15 Aug 2023
It’s no secret that more and more people are now applying for jobs with flexible or remote working options, primarily so they can achieve a better work / life balance.
Working 9-5 isn’t practical for many parents. School times aren’t flexible: dropping off and picking up your children from school can sometime be impossible if you’re working a typical full time working day on an employer site, so flexible working is a great solution for working parents.
What may surprise many is that flexible working doesn’t just benefit employees, but it also substantially benefits businesses as well. In studies related to remote working, it was found that the majority of companies already embrace hiring remote and flexible workers. It’s estimated that nearly 63 percent of companies have full-time employees who work outside the office either on a full-time or part-time basis.
So how does it benefit employers?
Many business leaders and owners don’t realise that office environments are actually incredibly distracting places. People who work from home have actually been found to be on average 13% more productive, and in some cases, up to 30% more than their in-office counterparts. This is an important aspect when it comes to driving businesses forward. Better performance and productivity means a better quality of work.
It stands to reason that when someone is in their own familiar environment they are able to concentrate better. They may be able to listen to music while they work, if this is something that helps them to focus, in a way that was just never really accepted in the office environment. They have better access to refreshments and food and may even manage to get their household chores done during the working day as well as being more productive in terms of their job.
Many people, particularly those on the autistic spectrum, find that office workplaces can be incredibly noisy and distracting places. Being able to be somewhere familiar where they won't be disturbed can help their focus greatly and make a world of difference to the kind of work goals that can be achieved.
Being able to work remotely also cuts out the commute so people who aren’t morning people don’t reach work exhausted from the earlier start and commute. Being awake and alert at the start of the working day can set the tone for the entire day and cutting out the need for a lengthy commute can contribute to this.
Flexible working doesn’t mean you have to only hire remote workers, it can mean that you give employees the option to work from a remote environment maybe once or twice a week. This will give them greater job satisfaction, reduce absences and create a better environment overall. This tends to be referred to as a hybrid model of working and is a good middle ground that promotes much more worker happiness that straightforward office working. This will tend to mean that employee retention rates increase. It is those employers who refuse to offer remote working options that look most likely to be losing workers to their rivals over the next couple of years.
One survey from Lenovo found that more than three quarters (76%) of those that have no commute, by working from home, are overall satisfied with their job, and a third (37%) of those surveyed admit to choosing their current role based on its close proximity to their home.
Commutes have always been a big obstacle for people but they have always felt that they had to incorporate them in order to be able to get the job they wanted. Now that remote working has been proven to be a success, there is no good reason why they should have to tolerate a commute every day.
If you were looking to hire remote workers rather than flexible workers, you would also expand the talent in your business. Employers that only hire office based workers are actually limiting talent and innovation within the company. When you hire someone for a role, you will often only receive applications from people within proximity to your business; this limits the talent in your business.
Being able to cast your net wider and hire remote workers, you will be able to reach people all over the country and beyond, who may have otherwise been off-limits and unable to take up a post with your organisation.
By employing people on flexible working options, you will also be heading in the right direction to make your own business ‘greener’ as you’ll be reducing the business’s carbon footprint.
While there are some overhead costs to take into account, many businesses save quite a bit of money by implementing flexible working options. The cost of basic business items like office supplies, furniture, cleaning services, and electricity are all reduced. With the recent rises in electricity and heating costs, it may be time to consider moving away from having an office and encouraging a more decentralised model to develop.
If you find yourself hiring more flexible workers or remote workers, there’s a chance you may not need an office at all, further reducing the cost. You’ll also not have to worry about needing to expand or upgrade the office space as your business grows and this can be a huge money saver.
You can also look at switching away from a centralised computer system to cloud-based collaborative systems and save a lot of time and money that way as well. Most cloud-based systems and tools for collaboration are well-established with Asana, Monday.com and many others making it easy for colleagues to work together cheaply and easily.
For recruiters, think about suggesting flexible working or remote working options with your employer clients! It’s a great benefit to add to a job description: not only will it attract more candidates from a wider location and larger talent pool, and it will greatly benefit the company in the long-run.
Looking for remote workers or flexible workers? List a job with Our Bob today!
