Does anyone really like going into the office each and every day? Punching in the clock, sitting at their desk, and trying to keep the misery of the daily grind at bay? What if you could work from somewhere you feel more comfortable? The following are 5 great reasons employees should be allowed to work from home.
#1. Increased Productivity
One of the major benefits of working from home is an increase in productivity, according to a study from Microsoft entitled “Work Without Walls”. The more happy and motivated an employee is, the more productive they are. Working in an office environment is dreary at best, and downright soul crushing at the worst. Very few people can stay truly motivated in that environment. Working from home helps increase motivation which, at the same time, increases productivity.
If you want your employees to be working at their very best? Then why not let them do it where they feel the most comfortable?
Some people don’t enjoy staying in the workplace, and it can leave them feeling irritable and unproductive.
#2. Employers Increase their Talent Pool
There are plenty of great employees out there who, for some reason or another, are just unable to work in an office environment. Perhaps they are disabled, or they have such a bad case of agoraphobia that they have difficulty even leaving their house. The best employee for your business might not even be in the local area. Whatever the case may be, when you allow talent to work from home, you’re increasing your talent pool and making it easier to attract and hire talent. There are plenty of great people out there waiting to be employed if only someone would give them a chance and accommodate to their needs. Needing to work from home isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s time you stopped pre-judging people because they won’t go to the office.
Get your hands on them before the competition does!
#3. Employers and Employees Save Money
It takes a lot of money to house people in an office. You have to pay for the building itself, along with all the equipment for everyone in the company. Not to mention the utility bills. There’s also the cost of catering to consider. Saving money is one of the key benefits of allowing employees to work from home. It’s estimated that an employer saves around $20,000 per year per employee that works from home. That quickly adds up, especially if you’re a small business or you’re looking to cut costs. Having ten employees who all work from home and collaborate online is a lot cheaper than having an office with ten people in it. It also saves your employees money too. They save money on gas for their car for a start.
Working from home is something that saves everyone involved a whole lot of money.
#4. Employees Get More Work Done
If you need to squeeze every working minute out of your employees, then you need to allow them to work from home. If your employee spends an hour commuting to and from work, then this is 20 hours lost in a five-day work week. Not only does working from home increase productivity from a moral standpoint, but it also increases productivity in that employees have more time in the day to get everything done. If you’re in a rush to complete your project and get your product launched, then why not send a few employees home for the week? They’ll have more time for work and get their projects completed ahead of schedule.
This is another benefit that’s great for small companies. Smaller companies are always looking to bring out their next product. They can live and die on a steady release schedule. Cut down on wasted time by letting employees work from home. There is the small issue of distracted employees, but there are also ways to monitor employee progress and ensure they work throughout the day.
#5. Improved Employee Retention
So, you have the best employee in the world. They consistently go above and beyond in their work, and you can’t say enough good things about them. What would you do if they suddenly had a child, or there was some other reason that they needed to reconsider where and how they work? You’d have to let them go. Or you could give them the chance to work from home. Working from home is great for working parents or employees that have other responsibilities at home. If you have an employee that you can’t afford to lose, and they find themselves needing to stay at home, just set them up at home. Their productivity might go down a little due to dealing with the demands of raising a child, but they will be grateful to you and still work hard.
Giving people the chance to work from home is a magnificent way to improve employee retention. Be willing to compromise and meet the demands of your workers to keep them in the workforce.
There are some disadvantages to working from home of course; tracking employee performance is one of the key ones. Thanks to technological advances these problems are quickly becoming a thing of the past. There are plenty of software solutions to almost any disadvantage of working from home, including programs that track employee progress for you. It’s never been easier to collaborate and work online with software solutions such as Dropbox and Google Drive. Employees can work and share things on the Cloud, no matter where they are. If an employee has a smartphone, then they’re never too far away from the “office.”
The next time an employee requests time away from work or says that they can’t continue coming into the office, remember these 5 great reasons employees should be allowed to work from home and remember that, as always, there is another way. You just have to be willing to keep your mind open about it. Wouldn’t you want to work from home?
