Letting employees work from home has its pros and cons and is not for all companies. But, many companies can benefit from letting at least some of their employees telecommute, either all of the time or part of the time. Let’s explore some of those possible benefits:
- Reduced office space needs. If your company is outgrowing its existing office space faster than you anticipated, you may be able to hold off on yet another office move by letting some of your employees work from home. Without a need to supply office or cubicle space to every single employee, you may be able to keep lease costs down and eliminate the headache of moving the entire company elsewhere. If you want your telecommuting employees to come into the office at least a couple of days a week, you could set up shared office space and arrange for the office mates to come in on different days or at different times.
- Less tardiness and fewer early departures. With no commuting headaches to deal with, employees can be at work on time everyday and ready to work right at starting time. And if they have evening plans, they won’t necessarily have to leave early to “beat the traffic”.
- Better rested and more productive employees. Again, with no commute, employees can sleep later and eliminate the inevitable stress that comes with fighting rush hour traffic, making them less stressed and more productive.
- Less office gossip. With employees physically isolated from their co-workers, they are less likely to sit around gossiping or goofing off with each other while they should be working.
- Larger pool of qualified job applicants. Many times the perfect employee to fill an open position is one who lives out of the geographic area and is unable to move closer. By opening up telecommuting possibilities, you are opening up a much wider range of qualified applicants, enabling you to build a higher calibre team of employees who can grow your business. This can be especially important if your company is located in a smaller town or more rural area where finding qualified employees is difficult.
- Flex-time arrangements can lead to fewer absences. Allowing a telecommuting option also opens up the possibility of some flex-time arrangements for certain employees. While it may not be possible for all jobs or as an everyday thing, there are certainly some jobs where it doesn’t matter what time of day the work gets done, as long as it gets done. If your telecommuting employees have a sick child or a doctor’s appointment, and they also have flexible work hours, they may be able to get in their full 8 hours by working around the childcare or appointment issue. Without the flex time / telecommute option, they might have to just take a personal day. Being allowed to work at home with flexible hours, allows people to work during the night if necessary, something that isn’t necessarily possible if they have to come into the office.
So, as you can see, companies that allow some telecommuting options, even if just on a part-time basis, often end up with happier and more productive employees with fewer absences and other distractions. Obviously some jobs cannot be done at home, and some jobs can but only with some additional costs and security measures which would have to be taken into consideration too. However, it’s worth it to explore the possibilities, especially if a valued employee approaches you with the suggestion.
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