There’s never an easy time to be a business owner, but we’re living through a time of radical technology change, which means that the business owners of 2016 have to work twice as hard.
But while technology creates a lot of unique problems, it also creates new opportunities for the savvy businessperson. In many ways, the Internet has gotten rid of the old gatekeepers. If you offer the right product, because of the ability to rapidly spread across the Internet, you can be a very successful business after a short period of time. Of course, most businesses won’t make billions by developing the next big app, so they have to adjust their strategy every once in a while.
One of the best ways to improve your business: tell your employees to go home!
Establishing a liberal work from home policy is great for two main reasons. The first being the look on the new person’s face as they’re trying to figure out if you’re serious or not, and the second being your company will actually perform better as a result.
Here are a few more serious reasons why allowing your employees to work in a virtual office space at their home can actually improve your business.
More Work Will Get Done
According to Sun Microsystems, employees who work remotely use roughly 60% of the time they otherwise would have spent on commuting actually doing work. That’s about a half hour, on average, more work each day per employee. Over time, that makes a significant increase in efficiency.
Nothing Truly Changes
The only downside of having employees not physically in the office is not being able to walk over and speak to them directly. But with the ease of virtual office spaces and mobile technology, your employees can be reached, either individually or as a group, immediately through various web cam applications, email, and conference calls.
Happier Employees
Roughly 14% of Americans have changed jobs strictly based on length of the commute. No one wants to drive more than 15 minutes in Monday morning traffic, and when they do they instantly become angrier. In so many other ways, working from home even just a few days a month has a huge impact on stress and quality of life. They can remain in their office space while in a much better mood. Happy employees are productive employees, and roughly 80% of employees see working remotely as a job perk.
Actually Save Money
Roughly six out of 10 employers admit that a significant benefit to remote working is the cost savings. If you don’t have to spend as much money on large offices, lighting, plumbing and all the other building expenses, your company will save a significant amount of money. Don’t expand your office space when you could instead expand your telecommuting department.
Healthier Employees
Along with happier employees, working from home will actually improve their health as well. Every situation is different, but working from home can improve sleeping habits as well as eating habits. Your employees won’t have to settle for only five hours of sleep because of the long commute and they won’t eat donuts for breakfast and fast food for second breakfast, lunch, and dinner. They’ll be able to snack on healthier options right at home and sleep in that extra however many minutes.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of having your employees work remotely, or set up virtual offices for your employees, contact STAT International today!
