There are certain challenges that companies face when they decide to work remotely. It may seem more difficult to lead your team, encourage productivity, and see positive results. However, you may also reap more benefits from building a remote-first company model--organizing your company with primarily remote staff. Remote staff work from their own location rather than in a collective office environment.
Seasoned business experts may gawk at the idea of a remote-first business model, stating that working in a physical office is the way things have been done for centuries. Almost every major business has some form of office setting for their employees. Why would you challenge the norm and risk venturing into less proven business practices?
Innovation is essential to success, and sometimes the rules need to be broken. Of course, this doesn’t mean that building a remote-first company model is a blind risk. There are at least 6 proven benefits of working remotely--for you, your employees, and your company as a whole.
Get with the Times
Times are changing, which means that people are changing with it. More people than ever shop, hire services and conduct business remotely. Building a remote-first company model shows that you’re in keeping with the trend of working and connecting in a virtual world.
However, this is about more than public relations--although branding yourself as a contemporary business has its benefits, too (more on that below). Working online makes it easier to seek out employee applications and clientele online as well. Increase your pool of applicants and potential clients by making your business accessible across geographic locales.
Create a Caring Company Brand
In an ever-connected world, social media news spreads instantaneously. This can be good or bad. If you build a remote company, enhanced public awareness is to your benefit. Be sure to market your company as one that puts clients/customers first--and employees right behind.
You, as a CEO or manager, have been gracious enough to allow your employees to work from home. You don’t force them to commute; you allow them to work where they’re most able. Your employees save money on expenses like travel and childcare, and you even help them reduce their carbon footprint.
If you care for your employees and help the environment, let the world know. Companies like Costco and Indeed have a caring company culture, and it’s no accident that these facts are well-known. It’s all part of these companies' marketing strategies. When you build a remote-first business, you help craft an overall positive image to the public and increase the chances of clients viewing you favorably.
Save Money
When you create a remote-first business model, you save money. To be clear: you save so, so much money. If you’re in the early stages of crafting a business plan, it may shock you just how expensive it is to open a commercial office. You have to purchase or lease property, invest in basic utilities, provide legal necessities like restrooms and break rooms for your staff, furnish your office, buy technology like computers and printers, purchase a business internet and phone plan--the list goes on and on.
Most of these expenses, by the way, are ongoing for the entire life of your business. However, when you work remotely, you don’t need to provide any of the above office features for your employees. This is not to say that you deprive them. Make it clear when you accept telework applications that all staff needs access to the internet, a computer, and specific software at their own expense.
By the way, they’ll likely already fulfill most of your criteria by the time they submit an application, anyway. If you want to know exactly how much money you can save by working remotely, look up a Telework Savings Calculator. Factor these reduced overhead costs into how you organize your business model.
Increase Productivity
Those who are hesitant to hire remote employees or send office staff to work from home may worry about productivity. Who would get any work done when they didn’t have to report for duty in their best business attire? Actually, your employees may be even more productive when they have the chance to telework.
When employees are responsible for their own workdays, they’ll be more focused, work more quickly, and achieve better results. In fact, a survey by Airtasker found that employees who don’t have to commute to an office setting actually spend more time on work tasks.
Inspire Creativity
Many studies have shown that collective office environments aren’t conducive to creativity. In fact, the opposite is often true. Employees often feel stifled by working in an office. Office settings usually aren’t visually exciting, and the feeling of being micromanaged often creates feelings of hesitation or meekness in some employees.
One of the best remote work benefits is superior creativity. Remote employees get to work when and where they generate the most creativity, which improves their quality of work and offers better creative thinking for your company as a whole. Employees may feel more inspired to suggest positive improvements or developments when they get to work remotely.
Increase Employee Reliability
Employees are far more reliable when you build a remote-first working model. Commuting to an office setting promotes exhaustion, which can lead to more employees taking sick or personal days. Teleworking means transportation issues are unlikely to interrupt workdays, and employees can even take care of sick family members while working from home.
Plus, employees who work remotely are exposed to fewer illnesses and may even work while ill. While the latter sounds unfortunate, it means that employees that would be sent home from an office out of fears of being contagious may actually feel well enough to work in their home office setting.
Employees can also report for work while traveling if they so choose. They’re more reliable, and even more content! A study by Owl Labs found that remote work improves employee retention rates by as much as 13%, which saves you resources on hiring and training and even improves company culture.
In Conclusion
If you want the most remote working benefits, be sure to invest in good communication and team building activities. Get started with TriviaHub today to plan web conferences and trainings, as well as team building events like happy hour trivia games, and so much more.