Experts have always expected that technology and the evolution of the internet and modern computers will change the workplace landscape. While some have already adopted remote workers a few years back, the turn of events during the recent pandemic has dramatically shifted the pace of the modern workplace.
These days, the growing number of people turning their living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms into their workstations are unstoppable. Data shows about 88% of organizations in the world have required to work from home, while 91% in the Asia Pacific Regions implanted remote working arrangements during the outbreak.
If you have been one of the businesses that made a temporary shift in this working framework, you might be wondering about sticking on these remote workers set up until this pandemic is totally over or do it permanently even after the world retains in the normal state.
The Advantages Of Remote Workers
Depending on your work or business line, having your employees work at home, especially during this troubling time, can pose many benefits.
1. Less Commute Stress
According to studies, an average commuter spends around 100 hours commuting while consuming about 41 hours of being stuck in the traffic each year. To most extreme cases, a commuter can spend much longer than 90 minutes each way. Commuting has become a part of employees going to and from work daily. While this is a necessity, it has added much stress to most workers. Research shows that having more than 30 minutes of the daily commute to work can already heighten the anxiety and stress levels of workers.
Working at home allows workers to enjoy their pace before logging in or starting their daily job. It supports your employees’ mental and physical health that leads to increased productivity. The time they spend on their commute can be refocused on other essential things on their work and even outside the job.
2. Promotes Work-Life Balance
Being a remote worker means that your employees can enjoy working in the comfort of their homes. If you allow your employees to have flexible working schedules, they can work on their terms and own time. It gives your employees the freedom to attend on their personal needs as long as their work is complete.
3. Free From Location Restrictions
When hiring employees who will work in an office setting, you are bound on the location as your employees need to report on your office daily. On the other note, having remote workers give you the freedom to access a broader range of employees despite their geographic location. It also means that you can hire globally competitive employees, even if they are located across the planet from you.
4. Cost-effective
Leaning on workers that are located remotely can give a considerable deal of savings with your business. You can cut costs on your office essentials like furniture, energy consumption, supplies, and even office cleaners. You can also forego additional capital expenses, like renting an office or building.
5. Environmental Friendly
Shifting to the remote working setup is also an opportunity to be part of the heightened environmental awareness these days. Employees working at home help reduce carbon emissions from vehicles as they do not need to commute daily. Aside from saving you cost, not running an office can save on energy consumption that is beneficial to the environment.
The Disadvantages Of Remote Workers
Remote working is gaining more traction these days as more and more people are shifting into this new framework. However, there are also downsides to this setup.
1. Personal Distractions
Since employees will mostly work from home on this setup, family responsibilities and duties will be part of the working environment. These personal needs will most likely affect your employees’ focus and might distract their attention and slow down the working pace.
2. Less Team Interaction and Collaboration
Working on an office setting for almost 8 – 9 hours means working with colleagues side by side that can help promote team interaction and collaboration. On the opposite, remote working means your employees work on their own most of the time, decreasing partnership and cooperation that is sometimes needed for a positive outcome.
3. Cyber Exhaustion
Because of the workflow are done on the internet, with meetings executed over messaging apps and videoconferences, your employees may experience cyber exhaustion. It may lead to less productivity and a lack of motivation on their part. It can affect their pace and may lead to unproductive results.
4. Security
One of the most significant risks of having remote workers is security. While the rise of remote workers seems beneficial for most businesses and employers, security issues continue to increase as well. Companies continue to face challenges like weak passwords, lack of authentication, unsecured networks, and more.
Moving Forward With Remote Workers
Remote working is not relatively new in the market. It had been ongoing at the working scene years ago, but the trend caught on recently because of the recent pandemic. While it may still take a long time before the world returns on its normal state, you can expect that having remote workers will become the new normal of the working framework.
In this growing setup, it is necessary to help your business cope up and survive this framework.
1. Technology Support
With your employees moving their office at home, it is essential to position your company as an aid to help sustain your workforce. It means that you need virtual resources and technical support to aid your employees. It would be best if you adapted quickly in this growing environment by developing virtual collaborations tools and platforms.
2. Systematic Workflow
Moving from office setting to a remote working setup not only changes the working environment but also disrupts the workflow. To ensure that your employees will still be guided on their work, provide a systematic workflow that will ensure productivity on your team, and always guarantee efficient teamwork despite the working distance.
3. Communication
Having an office where your employees get to work every day, it is easy to communicate with your team. You can easily let your employees understand their roles and purposes individually or as part of a team. It can come as a challenge with remote working as communication can often be taken aside.
Communicate regularly with your team to make sure that they are still guided and that they even matter. It will make your team feel always recognized as essential for the part of the team despite the circumstances.
4. Top-Notch Security
If you are moving to a remote working framework for good, security should be on top of your list. You must make it clear to your employees how to secure your business and your working setup. Since your employees will connect on a non-company provided connection, make sure you educate your team on the things they have to do to keep hackers and cybercriminals from infiltrating your company’s system.
Final Thoughts
While remote working may pose different challenges for employers and employees, business experts still expect that this modern workplace will continue to soar even after the current pandemic. Remote workers will continue to dominate the business scene and remain at a high level, also if the world returns to its normal state.
Author Bio
Maricar Morga worked as a marketing professional for almost a decade. She became part of the biggest real estate company/mall operator in the Philippines and handled concerts, events and community service-related activities. One of her activities became a nominee in the ICSC Asia-Pacific Shopping Center Awards 2018. Leaving her corporate job for good to pursue her dreams, she has now ventured in the path of content writing and currently writes for Softvire Australia and Softvire New Zealand . A Harry Potter fan, she loves to watch animated series and movies during her spare time.
