Why Are Most Companies Continuing With the Remote Working Model?

The trend of remote work is getting more prominent in the workplace as business leaders around the globe realize the significance of flexibility, diversity, and autonomy. Business enterprises working with a common goal to create value for stakeholders and employees are gradually shifting from office-centric to employee-centric working model. It helps them to fulfill employees’ demands and make them feel valued. At the same time, low overhead costs, minimum turnover rate, and high productivity are benefits that organizations have reaped with remote work. Remote work has turned out to be great for both employees and the company.

Remote work is a pathbreaking innovation in the business world, especially when organizations race for a digital-ready future.  Several companies like Facebook, Dropbox, Coinbase, HubSpot, Lyft,  SAP, Twitter, Shopify, to name a few have permanently switched to remote working culture.

Let's see some of the driving factors that encourage companies to continue with the remote working model.

Why Are Companies Keen to Continue with Remote Working Model?

• Increased productivity: As per Statista, the majority of employees consider remote work as the future of work. Remote work can boost employees’ productivity as they have more autonomy in their work. They can decide their break time, brainstorming session, or virtual chat with colleagues. Remote work also helps employees save time in commuting and invest time in performing their tasks. However, productivity alone is not the goal of the organization, but employees’ health and wellness are also a priority for them. By introducing remote work culture, the organization ensures employees’ work-life balance is maintained and stress level is reduced.    

• Reduction in business operation costs:  Low operating cost is the main reason companies incline toward remote work. Organizations can save costs on rental spaces, electricity, office maintenance, etc. They also save costs on travel allowance and accommodation by interviewing new employees through video conferencing. The biggest advantage of remote work is for small and medium enterprises. They can manage staff remotely and compete with large enterprises while operating from small towns. It helps them to control the business operating costs which are comparatively low compared to business enterprises functioning in the metropolitan cities.  

• Reducing attrition rate: As per the GoodFirms report, 70% of HR managers cited work flexibility as the most common reason for resignation after the pandemic breakout. Businesses that adopt remote work in some form ( hybrid/fully remote work) can significantly reduce the attrition rate. Today, employees seek work-life balance, flexibility in working hours, and work satisfaction. Remote work enables business owners to fulfill employees’ needs and attract top talent for their organization.

• Attract talent all around the globe:  The advantage of remote work is that it operates beyond geographic boundaries.  Organizations can attract the best talent and build a hybrid team with diverse socio-economic, geographic, and cultural backgrounds.  Employees from diverse backgrounds and unique skill sets provide different perspectives to the business.    

• Perform with consistency:  Covid pandemic has come as learning for all business enterprises on how things can quickly change. There is no assurance that in the future, there will be no occurrence of such incidents and businesses don’t have to work remotely. Even organizations that have never been strong advocates of remote work are now thinking of remote work as their backup plan.

• Less absenteeism:  When employees work remotely, they are less exposed to flu or flu carriers.  It reduces sick leaves and helps employees to contribute more to the tasks.  Those who are still getting sick but not critical while working remotely have the opportunity to manage their time and resume their work.

• Reduce Training Cost: Remote work can assist in reducing on-site training costs and time. They can save expenses on instructor fees, booking venue, food allowances, stationeries, and other resources that trainees use during on-site training.

• Ready for the future:  Technology such as 5G and cloud computing facilitates the remote work culture.  As more and more organizations start adopting these technologies, the doubts about remote work effectiveness will no longer remain.  For forward-thinking businesses, their biggest priority is implementing remote work culture in their business structure because this is where the future lies, and nobody wants to be left behind.

Tips to Manage Remote Team

• Despite planning well for the remote working patterns, several organizations fail to meet up to the fair management level due to various reasons. Here are a few tips for managing a remote team.

• Design robust remote policies:  Draft clear remote work policies such as security protocol, working hours, daily reporting, etc., to reduce the friction while managing employees remotely.

• Use remote work software:  Use remote work software to have better visibility into employees’ work and enhance collaboration with the team.

• Track team performance:  Monitor team performance on a regular interval, but make sure the focus is on the employees' overall outcome and not particular activity. Also, take feedback from team members about any difficulties they are facing while working remotely.    

• Provide necessary resources:  If needed, provide necessary resources to support the remote work, such as a computer, headset, or webcam.  While providing these resources, the organization should also provide them guidelines so that they can access the system seamlessly.  It is possible that remote workers can face technical issues while working remotely, so it is necessary that organizations have an in-house technical team that assists employees in solving technical challenges.   

• Maintain strong bond:   Many employees while working feel isolated and it becomes necessary for managers to keep these employees connected.  Managers can occasionally have a virtual chat, team-building activities or casual meetings to connect with the team. 

Conclusion

Without a productive workforce, competencies, and progressive work culture, it is difficult for the organization to grow. The remote working model enables business enterprises to excel in all these areas without interfering with employees' work-life balance. Since the pandemic, there has been a clear shift observed in organizations' outlook toward remote work. It is turning out as a permanent fixture in meeting the employers' long-time issue of building a sustainable business model. A business model that ensures business continuity under any critical situation and optimizes resource utilization. With all these advantages, most organizations will never go back to the traditional office-first environment and embrace remote work forever.