Remote work is not a novelty by any means, but it has been in the spotlight for a few months now. Whether you are still house-ridden due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or are slowly returning to the office, you’ve likely been researching various remote-work options for your business. Are they profitable? How challenging are they to organize? Should you even consider introducing remote jobs as a business? Let us immediately give you a hint by saying that there are many benefits of working remotely for employers!
But before we get to the tangible upsides of remote work, let’s first see what kind of remote-work policies you could consider introducing.
Different Types of Remote Work Policies
When considering introducing remote work as one of your company’s benefits, you must consider its extent. Are you going to hire full-time remote workers? Do you plan to introduce a few days of working from home a month? Or are you perhaps planning to give your employees full control over where they’ll work from? These are all the questions you’ll have to consider before settling for any remote work policy.
Ultimately, the policy you select will depend on your business needs, whether working from home is even possible in your line of work, your employees’ habits, and much more. However, unless you’re a company that can’t operate remotely, you will surely find an option to your liking that will still benefit you. Here are a few ideas on what you could introduce:
- 2–3 remote days a month — This kind of monthly option is excellent for giving your employees the flexibility to work from home if they get ill or to use if they have urgent errands to run.
- Flexible Friday — By allowing your workers to work Fridays from home, you will cater to all your employees with a family. You’d be surprised what a difference a single day a week could make for parents.
- Full remote flexibility — If you allow your workers to pick whether they’ll work from home or the office, you’ll be left with a lot of room for expense optimization. However, this type of flexible work arrangement requires you to have full trust in your employees.
- Full-time remote work — Many companies worldwide hire full-time remote workers, so you can too! Just keep in mind that it brings some new challenges, like onboarding remote employees, but that’s nothing you won’t be able to handle with a bit of practice.
10 Benefits of Working Remotely for Employers
Now that we’ve given you a few examples of remote work policies you could opt for, let’s get back to our original topic. Here are ten benefits of remote work for employers:
- Higher Profitability
- Lower Expenses
- Better Employee Satisfaction
- Higher Productivity
- Lower Absenteeism
- Higher Employee Retention
- Improved Employee Mental Health
- Wider Talent Pool
- It Is Environmentally Friendly
- Increased Diversity
Let’s jump right in!
Higher Profitability
Believe it or not, data shows that companies that employ remote workers earn more than those that don’t. The figures are far from negligible — businesses save about $11,000 yearly per remote worker, which roughly translates into a 21% profit increase.
Another research conducted on patent examiners also gave outstanding results.
As you can see from the graph, the company revenue increased by $132 million over the test period, while hiring expenses and office costs dropped by 4.4% and $38.2 million, respectively.
This data just goes to show that remote work can be quite profitable if executed correctly.
Lower Expenses
If you decide to introduce remote work at your company, you can cut costs significantly. For starters, most remote employees don’t require you to provide working equipment. Aside from that, you can save a lot of money in the office space department. In most U.S. states, for example, you’d have to cough up $14,000–$15,000 per employee yearly on office rent. That’s quite a lot if you ask us…
Remote workers are also often OK with settling for a bit lower salaries. Why is that? Because they have the option of working from home, which reduces their expenses as well. Since they won’t have to pay for gas or public transport to commute and will save a lot on food, your business can save money on employee salaries too.
Finally, perks are also something you can cut costs on as remote employees often won’t be able to attend any company events. You can save a small fortune on team building events, company parties, and other related activities.
Better Employee Satisfaction
Employee satisfaction is that ideal every business strives toward but too often misses by a longshot. You’d be glad to hear that working from home solves half the problem!
The flexibility that telecommuting offers strikes the right chords with many, which makes workers more grateful. That can manifest in their being more willing to take on extra work, staying longer to finish urgent tasks, and enjoy work at your company more overall.
Probably the best part about working from home is that they won’t have to sit through all those dreadful and dull meetings. And that means you won’t have to hold them, either!
Higher Productivity
After our previous few points, should it surprise you that remote workers are more productive overall? We thought so.
