2017 October 17 Archive - EXEIdeas – Let's Your Mind Rock

Work-from-home or telecommuting policies are rapidly gaining ground in the last decade. In fact, according to GlobalWokplaceAnalytics.com, the number of work from home employees has risen to more than 103 percent from 2005. It is an expected outcome as the modern working environment is continuously evolving into a more mobile one.With the rise of the Internet and cloud communications, it is becoming less and less important for employees to be in the same physical building to work together. Communications and collaboration from a distance is no longer a problem because there are cloud applications and tools that can address this challenge.For file archiving and sharing, your company can use popular storage apps like Dropbox, Box, or Google Drive. For team messaging and task management, you can use HipChat, Slack or Glip. For voice calls, call management, and audio and video conference, RingCentral has got these covered as well. Name any business need and there probably is a cloud-based app created to address it.That is why employers are starting to get around the idea of letting employees work from home. But if you are still unconvinced, know that it is not only the employees who are benefitting from telecommuting.Let’s list the benefits of allowing employees to work from home in the employer’s perspective:You Get Happy And Healthier Workers:Not really a surprise as most people would prefer to work at home than come to the office every day. It gives them more time with the family, they no longer have to commute to work, and they do not even have to stress about what to wear day in and day out. In addition, people with more flexible work arrangements are also healthier. In fact, a UK study by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) found that regular employees’ health are more likely are affected by long commutes because they are more likely to binge eat and also has less time to actually exercise. On the other hand, a flexible and results-oriented setup gives employees the liberty to manage their own time, work at their own pace, and more likely to achieve work-life balance.You Get More Productive Workers:Who knew that happy workers can be more productive workers? Well, according to WorkFlexibility.org, workers who are granted flexibility see a boost in their productivity. Whether they want to reward the company for letting them work from their own home or maybe just being at home gets the working juices flowing more smoothly does not matter. What matters is that more flexibility like telecommuting for employees translate to more productive workers.You Get Loyal Employees:When you have happy employees, the chance that they leave you for another company will be smaller. In addition, they would also be more likely to recommend your company to family and friends as a good place to work. Word of warning though, even if they are happy with their situation, they still want career growth. If your company does not provide that, the work-from-home setup won’t be enough to make them stay.You Get More Hiring Options:In the past, you are limited to hiring within the vicinity of your office. But now that you are offering telecommuting privileges, you can virtually hire from anywhere around the globe. This gives you more options to choose the most qualified people for your company openings.You Save On Money:Letting your employees work from home can let you save on costs in different ways. First off, with a smaller team actually reporting to the office, you do not have to get a big office. A smaller office with few employees within it means smaller rent, and smaller utility bills. And as said above, with more happy workers, there is also a smaller chance that they leave the company. This means you would not have to spend more money and time on recruiting and training new employees to replace the ones who leave. So indirectly, that gives you savings as well.You Also Go Green:The simple act of letting employees work from their own home helps reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions because they are no longer commuting to work. In addition, your company also saves on energy consumption and reduce waste because you’re in a smaller office and there are fewer people in it.If you are a business owner, do not think of telecommuting policies as a one-way street setup where the employees are the only ones benefitting. Implementing work-from-home incentives actually helps you create a happier and more productive organization.About the Author:Francis Mansueto is a Digital Marketing Professional who has been working with a B2B company offering business SMS for more than 5 years. He is obsessed with anything about the cloud – the technology, not the fluffy stuff in the sky.Find Me On GooglePlus | Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter