Contrary to the beliefs about how most work can’t be done remotely, I see otherwise. Especially if done correctly, Work From Home (WFH) arrangements can be integral to benefit your business in 2021 and beyond.
As business owners, keeping the company running is of the utmost importance. Not only does it carry your lifeline, but also the lifeline of your employees too. Many companies across the globe have started to adapt this WFH model successfully! It has undoubtedly become one of the many game changers introduced into the working world in the past few years.
Now you may still be skeptical on this whole work from home thing, and it’s completely understandable. Change can be scary at times. You can never be sure of what to expect and may need some help in laying down the clear benefits to your business. This article aims to do just that. A few simple arguments on why you should consider adapting to (at least) a partial telecommuting team this year.
What’s so special about going WFH?
1. Think of the savings!
Saving costs – something that’s on any owners’ mind when it comes to running their business. No, I’m not suggesting to cut down on their salary! I’m talking more of the expense incurred with having people at the office vs NOT having them 8 hrs/day, 5 days/week. From electricity bills, to internet usage, to reducing furniture and stationary costs. These are some of the major cuts that you can do to save more money while still operating.
Some companies can even forgo their monthly office rental once they’ve successfully done transitioning to a fully remote working arrangement.
A little caveat is to avoid treating this as a free-work model where the employees bear all the costs! Define what are business expenses and provide some allowance for your employees. GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com has done the quick Maths and I can safely say that you’ll still save more on bills this way.
2. Less company related distractions
Company hangouts, unnecessary meetings, overbearing coworkers – these all counts as distractions from work. Too much socializing can become a hindrance and has been reported to be one of the major causes of decreased productivity in the workplace.
Instead of taking work time, you should consider taking work done to be the metrics for measuring productivity of employees! This way, daily work doesn’t have to be stretched with 2hrs long breaks in between just to fill the quota. You’ll see that employees gets things done faster when the focus is not to “work” for 8hrs.
3. Improved productivity of work
Tying things up from the above 2 points, employees who are able to adapt to the new WFH arrangements displays better attitude towards work. Studies showing at least a 13% increase in the company’s overall productivity and work throughput heavily supports this notion.
4. Employees love a flexible workplace!
This new model allows for variations in arrangements for your employees. Parents of younger children may opt for fully WFH so they can spend more time with their families. While someone who prefers to come to the office (well… maybe except for Mondays) can do alternating days, or a 3-2 days split of working at home or in office. Whichever fits for both parties! This allows employees to play to their strengths rather than force fitting everyone to an outdated Work From Office (WFO).
Other benefits for the employees includes reduction of commuting costs, control over their working environment, better segregation of time of work-life and plenty more. All these can considered some of the major retention factors that makes people want to stay loyal to a company!
5. It builds trust within the company
“I can’t even see what they’re doing!”, “How would I know they’re doing their job or not?” – amongst some of the more common misgivings business owners have on WFH. I can tell you right now, if you have this little trust in your employees then you may have a bigger problem to worry about.
A healthy employer-employee relationship means having both sides’ needs heard and met in a fair way. “A valued employee is a staying employee” I always say. Letting them instill a sense of ownership and control over their work will demonstrate a level of trust between them and you as an employer. This is the quintessential example of a non-toxic workplace coveted by jobseekers.
As management goes. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers. This means no more micromanaging so we all can spend our times more efficiently on running the business!
Our take on WFH
At SynapseBN, we are proud to say that our team is fully 100% WFH! This allows all of our team members to be able to contribute to our cause at their own time and pace. Deadlines and weekly meetups aside, we encourage each and every one of them to be accountable to their own tasks. This way, we are incorporating the sense of trust that things can get done even when left to our own devices!
With systems in place and tools set up accordingly, the engine can run like a well-oiled machine. From then on, it’s simply a matter of going online on Slack and figure out what greeting emoji you’re going to go for today.
I hope that this article can help skeptical business owners out there to consider this more beneficial approach, especially during these trying times. When the economy is taking a huge hit and morale is low, that’s when we must tighten the belt, adapt and get through it as a team.