What impressed us is that respondents don’t consider remote work as important to them as flexible schedules – not that it isn’t important; it’s just not as strongly indicated. We asked respondents if they’re currently working remotely or in a hybrid setup. The result was quite evenly split, with 54.6% saying they’re currently working remotely or in a hybrid setup, and the remaining 45.4% saying they aren’t. And we have interesting findings for you on what the benefits of working remotely are, whether remote work is indeed happening, and how important it is to workers in the UK.
I can get up and make sure the kids are moving along and I can go to the gym every morning,” says Heather Bostwick, VP of Marketing and Analytics at Education Dynamics, a higher education enrollment growth agency. Before the pandemic, remote work wasn’t an option for her; now her company is fully WFH and only maintains office space for monthly meetings. The elimination of the commute to and from work means more time at home to recuperate, and it could also mean extra time in bed, meaning a better quality of sleep. Healthier employees tend to be happier, more productive, less likely to require appointments with their doctor, and so on.
Summary of the Research on the Costs/Benefits of Hybrid, Remote, and Distributed Workplace Strategies
First, we examined the role of the perceived benefits, limitations, and online working frequency in maintaining high work effectiveness in three dimensions (i.e., manager, team, and external collaboration levels). Our findings showed benefits as significant predictors of perceived manager and co-operation effectiveness. The more benefits managers reported, the more effective they felt at work.
But, in an office, you can quickly be pulled in a million directions and easily find yourself chatting with those around you. Most days, there would be many people stopping by my desk, and in every one of those cases, it would be to work on their agenda rather than mine. I can lock the door when I have meetings and go into deep focus mode when I need to. Employees enjoy it because it saves them time and money and improves their quality of life.
What is CareerFoundry?
However, in the digital age, it is crucial that top executives set an example of how to work effectively from a remote location. This can help model effective remote communications, the use of electronic systems, leadership in remote meetings and distance delegating. Other constraints that can affect leaders and managers are those that also can be connected with the issues that are familiar from the perspective of employees. One such constraint, for instance, might be the low turnover and the intensity of hiring, which was limited. In the case of employees, a decline in efficiency can be observed, which could be partly traced to having less experience, lower tenure, or being in the process of onboarding 27.
A University of Chicago study found that remote workers were, on average, 7% more productive than when they were in the office. Employees who experience higher job satisfaction and a greater work-life balance are inevitably going to have a positive impact on their employer. This improvement in retention rates allows companies to spend the money they’ve saved on other areas of the business, like better employee benefits. Working from home further reduces their environmental impact, because employees don’t have to pack a lunch or go out and grab some food at lunchtime. This reduces the need for single-use plastics or other disposable items.
Flexibility
- Instead, all employees may be able to work remotely, and your company might simply pay to hire meeting rooms or co-working space as and when they are actually needed.
- Working remotely eliminates this wasted time, giving you back precious hours to do things you actually enjoy.
- Consequently, we argued the necessity of conducting research to confirm the effectiveness of remote work in this unique context, particularly from the managers’ perspective.
- The increased satisfaction that remote work can bring employees is another positive effect.
- Longitudinal research would be necessary to demonstrate the development and changes of home office effects.
- The competitive nature of the remote job market cannot be overstated.
- Two of the three companies surveyed previously could use remote working, but no more than two days per month.
Remote work options support the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce, are a key element of our commitment to equity and inclusion, and are an integral component for innovation. This flexibility offers numerous benefits for employees and the University, ultimately enabling us to better serve our mission. benefits of working remotely Therefore, our empirical studies on how social implications of remote working can affect work effectiveness 32 indicated that a lack of distractions can increase workers’ effectiveness while working from home. We do not argue that the effectiveness of the remote mode is only due to employees’ lack of distraction in the home office. The perceived benefits and technological issues are also related to work effectiveness.
Employers can offer training on improving their managing skills in remote environments. Some researchers suggest that consideration should be given to the individual adjustment of work conditions (e.g., less disciplined employees might experience more challenges during remote working). This adds up to 4.15 additional hours of focused work each week for remote workers—representing a 22% increase in time spent on deep, uninterrupted tasks. Furthermore, Hubstaff’s data reveals that remote team members experience 18% fewer interruptions annually, resulting in over 61 hours of recovered productive time each year. As mentioned above, there are many advantages of remote forms of performing job duties, and several limitations that result in work outcomes and collaboration 31. The responsibility of managing the remote work of employees rests with managers, particularly first-line managers and team leaders.
- It’s one of the only chances for our growing team to meet up, work together, and talk about the future of Hubstaff…
- Once organizations worked out the kinks, they found this new way of working had some benefits.
- Employees get the opportunity to schedule work duties, meetings, and appointments around their personal lives and can complete tasks at their own pace.
- There are also federal and state incentives to improve the energy efficiency of your home.
- This can lead to employees going the extra mile, when perhaps you need them to work late or produce a stunning presentation.
Here are some things to consider before making it a permanent part of the work environment. Two of the most popular video meeting tools in the business world are Microsoft Teams and Zoom. However, this technology isn’t beneficial if employees don’t know how to use it.
All respondents were highly skilled and educated, mainly in the engineering field. We find a consultative process is most effective for companies with 50 or more employees and a rapid process is more impactful for companies with fewer than 50 employees. While remote work provides many benefits, it also comes with its own set of challenges.
Research from Robert Half shows that 87% of remote workers who work more hours remotely than when they were in-office have greater or equal job satisfaction. The assumption that remote workers are not as productive, when taking this into mind, does not stack up. Notably, the convenience of online learning allows for self-paced study, enabling employees to effectively balance their professional development with work responsibilities. It happens in small scale companies and multi-million dollar organizations. There will always be likes and dislikes, tears, or anger in a working environment. And it’s the managers and human resources staff who have to sort out these problems for the good of the business.