The past few years saw an increase in the demand for flexibility by employees. This led to employers offering the option of working from home during certain situations. But then COVID-19 forced every business owner across the globe to make their employees work virtually.
There was no other way to keep businesses afloat, so the remote work culture became a necessity. For many companies, this was the first time they were operating virtually and they were not happy with the situation.
There was a heavy adoption of tech tools to ensure employees are able to work efficiently away from the office space. Now that everyone has settled into this work culture, a lot of benefits have come to everyone’s notice that was originally overlooked.
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Let’s look at some of these overlooked advantages of the remote work culture.
Table of Contents
1. Green practice
The biggest advantage that nobody considers is how much our environment benefits from the remote work culture. Since employees are not traveling to and fro their work location there are lesser gas emissions.
This makes the entire work-from-home culture very environment-friendly and reduces our carbon footprint. By completely eliminating the transport emissions from an employee’s commute, remote work becomes a green practice.
2. Happier employees
Undoubtedly the biggest plus point of the remote work culture is that employees are able to build a better work-life balance. This increases their happiness and job satisfaction which reflects positively in their performance.
Employees save money spent on traveling to work and have more time to spend with their family & friends. They are able to take care of their old parents and young children as well while working from home.
3. Lesser business costs
Since businesses no longer need office spaces it saves them thousands of dollars usually spent on renting a commercial space and furnishing it. There is no need for equipment like desktops, printers, coffee machines, and even ACs.
This leads to a major cost-cutting for the business without firing any employee. And the savings are not just limited to businesses. Employees too save a lot on transportation, office wear clothing & accessories, lunches, etc.
4. Money saved on hiring process
Earlier, companies used to travel to various cities to hold campuses in colleges. This was a major expense that also required them to pay for the travel of everyone involved in the hiring process.
Because of the remote work culture, businesses are saving a lot of money by conducting virtual interviews. Tools like Adobe Connect that allow seamless virtual communication have made it easy to screen employees and only invite high-potential candidates for a personal interview.
5. High-potential staff
Since everyone is working remotely, businesses are not restricted by borders while hiring someone to be a part of the organization. This lifts the barriers regarding having someone from a particular location and compromising on skills in the process.
This means businesses can hire skilled and talented individuals from across the border purely on the basis of merit. Having such employees empowers the business and gives them a competitive edge in the industry. The more talented your staff is, the higher your chances of business growth and success.
Conclusion
Above everything else, shifting to work culture reduces the rate of absenteeism and increases the rate of employee retention. This is because employees are less stressed when working from the comfort of their homes which enhances their work productivity.
Moreover, they are more likely to be working in case of pregnancy or even an accident. So however tough the pandemic may seem, there is after all a silver lining to it.
