Remote Workers vs. Office Workers

“Earn more than $100 dollars an hour working from home!”

Chances are you’ve seen at least one of these ads in your time, and you may have wondered what exactly it entailed. Working from home is the dream of many a cubicle dweller, not to mention more than a few of their bosses. Who wouldn’t want to say goodbye to rush hour traffic, snowy roads and crowded parking lots? But does the reality really live up to the hype?

As business owners and entrepreneurs, it’s worth knowing the values and the pitfalls of your employees working remotely.

To give you some perspective, here are some figures from Global Workplace Analytics:

• 8% of the U.S. workforce now operates from home at least half the time, although it is estimated that up to 50% of office jobs are compatible with telecommuting.
• 80% to 90% of the US workforce says they would like to telework at least part time.
• The percentage of teleworkers grew 4 times faster than the overall workforce.

Providing a teleworking option may have several advantages:

• Working from home allows you to be more creative in a quiet, familiar environment distanced from distractions. This is particularly useful in creative fields such as graphic design.
• There will be fewer sick days. If you’re feeling ill, it’s a lot easier to make it from the bed to the computer than it is to drag yourself into the office where you risk infecting others.
• Potential tax savings from a home office and reduced cost of child care make telecommuting a perk to retain the best talent.
• For a business owner, fewer employees in the office means that the existing office space can be more effectively optimized or even downsized, saving money on rent.

As with anything, there is a downside to telecommuting:

• It can be difficult to monitor who’s doing what and exactly how effective they are. As a business owner, you need to be clear on what your expectations are and how you’ll measure results and productivity.
• Employees may feel disengaged from the company culture you’re trying to build. That’s on you to keep them engaged, just like you keep engaged with your clients.
• Because they’re on their own, employees may miss out on opportunities for synergy or collaboration unless you foster that as part of your company culture.
• The chance to build friendships and to interact with coworkers is one of the things many employees like about working but that’s on them. With more and more work being done electronically and globally, this is often less of an issue.

Is telecommuting a good fit for your business? A lot of the answer to that question will depend on you, your staff and the nature of your business. Are you and/or your staff doing the type of work that can be easily ‘phoned in’, or do you need to be right there? Are you or your staff a highly efficient, group of independent go-getters, or do they require a more hands on approach? Is office space at a premium or is it plentiful?

These are the types of questions you may want to consider if you’re debating whether telecommuting is the right solution for your business.