People appreciate being able to telecommute for work. It has the advantage of allowing employees to work flexible hours that give them the time to parent their children and carry out their hobbies. To embrace the benefits of working from home, a company has to make sure that each employee is equipped with the technology they need to work at their most effective.
They must also ensure that all sensitive and important information is being updated regularly into a reliable data backup system. Providing these important factors means that the employee is free to focus on their work with little worry. It also allows employees to find and adhere to their most productive period in a day to produce efficient and high-quality work.
Simply removing the daily commute stress has been shown to make a big difference in employee productivity and happiness. Providing them with as much ease as possible in their telecommuting ability will only add to this contentment. This will make your employees more dedicated and allow companies to retain well-trained and experienced staff who might have moved on to another company with more flexible work hours.
Employees stay with flexible companies
Companies and researchers have determined that employees are more likely to remain in jobs that give them greater flexibility. The younger generation of employees is especially likely to be unused to sitting within a cubicle for several hours of the day.
Also, recruitment and employee training can be quite expensive. Companies looking into ways to improve their hiring process should also look into how they can retain their existing staff. Allowing employees to work remotely gives them more flexibility in setting their schedules. Research has shown that this makes employees more productive rather than less. People do more and better for an employee that makes them feel valued.
Telecommuting is better for employee health
people who telecommute have the flexibility to plan their daily activities better. Research shows that employees who work from home tend to be healthier both physically and emotionally. The Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College studied over 19,000 workers from nine different companies to see the effects of workplace flexibility on employees. They found that it led to significantly lower stress and burnout in employees who were allowed to telecommute.
Happy employees tend to be healthy employees, as well. This will reduce the number of days that they will miss due to ill health and allow them to give a full and enthusiastic effort when they are working.
Time and efficiency can be monitored better
Companies that allow extended telecommuting usually use Slack, Toggl, or Timely to monitor the employees’ work output. Employees themselves usually utilize time management apps for themselves as well. This leads to employees being able to give greater focus to their work and meet deadlines efficiently.
Being in a physical office environment comes with a lot of distractions that can slow workflow and output. When telecommuting, workers who use time trackers and their daily schedules allow managers to monitor how much time their employees spend on any given task. This will help managers assist employees better and match tasks to workers best suited to meet the specific goals required.
Video conferences become more efficient
Every employee dreads meetings that take them away from their work and can feel interminably long. With video conferencing, you can set up meetings to end at a particular time. Besides, as employees can choose to keep their videos off, they can continue working while listening to the meeting.
Best of all, most video conferencing software gives you the option of recording the meetings. This means that anyone who missed it can watch the video and be just as up-to-date as every other team member. This is also useful for managers to check back and ensure that all the important points were discussed and for employees to review and make sure they understood instructions correctly.
Make sure to use the conferencing apps to keep in touch with your employees on a personal basis as well. Employees can enjoy the benefits of working from home, but they still need to know that they are valued members.
The cohesiveness with which your team operates matters both in person and via the internet. Keep this in mind, and schedule regular check-in sessions with your team. Encourage them to connect as well. Employees to feel valued by the company will take the opportunities given to them and contribute much more back to the company.
Meta title: The Case for Telecommuting
Meta desc: The recent crisis has allowed telecommuting to step up and prove that it is not just a benefit to be gifted to star employees and a valuable resource that can be used frequently. Companies and employees that work from home can remain just as productive and efficient.