According to Forbes, remote employees show increased productivity by 35%–40% compared to their office counterparts. That results in a 4.4% increase in output! Aside from that, because of some of the perks of remote work, such as more employee autonomy and independence, remote workers showed increased performance. That results in having to conduct 40% fewer quality checks.
Another research from 2020 by Airtasker found the following two things:
- Remote employees take more breaks during their workday but dedicate more attention and time to their work.
- Fewer remote workers seek out distractions during their working hours than in-office employees.
With this data in mind, it should be crystal clear that, contrary to what you may think, remote work usually makes people more productive than an office job.
Lower Absenteeism
Another benefit of remote work for employers is that it can enhance worker engagement. And yes, you’ve guessed it, working from home can help with that too.
Most of the time, when people call in sick, they aren’t ill enough to work but commute. That is why you will minimize absenteeism and maximize your employees’ performance by either having a part-time remote-work option or transitioning to full-time remote work.
That is even backed by data — the above mentioned increased productivity and performance bring with them higher engagement, which results in 41% lower absenteeism!
Astonishing, isn’t it?
Higher Employee Retention
Every business knows the value of employee retention, and remote work increases it significantly. Giving your workers more leeway and flexibility helps you build their trust and facilitate employee satisfaction. That results in higher employee retention, which is a goal for any business out there.
According to Owl Labs 2019 State of Remote Work report, remote employees are 13% more likely to remain with a single employer for longer than office-based workers. The same report also showed significantly higher company loyalty from remote workers than their office-based counterparts. So don’t underestimate the power of telecommuting!
Improved Employee Mental Health
The comfort and the familiarity that the home environment offers workers have proven invaluable to their overall mental health. That is because employees who work from home are less stressed out than at an office job. But why is that? There are a few possible reasons:
- more flexible schedule and breaks
- no continuous supervision
- familiar and homey environment
- no obligatory meetings and conferences
- no commute
A stress-free person is less likely to suffer from mental health issues like depression and anxiety, so any changes that help reduce stress at the workplace are a welcome change. And working remotely is perfect for helping employees achieve a healthy work-life balance!
Wider Talent Pool
Now we get to the more general benefits for employers! What do we mean by a wider talent pool exactly? It’s simple — hiring for remote positions removes any geographical boundaries you would otherwise have if you were hiring for an office job. Now you can hire that one perfect candidate from across the globe without him having to leave his wife and kids and move to work with you.
By taking boundaries such as distance and place of residence out of the equation, you suddenly have a much wider variety of experts to choose from!
It Is Environmentally Friendly
When you hire remote workers, your business helps reduce exhaust emissions by eliminating the need for employee commutes. But wait; please bear with us for a second — planet Earth is not the only one that benefits from this. Going green has direct benefits to your company’s revenue as well! Don’t believe us? Here’s some data to convince you:
Nielsen conducted a survey in 2018 and, over 52 weeks, found that particular goods like bath products, chocolate, and coffee from manufacturers that provided legitimate sustainability evidence outclassed their competition in sales.
As you can see, going green has more to it than just saving the planet! And working with a remote team can help achieve that.
Increased Diversity
Diversity is one of those buzzwords that have marked the last decade, which is why it can directly impact your company’s reputation; that can directly impact your business’s success! And how does working remotely help with diversifying your employee base? It’s pretty straightforward.
By having the option to hire people from across the globe, diversifying your hires is no longer a challenge! You will have access to different markets and people of all creeds and nations. Not only that, but remote jobs also give people with disabilities opportunities to earn a living.
If you decide to implement a remote work policy, don’t miss out on this opportunity to skyrocket your brand’s reputation!
Are You Going to Introduce a Remote Work Policy?
Now that you’re familiarized with all the benefits of working remotely for employers, are you ready to give it a shot? You don’t have to go fully remote right away — try introducing one of the tamer options we’ve listed for starters and see how it goes from there. If you see your productivity and profits rise, maybe you should consider switching to full-time remote work? And if you need some guidelines to help you get ready, why not check out our article on how to prepare for remote work? We’re sure you’ll find it insightful!
Until next time!
