Why Transitioning Your On-Site Company To Remote May Make A Lot of Sense For You

One of the most interesting things that has happened during the COVID-19 pandemic has been that companies all over the world have just discovered that yes, their teams really can work remotely and, yes, many of them are more productive than ever before.

Why are many teams more productive remotely? Lots of reasons – but we’ll start with just five. In the “new normal” during the coronavirus and in the future, we predict that companies that had to immediately transfer to remote work will continue to do so. As employees have now tasted the flexibility and efficiency of working remotely, for many it will be somewhat difficult to go back to their on-site locations. To that end, let’s look at some of the reasons why companies, especially service-oriented businesses may want to continue to work remotely:

1. It’s tremendously less expensive
   Think about how much it’s costing you to have an office. The monthly parking and miscellaneous office expenses alone could probably pay for several team member vacations over the course of a year! Without having to pay those expenses along with utilities, furniture, office supplies, coffee and more, you’ll save quite a bit – which will help to reduce your overhead costs.
2. It helps companies retain top talent
   Top talent – those in-demand employees that everybody wants – knows that they can find a “work from home” job if they want to because more and more companies are working remotely. As many businesses were forced to close its doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount of companies that allow their people to work from home has skyrocketed, and it’s very likely to stay that way after the pandemic is over. So requiring employees to return to on-site offices may not be the best business choice, especially when many businesses have decided to continue to stay remote.
3. It adds free hours to your day
   How much time to do you spend every day getting ready, dressed, and driving to and from work? According to a study that was conducted by the Census Bureau, the average one-way commute in America today is 26.2 minutes. Both ways, that’s nearly an hour, plus the time you need to get before heading out to work.
   If you spend 30 minutes getting ready every morning and you have an average commute, that means you spend 375 hours a year – unpaid – getting to and from the office. (That equation even factors in two weeks of vacation time).
   What could you accomplish with an extra 375 hours a year – an extra 7.5 hours every week? Spend more time with your family? Hang out on your boat? Work on your business? If you find yourself complaining that you “don’t know where all the time goes,” it’s going out of your exhaust pipe, that’s where.
4. It makes successful life blending achievable
   Successfully blending our lives (family, working and time for yourself) is something we all wistfully dream of, usually while we’re sitting in traffic. When you and your staff works from home, the line between home life and work life becomes blurred in a good way.
   When your employees work from home, they don’t have to take a day off of work to care for a sick child or wait for a repair person. Oftentimes, they have to throw in a load of laundry or start dinner during their lunch break, walk down to get their children off the school bus or run a quick errand. Every second counts in our busy lives these days, and working from home can add a lot of those precious moments to our days. Having more flexibility within the blended life sphere means more life satisfaction and less stress. And as you already know – happier, less stressed employees are productive employees!
5. Sickness and weather don’t stop your business
   In close quarters, employees can affect others. When one employee gets sick , many can. For that last few months, an illness like a cold, the flu and especially coronavirus can take down your entire operation in a heartbeat. Remote work prevents this.
   Same with the weather. As long as the power is still on and the internet is still working, your people can get their work done – rain, sleet, snow, or hail. Did snow cancel schools or are the roads closed? No problem. Flooding making it dangerous to get out? Again, it won’t affect you. Working remotely is like insurance for your business that keeps your doors open virtually.
   Not sure how to transition your team to remote work?
   Clarke Executive Services Group can help you transition your company and team to remote work while maintaining (and even improving) your company’s efficiency, communication and productivity. Contact us today and let’s get you on the road to the future of work.