Workplace flexibility represents an essential subject in the future of work. Working from home has always been a perk, but it hasn’t been until recently that it’s become a fact for most employees.
Here’s a look at why companies trend toward decentralized teams and the reasons that make this an economically justified trend and not just a more convenient working approach.
- Cost Savings
Businesses that operate from home may save money on office space and employee wages. An annual savings of $11,000 per part-time remote employee is estimated by the Global Workplace Analytics Telework Savings Calculator.
On the other hand, employers aren’t always saving money by hiring remote workers. These are the primary areas where remote work may be a successful cost-cutting solution for your company:
Almost $18,000/year in real estate expenditures, power bills, furnishings, and cleaning services may be saved by using distributed teams.
Food: In the same line, you may save money on work lunches, office snacks, supplies for meetings, and catering services for special occasions if you don’t have a physical workspace.
Before the pandemic, companies spent an average of $1,293 per employee on business travel and costs. In order to save money on everyday expenditures, firms might make use of hybrid and remote solutions.
For virtual teams to function effectively, they need a variety of high-quality technological resources that can be accessed remotely. Equipping your employees with the required hardware and software is more cost-effective than opening a physical office. The only place where it’s critical to make sensible financial decisions is here. In the beginning, spending more money on tech equipment is preferable to supplying inexpensive functional instruments that you will have to update often.
- Environmental Impact
Remote employment has a positive influence on the environment, according to a new FlexJobs survey. According to the analysis, 3.9 million part-time remote workers would save the equivalent of 600,000 automobiles off the road each year. As a result, gas emissions might fall by 70 to 140 billion per year by 2025 if 36.2 million Americans were to work from home.
- Mental Well-Being
There’s a lot of talk about mental health and remote work after the pandemic. Those with a well-defined policy for remote work report higher levels of job satisfaction.
Over two-thirds of those polled in FlexJobs’ 10th Annual Survey said that working from home had a positive effect on their mental health: 62% said that it helped them achieve a better work-life balance, 54% said that it provided emotional support, and 45% said that it allowed them more flexibility in their schedule.
To sum it all up, the Workforce Happiness Index for remote employees was 75 points higher than the in-office average, according to the CNBC | SurveyMonkey Workforce Survey.
- Time Zones Across the World
When it comes to providing high-quality customer support around the clock, having dispersed teams is an excellent approach, especially for IT and customer service companies. Having a global workforce allows you to plan your team’s work around multiple time zones, ensuring that your customers get the best possible service at all times.
- Employee Retention
According to a recent poll, most workers want to work from home. The Harvard Business Review has released well-known research on virtual teams; for instance, workers who work remotely are more productive and tend to remain with their employers for a longer time, according to the study’s results. Working from home implies fewer interruptions and greater freedom for 75% of the population (86 percent ).
What are the implications for employers of these figures? Employers that use simple, flexible remote work arrangements are more likely to recruit and retain top-tier talent. Studies throughout the globe have shown that remote work decreases employee turnover by up to 50%. With a flexible schedule (81 percent), employees tend to be more loyal and more contented than their coworkers (57 percent vs. 50 percent ).
- Talent Pool
Finally, a larger pool of potential employees is one of the biggest advantages of working remotely. When it comes to employing people from all over the globe, what are some advantages?
Dispersed teams provide for a more inclusive and varied work environment. When it comes to LGBTQ+ employees, for example, they frequently feel exhausted from having to hide their sexual orientation (17%) or gender identity (13%). The same holds for other faiths, civilizations, and ethnic groups. Allowing employees to work from home may foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace where everyone feels comfortable expressing their individuality.
Remote recruiting enables managers to employ multinational talent who has worked in a variety of different firms and a variety of different countries. Your company, for example, offers worldwide customer service. You may employ locals who are already aware of the area’s rules and regulations to deal with demands.
The last benefit of remote recruiting is the ability to target people with certain talents. Some of the world’s most talented programmers are located all over the world. You may employ ad hoc individuals to meet your project’s requirements based on the job’s specifics.
