Telecommuting. Working from home. E-commuting. Remote working. Teleworking. All words meaning the same thing: employees who perform their work duties away from the traditional office setting. It’s not all-or-nothing, either. Workers can work remotely 100 % of the time, or only when there’s an emergency at the office, or anywhere in between.
This form of work is on the rise. According to the 2017 State of Telecommuting in the U.S. Employee Workforce, 3.9 million U.S. workers work from home, at least half of the time. Between 2005 and 2015 there has been a 115% increase in telecommuting. Most importantly, workers want to telecommute. According to a recent Gallup survey, “Gallup consistently has found that flexible scheduling and work-from-home opportunities play a major role in an employee’s decision to take or leave a job.”
What’s in it for you, as an employer? Here are five reasons why allowing remote working makes sense for a business.
Reduce Office Costs
By allowing workers to telecommute, businesses are able to reduce the cost of office space. The less full-time office workers you have, the less office space you need, and therefore must pay for. You are also paying for less furniture, equipment, and office supplies. In addition, by allowing different ways of working companies are not limited by space when it comes to future growth.
Employee Retention and New Staff
A happy employee is a better and more loyal employee; they don’t want to leave. When you are able to retain employees you don’t waste time or money on constantly training new workers, and hoping they will fit into your company culture. As life events occur to your employees, such as needing to care for an elderly parent or the birth of a child, they will be able to continue their work, just in a new location.
Telecommuting is a great incentive when you are hiring new employees. You’ll be able to attract not just the top talent in your area, but from all over the world.
Positive Environmental Impact
Consumers, today more than ever, are concerned about not just their own environmental footprint, but the footprint of those that they do business with, as well. E-commuting offers many environmental benefits. The most obvious is that it keeps millions of people off the roads, therefore reducing greenhouse gas emissions and fuel consumption. Other, less obvious, positive impacts are less use of electricity in office buildings and less paper used, workers opting for digital files instead.
Maintaining Operations
Snow days. Sick children. School closings. All of these are reasons why a traditional worker may need to take a day off work. Employees with the ability to telework no longer need to take the day off, they can now meet their work obligations while meeting their family needs at the same time. Also, telecommuting is perfect for any time where safety is an issue, such as health epidemics, to keep work moving but to also look out for the well-being of the employee.
Productive Workers
Telecommuting fosters a sense of control and responsibility from employees, which in turn produces high levels of productivity. There are fewer distractions, minimal socialization, and a better work-life balance can be achieved.
You’ve done the research and have decided, along with many other business owners, that telecommuting is the right choice for your business. Now what? Our Avaya and Star-2-Star solutions will allow you to set up your workers all over the globe. Give us a call at 443-201-8074 or email us at info@tcctelecom.com to see how we can help you!
Sources:
http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-good-reasons-why-working-remotely-makes-sense/
https://hr.gwu.edu/benefits-telecommuting
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/remote-workers-work-from-home.html?mcubz=0
https://www.lifewire.com/reasons-employers-should-implement-corporate-telecommuting-programs-2377400
https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-telecommuting-2062113
https://www.flexjobs.com/blog/post/telecommutings-hidden-environmental-benefits/