5 Ways To Make Remote Working Less.. Remote
Working remotely doesn’t have to feel ‘distant’ and here’s why
by Steph Oszczyk
Although in recent years we have seen a massive shift in companies’ attitude to remote working, it’s still a highly debated topic with passionate views both for and against the idea.
As a provider of virtual services, it’ll come as no surprise that here at Your Business Efficient we fully believe in the benefits of remote working and offering flexibility in general. The important caveat is to ensure the remote and flexible model still keeps your team well and truly ‘together’.
1. Flexibility For Employers – Rotate Dedicated Attention
Too often we think about the flexibility aspect from an employee wellbeing point of view (and yes of course that features on our list – spoiler alert: it’s coming up next) but flexibility can also work in the employer’s favour too. Having a hybrid arrangement can allow for rotation of the office’s headcount, allowing for focus time with set groups of employees and departmental team building. How does Marketing Monday, Technical Tuesday and The Fullworks Friday sound?
The hybrid route is a good solution to the concerns often raised when considering remote working options for staff, such as employee isolation, lack of supervision over work undertaken and communication gaps with individuals.
2. Employee Wellbeing – Remember The ‘Check-In’
Affording your employees the opportunity to fulfil their hours where and when best suits their lifestyle (because let’s be honest, we all have something going on outside of our jobs) may seem like an extreme and incomprehensible luxury.
But if there is space to bring even small flexible opportunities for your team into your business model, the benefits will most certainly be appreciated.
From enabling your team to finally find time to make that important dentist check-up, to freeing them from ‘rush hour hometime stress’, to simply relieving the pressure they feel putting on their game face every morning, relaxed work schedules feed happier, healthier employees.
The key here is to establish what is possible and what you as the team leader feels comfortable with. From here you can ensure clear expectations of what flexibility does and doesn’t look like are communicated. And of course, remember to regularly check-in with your team and with your arrangements. The benefits of offering remote working can all too easily be counteracted by forgetting those extremely vital 1 to 1s.
3. Less Overheads – Invest In Your Team
Premises obviously vary far and wide from business to business. You may be working from the foot of your bed on a laptop with three teammates supporting over your shoulder. You may have a 4 storey custom built construction with an onsite employee gym and spa. Or you may well be somewhere in the middle.
Whatever the need may be for ‘maximum capacity’, a reduced ‘in office’ headcount stands a reasonable chance of lowering the bills.
Given the many costs associated with employees working in your offices, if and where savings can be made, a positive use of such newfound funds could be investment into team building events, additional training, and employee recognition schemes – all of which will ensure your remote workers remain a big part of your business.
4. Larger Field For Recruiting – Secure That Talent
So you need a skilled, passionate, highly organised, multi-tasking wizard to join the ranks and instantly gel with your team? Well, all too often I hear people say “Oh I’d be so perfect for that job, but the commute prices me out” or “That is exactly the type of work I’ve been doing all my life, but I have no one to replace me on the school run…”
More often than not, you as ‘the recruiter’ don’t get to meet these hidden gems, and your business could be suffering for it.
Granted not every job can be tailored for every circumstance but where flexibility is maximised within a company, so follows the increase in available quality candidates with the skills and experience you want in your workforce. And I cannot stress enough that the multitasking ability and patience of toddler-raising parents is second to none. Trust me, it has to be!
5. Productivity – Explore The Value Of Time
Less time on the road, less time on picking clean ties and matching socks, a clear lunch break when you most need the energy boost… There is time to be reclaimed in the Working Day and who doesn’t need a little extra time here and there?
Now on the flip side, in my retail days some of my best ideas were concocted on the long drive home after a late shift, and structure for some is an absolute necessity for productivity. But where do we draw the line and what is simply an archaic tradition that no longer fulfils a purpose?
As with any attempt to increase productivity, a reflection on where time is spent and what benefit is coming from those actions is needed first before a decision can be made on what could or should change. And although a shift to some form of remote working may not sound likely to directly increase time employees spend on work (afterall an 8 hour day is an 8 hour day, right?), increasing productivity in one aspect of someone’s life will no doubt have a positive knock on effect on the level of productivity in other aspects.
Our Final Thoughts…
One size really doesn’t fit all, and just as views on remote working will vary from person to person, their ability and opportunity to provide it will also differ. But there need be no absolutes. It’s about reflecting on your own personal business model and weighing up what can be adapted to make positive changes for you and your employees.
There are of course additional responsibilities as an employer when facilitating remote workers, but responsibilities are there for a reason. Don’t see that Work From Home Risk Assessment as just another tedious item on your to-do list. Instead embrace it as the opportunity that it is to spend quality time with your valued employees, ensuring that they’re gaining as much from you and the job as you’re expecting from them.
And finally, one last benefit that didn’t make the list but really shouldn’t be discounted. Just think how much all us home workers will save on footwear!
(Apologies to those in the business of selling dress shoes…)
