Change can be good. Sometimes we need a change of scenery in order to feel refresh and relieve some of the stress associated with our working and personal lives. Until relatively recently, the effects of stress at work had been underestimated. In certain cultures, especially for men, personal life should not interfere or be seen to be having a negative effect on the ability to work. Men were required to just ‘suck it up’, but we now know that in order for people to work effectively and efficiently, it is for their and the company’s benefit if they are in the right frame of mind. It would be better for everyone if a healthy worker worked productively for four hours, rather than be at work for eight doing next to nothing.
Contrary to popular belief, employees who work from home are actually more productive than those in the office. It could be down to less chance of chatting away with colleagues and probably saving a lot of time and energy not having to commute to the office. This would help prevent some of the stress associated with that, so a happy worker really is a productive worker! Employees would also be happier at being able to set much of their own schedule. Time commuting and preparing for work is all but banished, putting more time back into the hands of the employees. They would benefit from a better work and personal life balance, and in turn be more grateful to their employers. This transcends into loyalty, and leads to lower labour turnover, usually at great cost to the company.
For a company, having remote workers means they need less office space. Less office space means lower rent and property costs. Consider the electricity and office equipment costs as an employer you could save; you’re carbon footprint would be greatly reduced. Sure, it would be great to have everyone meeting face-to-face and discussing ideas; booking room systems can be implemented if you want an efficient way of scheduling your staff for these meetings in person, but with video conferencing producing almost the same result, it seems so inefficient to have the overheads of a building and maintenance when much of it could be done remotely. For those working remotely, they would still have the same level off access as those in office, such as and application with room display, enabling them to see information on current meetings in the actual offices.
The prevalence of fast internet means that employees can be just as well connected at home as they would be in the office at no extra cost. Having internet and electricity costs absorbed by them can increase a company’s profit while the benefits of working at home most definitely not outweigh the negatives. Geographic boundaries are also broken and the talent pool available is increased, potentially improving the quality of work.
These are a few, but very important considerations to take into account when choosing to offer or take up remote work. While some may feel more productive in a professional working environment, the advances in technology point to a future where most work will be done remotely if possible.
