Hasan Abir is working as a Growth Marketer at Apploye Inc. He would love to work out of his comfort zone, and his passion is for digital marketing.
Remote working nowadays is not just about saving money. Remote working has many benefits, including employee retention, increased productivity, and staff motivation. Recently we've seen how remote working has become a way of life for many of us. And since the COVID-19 crisis, remote work has become the 'new normal' for many companies and employees.
Freelancers have seen their office colleagues join them in the freedom of having no one watching over and checking their work and being able to manage their schedules.
As remote work brings advantages for remote employees, there are advantages for the employers too, so let's start with the top benefits of remote work for employers:
The advantages of remote working are not one-sided. It's a win-win situation for both employers and employees too. Here are the top 10 benefits of remote working for employers:
One of the main benefits of employees working from home for employers is cost savings. Depending upon if the organization is entirely virtual or not, employers can also save on:
Utilities (electricity, wi-fi, water)
Building maintenance
Cleaning
Provision of the coffee shop or restaurant
Equipment
Furniture
You can even save more on expensive tech equipment by outsourcing to freelancers, as many freelancers already have office equipment.
Business owners now have a wider choice of staff when looking for remote workers. Now hiring doesn't have to be local and can be anywhere around the world: simply look for professionally-looking resumes online. This delivers a more significant opportunity to find employees with specialized skill-sets, therefore saving on training.
One of the other benefits of hiring remote workers is that there are no relocation costs for the company. And today's millennials prefer to work remotely with more freedom as they've grown up with technology that allows this.
Employees who suddenly feel a little under the weather are more likely to keep working if they are working from home. If someone has a long journey, is much more likely to call in sick, but working remotely can enable them to work from anywhere they want to work.
If an employee can structure their day-to-day tasks around their work, they won't take unnecessary time off.
Nowadays, the world we are living in where time is valuable, and we never seem to have enough of it. Another benefit of remote working for employers is that employees will use their time more productively if they work from home. Also, less time will be spent on traffics, working from home reduces lateness, office gossip time, and time wasted in the coffee shop.
Office politics are facts of corporate life. As it happens in small companies, so also happens in multi-million-dollar organizations. People will always create or experience difficult situations in the office environment. Without the proper office environment, office politics' temptation will be reduced, and there will be fewer concerns about who spent 10 minutes chatting with whom at the vending machine.
The whole company working remotely using a modern integration system can encourage the employees to communicate more and empower one another. All the team members can keep in touch through the company intranet as if they're in the office.
Working together like this can promote positive feelings and motivation. This can make employees go the extra mile when you need them to work late or produce a spectacular presentation. Remote employees tend to be usually happier than office employees, which makes them good advocates for their well-being.
Flexible working creates loyalty. This is an additional one of the advantages of letting the employees work from home. Eventually, commitment leads to trust. Employers can respect them by letting them feel that their boss trusts them to do their job in their way.
In other terms, loyalty means employee retention, as employees won't search for a job if they're happy where they are, which is also cost-saving for the company.
For the growth of an organization, workforce productivity is essential. And productive employees mean more profit and greater efficiency. Employees working from home can be more productive as it's in their interest to get the job done effectively without wasting time.
Similarly, a quick meeting on the intranet is more effective than an office meeting, where there are many ways to waste time. Benefits like these remote meetings make people more productive as they have more time to get the job done.
As modern technology is evolving, employers have no excuse not to secure a remote workforce's benefits. An excellent digital workplace platform with an internet connection means employees can access all the tools they need to do their work.
Collaboration suites like Slack, project management on slack tools like Workast, task management tools, and many other modern digital collaboration tools are all here to improve and change how we work to transform into a remote virtual workplace.
At first remote working can be difficult and strange as employees are not used to the silence and the absence of office chat. But with proper adaptation, this can also encourage better communication as employees learn to talk to whom they need to, when they need to, without wasting time. It can also encourage employees to get to know each other through messenger apps and chats and determine how they can motivate each other.
We're witnessing the flexible workplace revolution. More employees are seeking the opportunity to work remotely, as there are advantages to work remotely. And the top 10 advantages of remote work for the employees are:
Remote workers appreciate their freedom and flexibility. They can plan their day-to-day tasks by balancing their work and home life as long as they can meet deadlines. Having the flexibility to attend daily life events besides flexible working hours is a great gift to an employee. When the employer lets the employee have this freedom, it builds trust and provides more job satisfaction.
Going to the office can be expensive. You've got travel costs, lunch, parking, snacks, and coffee, clothes for work, and the list can be endless. Working remotely saves on these expenses, which can be added up to a considerable amount, which is always a good thing for the employees.
Childcare costs can also be reduced with remote working, as parents can spend more time at home.
Employees managing their schedules mean they can save more time by arranging their work according to their day-to-day life tasks. Besides, some people work better in the morning than in the afternoons. Some come alive with fresh ideas in the evenings; as long as your working time doesn't affect your teammates and meet deadlines, you can work whenever you wish to work.
You can work from anywhere you want, which is one of the best advantages for those who like to travel a lot. Employees don't have to be bound to a specific city that doesn't correspond to their preference. Which also avoids unnecessary traveling. Working remotely means it doesn't matter where you live next to the sea or at the top of the mountain, as long as you can meet your deadlines.
Usually, the office environment is noisy and distracting. Phone’s ringing sounds, people are talking, and there's always a general buzz. It can be great from a social point of view, but it also can be challenging to work for some people. Some need to work in silence to focus, to let the creativity flow. Working remotely, mostly from home, can let the creative employees tap into creative thinking and greater productivity.
Communicating every day and being in an office all day long isn't the healthiest way to spend time. Peace of mind can also improve with remote working, as working in your own environment can be relaxing, and there's less stress and that employees remain happy and productive.
Previously remote working was only known for freelancers or the self-employed, for now not any longer. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there's been a rapid rise in working from home. Employers are also starting to realize the benefits of remote work. Nowadays, remote workers are building a professional reputation as the employees of the future.
Working remotely offers a better work/life balance. It also makes you feel in control of your life and gives you more time to plan work and home tasks effectively. This gives a feeling of achievement and makes employees more efficient and productive. When working remotely:
There's no rush to travel early in the morning or sit in traffic
You can take a break whenever you need one
There are no stressful office politics to be aware of
You get more family time
You don't have to carry your laptop and files
You can set up your office as you want it. Many people are more productive in their environment. If you are a freelancer or work from home, you can set up your desk wherever you want it. You can also close the door if you wish and listen to music to express your creativity.
You can personalize your work environment just as you want it to be. This is all about personalizing your work area with your prized baseball cap collection or your favorite plants. You spend many hours working in a place, so an office space you love to spend time in can increase your productivity.
To sum it up, though the pandemic may have caused this remote work to be trendy around the world, it's far from the only reason to work from home. The advantages of working from home affected so many things on a global scale that it's sure to become the best path forward.
*This is a guest post from our friend Abir Hasan at Apploye.
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