Two years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies are still unsure how to approach the question of hybrid and remote work. What began as a temporary emergency measure has proven to be overwhelmingly popular with a large number of workers who don’t miss their daily commutes.
Among leaders, however, not everyone has embraced the change. Despite the success of work-from-home programs, up to 50% of businesses say they’d like to bring employees back to the office five days a week. Those that have tried, however, have had to reckon with workers who aren’t happy about the idea of returning to in-person work. The result has been a process of compromise in which bosses and workers try to reach an arrangement that pleases everyone (or one which displeases people the least).
Despite all this back and forth, this new way of doing business could be a big opportunity for technology consulting companies. Here are five reasons why.
1. Working from Home Raises Your Team’s Productivity
For employers who object to remote work, one of the biggest concerns is productivity. How will employees stay focused on work with all the distractions of home?
Fortunately, these fears are unfounded. As it turns out, employers should be more worried about distractions inside the office. Because when working from home, employees have consistently proven to be more productive. That’s certainly good news for your bottom line.
2. People with Work-from-Home Options Are Happier
It shouldn’t be too Pollyanna to suggest that it’s in your best interest to have happy employees. When your people are engaged in work they enjoy, they’re more productive, proactive, and successful. So if there were a simple step you could take to make your people a little bit happier, wouldn’t you try it?
As it turns out, there is: Remote workers are actually happier than their in-office counterparts. In fact, happiness turns out to correlate inversely to commute time – the longer your workers have to sit in traffic, the less happy they are. (No surprises there, surely?)
3. Allowing Employees to Work from Home Reduces Turnover Rates
Turnover is always expensive. Besides the lost productivity and disruption to business there’s the expense of training new staff to catch them up to speed. If you’re suffering from persistently high turnover rates, it can leave you in a precarious position.
In an environment where it seems like everyone is competing for the same employees, you want to use every tool available to retain your people. Given that people who work from home are half as likely to quit, it only makes sense to give your team the option.
4. It Costs Employers Less to Have a Permanent Remote Workforce
Employers who have embraced remote work are also enjoying long-term savings. That’s because they can reduce—or even eliminate—their physical in-office footprint, along with the associated expenses.
Even employers who provide work-from-home stipends still see overall savings when compared with the cost of buying or leasing office space. For technology consulting companies, these savings can take an already nimble business and make it even more competitive.
5. Hiring Remote Workers Increases Access to Talent
Whether you’re hiring a full-time employee to be a permanent part of your staff or you’re outsourcing a team to help supplement your technology services, when you’re open to remote workers you suddenly have a much larger candidate pool.
After all, what advantage is there to limiting your choices geographically? Technology consulting companies thrive when they employ the best and the brightest. Building out a remote workforce of talent could give you the edge that you need.
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