When I was visiting with my sister last weekend, we were discussing how much she enjoyed working at home. I mean, absolutely loves it! Her employer was hiring and needed space in the office for the employees. My sister, a tenured employee of 30 years, jumped at the chance to work remotely.
Many businesses, hoping to reduce their property footprint, are turning to employees and asking if they would be interested in working remotely from home. Employees, such as my sister, would love the opportunity to work from home and forego the hassle of the morning and afternoon commute.
Unfortunately, not all employers are as forward thinking as my sister’s. Many employers have the misconception they no longer have a way to manage an employee that works remotely. Fears of lower productivity, dealing with information security problems, diminished employee skills, and the cost of telecommuting are other reasons that deter employers from offering a work at home situation.
How employers successfully work with remote employees –
- Talking with remote employees on a regular basis keeps both managers and employees in touch and on the same page regarding deadlines.
- Employers can save thousands of dollars each year in office costs by setting up telecommuting employees instead of renting or owning a large office space.
- Concerns over loss of skills can be easily addressed when employees continue to be included in educational training and seminars in their field.
- Managing information security can be handled with company installed defensive technology made to safeguard important and confidential data.
Employees that work remotely are happier and their work reflects this with higher productivity levels. Market research conducted by Harris Interactive confirmed a 64% increase in productivity when employees work remotely.
Remote Employees:
- have a higher retention rate within their company
- experience fewer distractions than in a traditional office setting
- have lower stress levels
- experience less overall illnesses
- love the flexible schedule
- experience a healthier work/life balance
- absolutely love the savings with no commute time to and from the office
After discussing the benefits to employers using a remote workforce and why employees would want to work at home, let’s hear my sister’s views on working remotely.
Linda is a professional business woman in the insurance claims and loss industry who works with individuals daily across the country. Though she is working from home, she quickly and efficiently meets her work obligations outside the traditional work-space confines of a 6 x 6 cubicle.
KC: When you began working remotely did you have any concerns?
Linda: My main concern was transitioning from an entire paper environment to an electronic filing system. It took six months to get file naming conventions down so that I was naming the electronic files the same each time.
KC: What are the advantages of working remotely?
Linda: The biggest advantage is no commute and now that I have been filing all my work electronically, there is no paper to file. No longer are there distractions that can occur in an office setting, such as people stopping by my desk to chat, or noise within the office that I can’t control.
KC: What are the disadvantages of working remotely?
Linda: I don’t have the camaraderie of working in an office with my other team members. When you don’t work in the office every day you miss out on the conversations that take place around your department and you’re not aware of some information that other team members are.
KC: What do you like the best about working remotely?
Linda: Not having to travel every day to the office and being able to exercise before and during my work day. I like the quiet that I have in my home office. No distractions occur in my office.
KC: What do you like the least about working remotely?
Linda: When you work from home, people automatically have the impression that you don’t work as hard when working remotely as you would work in an office setting.
KC: Do you miss working in a traditional workplace?
Linda: No, I personally don’t miss it.
Linda shared good points about missing the camaraderie with her team members, being out of the loop with some office information, and setting up an electronic filing system. These concerns are all legitimate not only for Linda, but for many remote employees.
Knowing these concerns, office managers can make a point to keep the remote employees up to date with office information via daily or weekly emails. Having a standard electronic filing system in the office would help ease transition for remote workers and keep information flowing between the two locations.
A main issue for many remote employees is not being involved in the everyday talking and laughing with fellow employees. The lack of such social interaction each day can make a remote employee feel like an outsider in their own company. Lack of daily social interaction for some at home employees can also leave them feeling isolated, lonely, and depressed.
When a remote employee is experiencing feelings of loneliness and disconnection:
- Making phone calls first thing in the morning can reconnect remote employees to fellow employees just as they would if they were stepping into the office each morning.
- Getting outdoors during lunch. There is no need to stay cooped up inside the house.
- It is important to keep remote employee’s spirits up by including them in training and networking events that keep them current on industry news and information.
A main issue Linda pointed out is the misconception of remote employees not working as hard as office employees. This is inaccurate as shown by the Harris Interactive report. Productivity is significantly higher with remote employees.
The “not working hard” misconception of a remote employee lies in the fact home employees are probably sitting in front of their computers in PJs, sweatpants, tank tops, or running shorts.
There is no longer the need to put on nylons and skirt or a suit and tie to go to work. Why wear clothes that are not comfortable when at home? Being comfortable while working is a distinct advantage to completing work quickly and efficiently.
Wearing appropriate clothing when on Skype with other employees and clients is absolutely necessary, but what an employee wears when not on Skype has no bearing on how productive they are at their job.
Though Linda absolutely loves being a remote employee and working from home sounds like the most cost-effective way to go for employers, working remotely is not the best fit for every employee.
- New employees who are hired to work from home may struggle as they are not sure what is expected of them.
- Remote employees have minimal to no direct supervision so they must have excellent:
- time management skills
- self-discipline
- motivation
- self-sufficiency skills
What do you think? Are you a remote employee or thinking of making part of your workforce remote employees? Are there other concerns or advantages that we have not discussed here?
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