Employees around the world claim that remote and flexible work schedules help improve their focus and productivity. And employers who offer these kinds of opportunities can leverage the benefits of remote working on several levels. Here is why this worldwide trend is catching on faster than ever.
Benefits of Remote Work
Remote working opportunities bring equal benefits to businesses and employees. Some of the most important advantages include:
increased job satisfaction, higher productivity and lower stress, better staff retention, and efficiency.
Here’s a brief overview of the benefits of remote work for both ends:
Convenience for Employees
Employees find remote work appealing because of the convenience it provides. For instance, working from home eliminates the need to commute to work every day. Thus, it allows employees to save both time and money daily. Remote work opportunities also allow employees to establish a better work-life balance. They can control their time more efficiently and choose when and where to focus on work. There are also no ties to one location. So employees can introduce different activities to their day without sacrificing their quality of work.
Job Satisfaction
Younger generations who are entering the workforce appreciate a job opportunity more if there are time-related benefits rather than high payments. In other words, they value time over money. More businesses allow employees to work remotely from home at least once a week. It increases job satisfaction among their staff members. And higher job satisfaction also leads to higher productivity and efficiency at the workplace. So along with all personal benefits, the employees can gain from this opportunity too.
Less Stress and High Productivity
Cutting commuting time and traffic jams leave fewer stressful situations tied to work. This privilege allows them to focus on their tasks and thus generate better results. There is no doubt that businesses can benefit from the increased focus and productivity of their staff members. Happier employees are more passionate about helping the company grow and expand.
Better Staff Retention
Lastly, companies that offer remote work opportunities tend to have better staff retention rates. That’s also because their employees are more likely to be satisfied with their job. The chances of an employee leaving the job position for a better opportunity are lower when they already have the privilege of working remotely. Besides improving staff retention, remote work allows businesses to expand their hiring power. In other words, companies don’t have to limit their hiring process to their location. Instead, they can recruit experts and professionals from all over the world and build better teams for their businesses.
Concerns Tied to Remote Work
Much like anything else, even remote working has its pros and cons. After listing the benefits of adopting this concept in your business, here are some of the concerns you should pay attention to:
Security
Companies often overlook the security threats tied to remote working. Each employee has the freedom to work from any location they choose. Chances are, they will end up connecting to open and unprotected networks at some point. It can expose confidential corporate data and cause a security breach with severe consequences. Fortunately, businesses can solve it by enforcing the use of VPN services. It prevents access to business platforms unless the device is connected to a virtual private network. A VPN also encrypts the connection, preventing snoopers from accessing data in transfer. It is especially useful if remote employees plan to work from public spots such as coffee shops and hotels. Moreover, they mask the employees’ IP addresses. After checking “what is my IP address”, each employee would see not the IP address of their device or cafe WiFi network, but the VPN server’s IP address dedicated to their company.
Over-working
By bringing the work home, employees often fail to structure their day. So they end up over-working and tiring themselves more than usual. While extra work might sound like a benefit for the company, it can lead to severe concerns in the long run. The employees may start losing motivation to work. Make sure your staff members are capable of staying organized and disciplined outside an office environment.
Distractions
Some employees lose track of their time and end up over-working. Meanwhile, others can get lost in all the distractions at home. It is another concern that could lead to a drop in focus or productivity. And it again falls on employees to be capable of maintaining discipline in such situations.
