute in hazardous weather, and especially those who could tremendously reduce their expenses and mileage by not being required to commute a long distance every day. Oh, and the work-at-home dress code makes anyone and everyone smile.
In other words, give your employees the option to work from home when needed (or desired) and you will have much happier, more relaxed and more productive employees. The multitude of studies we’ve shared on social media in recent months speak for themselves.