Many organisations and businesses now have a homework policy due to the Corona pandemic. In some cases businesses had to set up a new structure in a short timescale due to their employees having to work from home. But what will happen when Covid-19 is finally behind us? Will we start working from home more? Is this the start of a major change in the corporate landscape?
No turning back?
We’ve all seen major changes in the corporate landscape similar to the Corona crisis but with less impact. However have you noticed that once things have changed, they usually don’t change back to how they once were? Some disruptions quickly become part of the new normal, while others take time to catch on.
Many businesses have now all started working from home. This mandatory distance from the physical office is expected to last for the foreseeable future. Employees will quickly become accustomed to this new flexibility and organisations are confronted with a growing group of home workers.
The new office is at home
The terms telework and teleworkers were first introduced in 1973 to describe the idea of working remotely. So while this concept is decades old it still hasn’t been fully embraced for a number of reasons: lack of technology, fear of loss of productivity, a corporate culture that values personal interaction and much more.
And yet the recent global events have forced organisations to put aside their preferences and embrace a (temporary) homeworking model. Some experts believe that now that employees have had an extensive experience of working from home, they don’t want to go back to working from the office full time. And it is justified to ask the question if the IT infrastructure is in place why you shouldn’t offer more flexibility to your staff.
Higher productivity
The employees who already have embraced working from home mainly enjoy the convenience. Moving from your bedroom to a home office is much easier than driving to the office which can increase a working day considerably. However this is not the only advantage.
According to a 2019 study teleworkers work 1.4 days per month and 16.8 days per year more effectively than those who work from the office. The same study also shows that remote workers lose only 27 minutes a day to distractions, compared to 37 minutes that office workers lose.
Another advantage is that businesses using a cloud-based remote access solution not only improve the productivity of their employees but also their IT infrastructure and IT departments. IT technicians no longer have to worry about manually updating or patching applications or managing different network security devices. Instead they can start new projects that can offer even greater benefits to your organisation.
Even IT staff can work outside the office and enjoy working from home because cloud-based solutions are managed by the service provider.
Article continues under image
Lower costs
Of course no disruptive change is successful unless it doesn’t benefit organisations financially. Organisations can save a lot of money by setting up a home work program.
By allowing employees to work from home, also part-time, businesses need less office space and fewer office items and furniture. Another advantage is that home workers cannot take small illnesses to the office where they may infect others. Those same homeworkers will also take fewer sick days which can be a huge saving.
As a business you are always looking for the best talent even if this is on the other side of the world. Unfortunately most organisations only look for recruiting locally because of possible relocation costs (like government regulations) making the process over-complicated. These barriers can be avoided if new talent can work from home. It will also be easier to attract new staff when you can offer them the option of working from home.
Tech-Wales experts in IT home working technology
Tech-Wales can set up or improve your IT infrastructure to make sure you can offer your staff working from home. We offer excellent cloud computing services to enable your business IT structure to be flexible and enable your staff to work from different locations. Combined with our excellent business IT support and outstanding customer service we can offer you the complete package to make your IT structure flexible and ready for the future. Do not hesitate to contact us today to implement your new or improves IT infrastructure.