Reasons to continue to offer remote working

08 Apr 2021 Reasons to continue to offer remote working

Remote working, and the technology that makes it possible, have flourished over the last year.

Without remote collaboration tools like Unified Communications and Office 365, businesses struggled to make a success of remote working. But with cloud technology now widespread, and the shift in focus that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought, we believe that remote working is here to stay.

In this blog article, we’ll cover the top 5 reasons why you should consider continuing to offer remote and flexible working to your staff after lockdown ends.

1. Go green!

During the Covid-19 pandemic, carbon dioxide emissions dropped by around 15% year-on-year. Widespread home working represented a huge proportion of this.

Think about it; how much of your time do you spend going to and from the office? How about the time you spend going to meetings with clients? Even if you commute by bus or train, it takes a vast amount of energy to travel. Video meetings have become the norm, and look set to remain so even after lockdown.

Now that restrictions are easing, why not continue commuting over the internet? Telecommuting as a concept is nothing new, but the latest cloud technology has made it more effective than ever.

2. Increase productivity

So effective, in fact, that many businesses have seen an increase in productivity over lockdown. That would have been unthinkable a few years ago, but the latest advances in cloud technology have put remote collaboration at the forefront of their capabilities.

Our Phone Systems and Unified Communications services are no different. Advanced presence features, instant messaging, video chats and more all work together to create a virtual office environment.

As far back as 2018, the majority of employees felt that working from home either improved or had no effect on productivity. As we’ve found out over lockdown, this is absolutely true.

3. Improve staff morale

Flexible working policies are a well-proven way to improve staff morale. Being able to work from home, even if it’s just for a few days a week, works wonders on the all-important work-life balance.

Until relatively recently, the perception of home working policies is that they came at the expense of some productivity. It’s clear now that this isn’t the case. Not only does cloud technology eliminate any loss in productivity, but it can also transform staff morale.

Working from home makes juggling your responsibilities easier, giving you the freedom to pick your kids up from school, or be available for an important delivery. This has the obvious benefit of reducing your levels of stress and anxiety. Flexible working also makes it easier to focus on your work in the long run, knowing that everything is taken care of.

4. How big does your office need to be?

Do you need to provide desks for all your staff? We’ve all learned how to live without office space over the last year, so some members of your team might not even want to return to the office.

Cloud Phone Systems, Unified Communications and collaboration tools like MS Teams and Office 365 make it possible to maintain and even improve productivity in a remote environment. Implementing a remote working and hot desking strategy could therefore unlock potential savings on office space.

If you’ve only got 75% of your staff in the office on any given day, there’s no need to provide desks for everyone. You could even consider moving to a fully wireless model by simply providing laptops to all your staff, eliminating the need for office PCs while ensuring they’ve got an appropriate device to work remotely with.

5. Find the best applicants

Cast your net further by giving applicants and new starters the option of working remotely on a permanent basis. You may already attract the best talent in your area, but by removing the need to work from the office you can start to attract talented applicants from around the country.

Not only does remote working help you to find candidates from around the country, but it also helps to attract the best candidates. Flexible working is a highly desirable job perk, so offering it to jobseekers will help set you apart from your competitors.

Similarly, remote working policies can transform your staff retention rates. Giving your staff the freedom to choose where they work improves job satisfaction, reduces stress and above all makes them feel valued.

Are you looking to enable a successful remote working policy in your business? From cloud-based phone systems to the business mobiles your staff use to access them, our services are all geared to enable remote working from day one.

We believe this makes One Connectivity the ideal comms partner for your business. Give us a call on 0115 896 88 60 to arrange a free video consultation and quote.