Working from home has become part of normal life for many of us. Having no choice but to create home working stations and offices, learning new ways of communication such as video conferencing as well as finding a new balance between working and home life. However, things are starting to return back to how they used to be before, but many employees have grown accustomed and even like working from home. Some are wanting to keep this flexible approach for their careers, but is this a good idea? As an employer, you will want a productive and happy workforce. Could this be an option to explore on a more permanent basis? Here are some of the reasons why working from home is good for employers.
Cost-saving
One of the first major benefits to point out is that it can be a big cost saving for employers in many different ways. The obvious cost being leases and business rates on-premises you no longer need. As an employer, you could downsize the office, shut establishments altogether, and refocus that money and budget into expansion in other areas. You also can save money on other things that are costly within the business, such as team-building and social events. You won’t need to think about holiday parties as much, organised events outside of the workplace, and consider placing the money you would have spent on that in other parts of the business. It can be a huge cost saving to let employees work from home.
A happier and more productive workforce
A big issue that employees have when working is the work and home life balance is disrupted. Not having flexibility in the hours they work or even spending a lot of time commuting to and from the workplace. Working from home could give them greater flexibility. Spending on their start times, they may be able to save on childcare by taking their children to and from school. Perhaps they can save money on commuter fares or costs for using their vehicle. They become more settled and equally happier in their personal lives. But it can also give you a more productive workforce. Less distraction of colleagues, a focus on getting the job done, it can mean that you have a workforce that gets much more done in the hours you pay them.
Communication is more efficient
Communication is always key in any business, and while you may think that if you are all in the one place, it would make communication easier, you may not realise how efficient it can be with a workforce working from home. There is online work in progress programmes that employees can have access to, Microsoft Teams and Zoom to help conferencing and face to face communication happen. It all helps to make the workforce more productive.
Your talent pool increases
Finally, as an employer, your talent pool opens up. You no longer have to rely on local talent and can stretch the search further afield by offering a home-based and flexible learning package.
Hopefully, this will help you see some of the key benefits why working from home is good for employers.