When we think of office space, we think of our place of work, but sometimes the office can be an obstacle for work. That may seem strange to think about at first but give it further thought.
Do you deal with stress from traffic commuting to and from your office? Once at your office are you finding distractions from co-workers, phones ringing or the AC being too cold? Do you feel like there always seems to be something that isn’t your work that’s taking your attention?
Recent data shows that remote work has drastically grown to 159% in the last 12 years. It’s easy to see why working from home would be appealing. With working from home becoming so common you’re probably asking yourself if you should too. Here are four reasons why small businesses are switching over to remote work.
1. Boosting Productivity
There tends to be a bias that remote workers are lazy, that instead of working hard they slack off. However, the results show the opposite.
A 2-year Stanford study showed that remote workers experienced “an astounding productivity boost…equivalent to a full day’s work” every week. Employees that work from home spend no time in traffic and don’t get distracted by their office.
2. Saving Costs
Major companies like Dell and American Express have reported that they save around $10 to $15 million a year in real estate costs because of their flexible remote work policies. Not having employees come to an office means less money going into real estate, desks, and overall operating costs.
3. Longer Employee Retention
The Stanford study that was referenced earlier also showed that employee retention increased by 50% when employees had opportunities to work from home. “Not only do the employees benefit [from remote work], but the managers benefit because they can spend less of their time painfully advertising, recruiting, training, and promoting,” said researcher Nicholas Bloom.
4. Reducing Employee Stress
Stress among employees is real, here are a few statistics to consider:
- 83% of Americans are stressed by one or more things at work
- Workplace stress costs employers $300 billion every year
- 1 million Americans skip work each day due to stress
Not only is stress among employees bad, but it’s also costly.
A 2019 study showed the main reasons employees choose to work from home: to reduce stress (78%), avoid the commute (78%), and improve their work-life balance (91%). Another study showed that 86% of respondents think flexible work-from-home options help them reduce stress.
Remote Work for Your Employees
Every business is different, and there is no clear-cut right answer. As a business owner, you will need to make the decision based on your industry’s market, location, employees, and other factors.
More than ever, companies are encouraging their employees to work in a way that is both better for their circumstances and is advantageous for the company. Try it out and see if remote work is right for your business.