By Joseph Flynn / 20 Mar 2020 / Topics: Mobility Modern workplace
The change that‘s required to make remote work part of everyday operations can be a scary prospect for companies that either did not fully plan for remote work, or do not understand what they’ll miss by not embracing it.
The competitive advantage that a solid remote workforce produces must be considered. Here are just a few reasons why your organisation should continue to embrace remote work as part of your organisational culture, and how you can address gaps in policy to make remote work a long-term competitive strategy.
Almost half of respondents to an Indeed survey said that remote work policies are important when looking for a job — over 40% said they would be willing to take a pay cut to do so. Employees in the 21st century already expect to work remotely. As we move into the future, workers will be even more likely to demand remote work offerings from their employers for their personal contingency planning.
Also consider that your organisation will be able to draw from a larger talent pool. When employees can work from any location, businesses are no longer limited to a local labor pool when seeking to hire their ideal candidates. Attracting the best talent will require organisations to not only adopt, but also embrace remote work.
Even if you haven’t experienced it yourself, you’ve probably heard about the anecdotal magic of remote work — employees are more productive, sick less often, work longer and are generally happier. Having a clearly defined remote work policy that allows for flexibility in times of need produces recognised, repeatable increases in productivity.
When working remotely, employees simply spend more time working. Watercooler chats, long commutes and distractions like office politics are diminished, work-life balance is improved and workers are happier and more loyal to their employers.
It’s time we start thinking about remote work as a significant contributor to environmental stewardship and corporate responsibility. Consider this: if just 3% of Los Angeles metro-area residents (a little over 400,000 people) no longer commuted by car, they would roughly save the equivalent carbon emissions of planting a thirty-square mile forest.
While it can be difficult to quantify the increase of goodwill that social responsibility and environmental stewardship can bring to a business, it’s clear that many consumers and workers show preference to organisations that prioritise being good corporate citizens.
As Millennials and members of Gen Z continue to make up larger portions of the workforce, being a good corporate citizen will no longer be an optional tool for gaining competitive advantage in a given market —it will become mandatory for business survival.
Furthermore, remote work policies should be something every organisation can point to as a key strategy in reducing their carbon footprint. This is not only based on reducing commutes, but also on reducing the carbon footprint of commercial buildings. Equally noteworthy is that having less office space will reduce energy consumption and provide the added benefit of cost savings for your organization.
Perhaps your organisation is one of those that is either not seeing, or not expecting to see, any benefits from this mandatory remote work renaissance. Before passing judgement on the results of quick decision-making, consider revisiting your remote work strategy to ensure you’ve done all you can to be successful.
Here are some things to consider:
Those organisations that embrace remote work will find themselves uniquely positioned to leverage a whole new world of opportunities. Businesses that view remote work as a tool for emergencies only do so at their own peril. Such organisations run the risk of being left behind and losing their competitive advantage in regards to attracting top talent and appealing to customers within their market.
Director of Technical Architecture, Connected Workforce, Insight
With more than 20 years of industry experience, Joe focuses on the Microsoft stack of technologies to help clients keep up with the workplace technology curve. His expertise revolves around the latest cloud tools that drive collaboration, communication and security.
