5 reasons your organisation needs to hire remote employees
As the marketplace becomes more competitive with disruption and technology, it can be difficult to thrive in business using traditional methods.That being said, why be traditional? Why not think outside the box and look at the way you do things.
Do you need a large office with your employees sitting in front of you? Or can you downsize to a serviced office or room in a co working space and grow your business in a smarter way?
Do you already or are you considering hiring remote employees? Our remote work templates are linked below:
Hiring a fully or partial remote team is a way to achieve this. Below I unpack 5 reasons you can’t ignore remote work for your business.
1. It will save you money
Hiring even some remote employees or freelance contractors to add to your permanent in-office staff will help you save money, here is why:
if some of your employees work from home some or all of the time, you need a much smaller office space, translating into less money spent on overheads; and
if you can employ some staff on a freelance or contract basis as needed for certain projects rather than full time, you will also save money by not having to pay them during down times and not being responsible for sick leave, annual leave and the like.
2. You can hire the best, regardless of their location
The thing with owning a business that is in a bricks and mortar location is that you are relying on the talent pool within a geographical radius of around a 1-hour commute around your business.
However, if you look further afield you can hire the best people for your industry, regardless of where they live. Expanding your talent pool can have wide reaching effects for the types of services you offer and the way you do business.
3. Flexibility is a huge drawcard for attracting employees and ensuring they remain loyal
Having a remote team means life is more flexible – both for your business and your employees.
While your employees will likely enjoy flexible hours with no daily commute, as a business owner you will also have the flexibility to change roles and business structures far more easily without a physical office hierarchy. It makes you far more agile and able to offer employees a results based metric rather than time costing to measure their work.
The happy side effect of offering flexibility is that the more flexible you are, the more faithful your employees will become to you. Virgin Founder Richard Branson famously states that he puts his employees first and as a result they will put his customers first.
3. Increased Productivity
If an employee is happy and able to work with fewer distractions at home or in a workplace of their choice, odds are that they will be far more productive and happy, particularly if they are on a results based metric to measure their performance rather than an hourly rate.
The open plan office, while leading to great team collaboration, can be an enemy of productivity. It is better your team has flexibility to work from home on designated days and then use any office days or face to face days to make the magic happen with the team.
5. Innovation and workplace culture
To be successful at remote working, an employee or contractor is generally a self-starter. If your remote worker is a self-starter and has other interests or freelance contracts, it can mean your business will benefit from new ideas and new ways to do things.
Workplace culture can also be great in a team with remote employees. While it may seem counterintuitive at first blush, the communication skills necessary for a remote team member to excel at their job make them great at communicating with clients and other employees as they rely on procedures and verbal and written communication without the cues of face-to-face communication each day in their role.
However, this culture needs to be created. It is not enough to throw a team together without working on a vision of what your business is creating and how your team can be part of that. Organisational change management steps are necessary to reassure your employees of their place in the team as it transitions to remote and more remote team members come on board. Change is possible, but it needs to be managed well.
Want to know more?
Arrange a free 15 minute obligation free chat with me today to discuss the legal and HR solutions I offer for remote teams.
From template agreements geared exclusively toward remote employees to consulting on organisational change and workflow solutions, I can assist you go remote.
Emma Heuston
emma@thetracksuiteconomy.com