Work from home

Benefits of Work from Home or a Remote Workplace

 

Work from Home or Remote Workplace has become a common phenomenon in recent years. New age companies offer remote working option for lots of reasons. Although many critiques would argue that remote working has challenges in terms of managing teams, enforcing company policies, punctuality and personal interaction, yet the bastions of remote workplace are of the view that benefits far outweighs the concerns and many of them are unfounded too. Let us peep into a few important benefits to get an idea of exactly what advantage is derived by employer and employees.

 

1. Availability of Talent- when there is no location constraint, world is open for the organization to recruit the best of the bests for working on their projects. Location becomes a constraint after certain age and employees start gravitating towards a few cities. They don’t feel comfortable moving out of their geographical area and thus the talent pool available at a certain area is affected. With remote working option anyone can work from anywhere.

 

       2. Enhanced productivity- most of the remote work options come with flexible work schedules. This means that employees have better control over their                   time. They can adjust their personal requirements around their work times in a better way. It can mean attending that plumber at home, going to parent-                   teacher meeting of your kid or visiting a doctor without taking a day off. It has been reported that employees working remotely took fewer breaks, shorter                 breaks and lesser sick days off. All this means enhanced productivity for the organization.

 

      3. Retaining Talent- leaving a human resource can be very expensive for an organization. The cost of recruiting and training a new hire can be a major one.              Not to mention the loss of time and productivity while doing all this. Flexible working options help retain employees.

 

     4. Reduced Operational Cost- remote working option can contribute to bottom line of a company by reduced spend on rent, electricity bill, support staff                      salary, internet connection, subsidized cafeteria and other accompanying infrastructural requirements.

 

      5. Organizational behavior- remote working can help keep unwanted office politics, gossips, grapevines, unproductive discussions or meetings, leg pulling,               bullying and harassment at bay. People working at home tend to feel more secured and hence engage lesser in unsolicited behavior. Time and energy                   saved in useless areas get redirected towards productivity.

 

      6. Time savings- on an average employees tend to spend about 1-1.5 hours in one side commute to their offices. In bigger cities traffic jams have been a                   common sight now a days and can add significantly to the above figure. Not to mention the unwanted strikes, processions, VIP visits that can choke the                transportation infrastructure of a city. Commute time can also depend on weather. Remember that rains can force office goers to leave early from office, top            it up with delayed local trains due to water logging and the situation becomes a perfect recipe for traffic jam on roads. Remote working help avoiding all                  such issues and can help adding significant hours to a worker’s daily schedule.

 

    7. Cost savings – employees gain by accruing savings on money otherwise spent on vehicle fuel, parking fees, vehicle maintenance, crèche, lunches bought             from outside and on your office wardrobe. Remote working thus proves to be beneficial for employees too.

 

    8. Ergonomics- working from home allows employees to build customizable solutions for their work areas. Now an irritatingly stiff chair or chilled AC always be          done away with. Employees can get a comfortable chair, workstation, lighting, climate control, wall décor and even their favorite room fragrance in the                    working area. Thus remote working help improve ergonomics by creating an opportunity to use personalized environment. Just imagine using a foot                        massager, ambient lighting and favorite music can do all the magic in creating a relaxed work ambience that is a distant dream in conventional offices.

 

    9. Intrinsic motivation – being placed at their own facility or home gives employees a comfort level and keeps them internally motivated to work on their toes.          Contrary to what is commonly believed, people if left to themselves work with more punctuality and dedication. They can complete their work at their own                pace and also find time for personal commitments. As they are their own boss, it becomes their responsibility to keep things on track and complete their task          on time. They become their own critic and analyze their work staunchly.

 

      10. Reduced absenteeism – people who work from a remote location usually don’t have to comply with the requirement of visiting the office every day. Such              people are least likely to take any unplanned casual or medical leaves. Even if the employee is not keeping well he can somehow manage to work from                  his personal location avoiding any chance of absenteeism. Mostly it has been noted that employees who are on a medical leave don’t really need it.                        Issues like personal commitments, stress, family problems prevent them from attending office. In case of working from remote locations they end up                        working even on the days they are actually sick.