The traditional office environment and its hierarchical structure are becoming obsolete thanks to advanced technology and the internet. This has opened the way for a new type of employee who is both tech-savvy and more independent than ever. These workers don’t even need to leave the house to get things done, because they are remote working.
Benefits of remote working:
- Productivity: in the beginning, remote working sounded like heresy to the more traditionally minded CEOs. It has now gained wide acceptance as an effective and efficient way of maintaining productivity while keeping the workforce happy.
Remote working helps employees balance family and work in a more efficient way. This has proved a winning combination for keeping valuable employees from moving towards competitors.
- Liberation: remote working liberates a large part of the workforce that couldn’t settle, for one reason or another, into a traditional 9 to 5 workday, such as people raising young children or taking care of sick family members.
- Concentration: Remote working opens up the market for players that can provide talent and flexibility through their enhanced ability to stay laser-focused on the task at hand without being bogged down by work rosters or office politics.
Remote working creates a greater diversity and flexibility, allowing companies to hire from a more extensive work pool regardless of geographical locations. It also cuts down on office expenses since a part of the workforce won’t be physically present in the office. For happier, more motivated employees, businesses should consider remote working options.
Remote working trends for 2018
- Greater adaptability: remote working companies have challenged the traditional leadership structures by prizing adaptability and results over more formal or dogmatic structures.Transforming traditional jobs into remote working jobs, however, is still a challenge. A big trend this year will be seeing more companies meeting that challenge.
- More remote-working success: as of 2017, the global workplace analytics report clearly indicates this.
The number of telecommuting employees has grown by 11.5% in 10 years, while in 2016 43% of US workers worked remotely on occasion, up from 9% in 2007. With new technology and management skills, remote working will become more effective than ever, increasing the ranks of remote workers worldwide.
- Increased freedom: remote workers today tend to work part of the year in the office. Though remote work is still seen by many employers as something of a perk, more companies are starting to see it as a career choice. It will be increasingly accepted as it becomes more familiar.
Remote working is with us and it can only grow. Companies realize that the way to move forward in today’s market is to focus on efficiency and result-oriented processes, making getting the job done more important than the way it is achieved.
The creation of a more specialized and talented workforce will lead to a dynamic that benefits both companies and their employees.