In recent years, companies have seen a massive jump in the volume of employees working remotely. In fact, according to the New York Times’ survey of 15,000 people, 43 percent of workers spend some time working remotely.
These changing work habits are anchored on technological advancements that are opening up opportunities for more employee productivity and engagement—and it’s a trend that doesn’t look like is slowing down soon.
For employees, flexible work schedules and work-from-home programs are great motivational tools that minimize burn out and increase productivity. For businesses, remote working opportunities offer significant cost savings while greatly expanding a company’s talent pool.
This leads us now to ask, should your company consider hiring remote employees? Here are four reasons why you should.
#1. You have more opportunities to find the best and brightest talent
Opening up your company to hiring remote employees means you’re no longer just restricted to local talent. By expanding your hiring opportunities to a national, or even international scale, you’re essentially opening up your company to the best and the brightest the world has to offer. In addition, you could also gain new insight and perspectives that could potentially improve current systems and processes.
#2. Both employees and businesses can save a lot of money
According to the Telework Research Network, nearly six out of 10 employers identify cost savings as a significant benefit from telecommuting. Additionally, on an average, businesses could save up to $11,000 annually per employee if employees had the option to telecommute part-time.
For employees, the option to work remotely means they get to save on travel expenses going to and from work.
#3. Reduce employee turnover
One of the biggest challenges that even the biggest organizations face is the rate of employee turnover. As a company, you invest a lot in training your team members to achieve operational efficiency. However, handling the daily pressure of your daily tasks on top of the hassles of commuting to and from the office, day in and day out, can be a major contributor to employee burnout. When that happens, employees tend to just give up and hand in their resignations. Not only are you losing top talent, but you’re also losing the significant time and money you just invested in training them.
Giving employees the option to work remotely has shown a major positive impact on employee retention. Working remotely has been known to increase productivity while giving your team members more time to focus on personal priorities, ultimately creating a win-win situation.
#4. Technology can help ensure productivity and efficiency
One of the biggest challenges businesses face when it comes to hiring remote employees is their inability to closely monitor productivity and ensure efficiency. In a physical office, managers can easily interact with employees to keep operations running smoothly. A lot of companies worry that the same can’t be said when you’re not in the same room as your employees.
To that end, know that remote employees are just as responsible for their output as in-house team members. In fact, there is even a marked spike in remote employee productivity versus traditional in-house employees due to the fact that they work in a very competitive environment.
More importantly, technology today facilitates constant and consistent communication between team members all over the world. Businesses no longer have to rely on expensive equipment or platforms. The availability of cloud-based unified communication tools and Hosted VoIP services means co-workers can stay connected and have access to critical data wherever they are in the world.
Bottom line
If you haven’t considered hiring remote employees yet for your business, now would be the best time to do so. Just make sure that you have the proper platforms in place to empower your team with the tools to stay in constant communication and facilitate productivity. If you’re interested in finding out more about what we can do to help optimize your business communications, feel free to contact us at Jive today.
