Whether you want to allow employees to work remotely, or not, you may not have a choice. As younger generations continue to increase in their percentage of the workforce, the mentality of millennials is spreading. People want freedom. Freedom is the new currency. And those that embrace it before the competition will have a loyal workforce.
“Last year, 43 percent of employed Americans said they spent at least some time working remotely.” ~ New York Times
Allowing your team to work remotely earns their trust. Trust builds confidence. Confidence increases productivity.
(pixabay / mohamed_hassan)
In addition to increased productivity and team confidence, allowing your team to work remotely has additional advantages:
- Access to greater talent pool.
- When there are no requirements for an employee to be close to a physical office location, the world is your oyster for building the perfect team.
- Less overhead in rent/lease/mortgages
- Less investment equipment
- Happy employees make better employees:
- Studies have shown that happy employees have higher levels of creativity than unhappy ones, leading to better performing works.
- Happy people are healthier.
- Less time lost in thrown away employee development
- Society for Human Resource Management cites that losing one employee at $75,000 is a net loss of as much as $41,000. And that’s just one employee.
To go a step further, the question shouldn’t be if allowing your team to work remotely is a good idea. Instead, you should focus on hiring the right people. It may take longer to find the right people that give you the confidence in them that you need to feel comfortable not directly overseeing your remote team. But it’s worth spending the extra time weeding through the noise to find the right team members. Your invested time now will save you much more later. When you hire the right people, the feasibility of working virtually is a win/win.
Every business owner or manager dreams of a team free of drama. Let micromanaging be a thing of the past. Freeing your employees frees you. Building an effective remote team, when done right, is cost-liberating and productivity-increasing. As long as you hire right, there are virtually no disadvantages to having a remote team.
