Organizations that allow remote working save a lot of time and money that is spent on commuting to work or to meetings. They will also save the costs related to maintain the workplace (such as office furniture, supplies, etc).
Remote workers are believed to be more productive. Employee engagement firm, TINYpulse surveyed 509 full-time remote employees in the US about happiness on the job and compared their responses to benchmarks based on over 200,000 employees across all different kinds of working arrangements. The vast majority of remote workers felt they’re more productive outside of the office: 91% believed they get more done compared to just 9% of remote workers who didn’t feel more productive outside of the office.
(Partly) Remote employees are more engaged. Gallup’s State of the America Workplace report reveals that engagement climbs when employees spend some time working remotely and sometimes working in a location with their coworkers. The optimal engagement boost occurs when employees spend 60% to 80% of their workweek (which means that about three to four days) working off-site.
Good to know. But flexible work doesn’t always mean remote work. In addition, it means that employees can decide up to agreed level how and when they work.
Flexible working has several benefits for organizations. For instance, people who have flexible work options are more loyal. According to FlexJobs’ 6th annual survey of more than 5,000 participants – 79% of respondents said that flexible work options would make them more loyal. In addition, 29% of respondents in the same study said that they would take a 10-20% cut in pay in exchange for the option to telecommute.
Moreover, the flexible work environment is something that is attractive to potential candidates. For instance, according to a study conducted by Jacob Morgan’s company Chess Media Group in 2013 called The Future of Work: Reshaping the Workplace Today. Building for Tomorrow they found: 90% of employees believe that an organization that offers flexible work environment is more attractive to prospective hires than one that doesn’t.
These things do matter in real life. Flexibility and the chance to be their own boss is a key reason why people join Uber; they want work that fits around their life, not the other way around. Flexibility is a big motivating factor: 88% started driving with Uber because it fits their life well, not because it was their only option.
Wegmans, a major supermarket chain in the US, employing about 46,800 people is a well known employer who also offers flexible schedules and work/life balance. These two are actually the reasons why people join and stay with them. Here is what they say at Great Place to Work: „Store locations have more than 500 employees across 30 departments, allowing our 24×7 operation tremendous flexibility to accommodate changes for student schedules, caring for a sick family member, and personal activities or obligations“.
Let’s take also the third example. Hoolekandeteenused (100% state-owned Estonian enterprise that provides social welfare services to adults with special mental needs) is another employer that allows employees work remotely. For instance, their Head of Procurement lives and works two months per year in Thailand and their Head of Development lives already the 6th year in Czech Republics.
So you see, flexible work has different benefits for an organization, such as helping to attract and retain a loyal and engaged workforce.
Do you offer flexible work in your organization? Share your story! Leave your comment!
Sources used in this post:
Morgan, Jacob. „The Future of Work: Attract New Talent, Build Better Leaders, and Create a Competitive Organization“. 2014
https://zapier.com/blog/remote-work-happiness-infographic/
http://workplaceinsight.net/people-claim-productive-outside-traditional-office-claims-report/
http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/206180/engaged-remote-workforce.aspx
http://reviews.greatplacetowork.com/wegmans-food-markets-inc
https://www.facebook.com/PAREEesti/videos/10155409938261992/
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