8 Business Benefits of allowing your staff to work remotely

This remote working malarkey is increasingly common - and not just for freelancers. Should your business offer your staff the opportunity to undock from the desk? That’s your decision. It’s okay if you’d rather keep your staff on-site. But with the growing clamour for remote working, you need to be able to explain why. And given the advantages to employers, that’s beginning to get a trifle tricky.

Here are eight business benefits of remote working:

1. It can enhance productivity

Many employees work better when they are given control of their environment. Whether they stay at home or hit a local café, they find it easier to focus - oh and they don’t have their rush hour commute to deal with. Remote working could well benefit your bottom line. 

2. It boosts staff engagement

Giving your staff the freedom to work remotely shows a lot of trust and faith. Anyone made of the right stuff responds with eagerness to repay the good will. Hello, hyper-engaged workforce!

3. You can use it to motivate staff

Staff like working from home. Instead of taking an all-or-nothing approach to remote working, use it as a bargaining chip. A reward for the best-performing staff, for example. Do x, get y.

4. Reduce unnecessary meetings

Unnecessary meetings are the bane of the modern working world - sapping productivity, killing time and turning your staff into people who think about doing, rather than actually doing. The good thing about remote working? Meetings for meetings’ sake are impossible.

5. It can ratchet-up staff loyalty

Replacing your best staff can be time-consuming and costly. But why would they go anywhere when they have a perk as awesome as remote working? Okay, it might not be that simple. But remote working is definitely one of the more persuasive perks - one that some staff will be reluctant to give up.

6. Happier staff

You know what they say. A change is as good as a rest. Remote working can reenergise your team and leave them feeling liberated from routine. Allowing one remote working day a week could transform the atmosphere in the office and have a hugely positive effect on your company culture.

7. Less outlay on office space and infrastructure

Okay, this only applies if you have staff working remotely on a full-time basis. But if you do, you can save a fortune on the cost of office space, office supplies, IT infrastructure and - lest we forget - office snacks.

8. Hire the crème de la crème

When you tap in to the power of remote employees, you realise that your candidate pool is no longer limited to your town or city or county. You can cast the net as wide as you wish. You literally have a whole world of talent to choose from. Added bonus? Staff in different territories can help you explore local markets that were previously off-limits.

Over to you...!

Let’s be clear. Remote working isn’t for every business. Some bosses simply don’t trust their staff to work when they are away from, well, work. But with so many tools out there designed to keep remote teams accountable (Basecamp, Slack, Wunderlist, Asana and oodles more), it’s clear the remote working trend won’t be going away anytime soon. If you are curious about dipping your toe in to remote working, be sure to set goals, impose deadlines, employ benchmarks - do whatever you need to do to feel confident that out of sight doesn’t mean out of mind when it comes to your staff and their to-do lists.

Explore our other hiring advice articles here.