Why You Should Make 2017 the Year of Your Remote Workforce

If you don’t have a remote workforce, what’s the hold up? Technology makes it feasible to give staff the option to work from home, and the flexibility working from home provides makes your business a more attractive place to work. Soon it will be vital to have this technology if you want to keep up with competition and attract the newest generation of employees.  

While adopting a remote workforce may seem foreign or scary to some supervisors, there are many benefits to telecommuting. There are also many ways as a manager that you can streamline processes and effectively manage a remote workforce.  Regardless of your personal feelings towards a remote workforce, if statistics stay on course, in less than a decade more than half of all employees will work remotely.  

Still not convinced? Here are some reasons why 2017 should be a pivotal year for your remote workforce.

Technology Saves Time, Money

Not that long ago nearly all workers had to go into the office daily because that was where their files and telephone were housed.  Fast forward to 2017 and everyone has a computer, tablet or smartphone – and their files are at their fingertips.  Most companies also utilize an instant messaging system and secured network that can be accessed from anywhere. You don’t need to be at the office for meetings anymore now as a result of connected cloud solutions that allow you to attend your meetings and communicate from any location. For example, TalkTalk partnered with technology giant Pegasystems to connect their remote workforce resulting in a 40% reduction in customer complaints.

Landing Talent Takes Flexibility

Do you want to attract the best of the talent pool of the new generation?  The Millennial generation prefers flexibility in the workplace over everything else.  This makes the option to telecommute a great recruiting tool. It has been found that employees work more efficiently and are more loyal when they have a good work-life balance. The ability to work from home provides the flexibility many people crave.    

Another perk of a remote workforce is that it opens the door to bring in talent from outside your general area. As more and more businesses offer remote positions, it makes it more important than ever to offer remote positions so your business stays competitive.  This will help you recruit new employees and retain your talent.

Flexibility Equals Productivity

Have you checked your email on a Saturday evening? Most white-collar workers will unanimously answer yes to this question. Guess what? That means you have worked remotely.  In fact, up to 99 percent of employees have “worked from home” at some point in the past year.  The world seems to be getting smaller and in turn many companies are going global. The ability to work remotely means your employees can catch their kids’ baseball games and later discuss their proposal with a client in China from the comfort of their own home.  The ability to work remotely is a huge asset for a business as it encourages quick response time.

Another benefit of working from home is that it is not an all or nothing scenario. Telecommuting can be one, two or three days a week in lieu of full time.  As an employer, you can set the guidelines and include objectives for your employees to meet whether they work in the office or from a remote location.

Your company will benefit when employees can work outside of the traditional hours and from locations other than a brick and mortar office building.  Telecommuting is an attractive quality in a business – one that helps you recruit a younger generation that craves flexibility.  The year 2017 is the time to embrace telecommuting and its abundance of perks.