How can telecommuting benefit a business

And because technology allows workers to work remotely from nearly any location, the practice has moved into the mainstream. Home Office and Employee Safety Your office is likely designed and constructed using office best practices. Your safety managers understand ergonomics, electrical and fire safety, and you have regulations regarding outlet placement, extension cords and more. Telecommuting is an alternative work arrangement in which an employee works outside of the standard office, often from home or a location close to home, such as a local library.

Telecommuting can be a full-time arrangement, in which an employee works remotely all the time, or it may be allowed on certain days of the week or when issues arise that make it practical. Rather than requiring the employee to report to an office, the employee uses computer connections and telephones to remain in contact with supervisors, coworkers and clients. This can enable greater freedom for employees in regard to working hours and environment while still meeting the needs of the business.

There are a number of potential benefits for employers when they establish well-designed telecommuting programs for their employees. Some of the benefits can include:. Companies that are considering this policy should note these possible pitfalls and seek ways to overcome them:. Launching a carefully-planned telecommuting program can deliver employees a number of benefits. Consideration on the front end can help remove some of the potential pitfalls. With that in mind, here are a few tips for creating a program that meets employee and employer expectations:.

A carefully established telecommuting program can deliver a number of benefits for employers. Take the time to plan out a program with an eye toward removing some of the potential pitfalls.

Once a program is established, review policies periodically to make adjustments where warranted. When a solid program is established, companies can retain talent while seeing their expenses drop and productivity rise.

The primary reason given is that the multiple, seemingly endless, interruptions at the office create a work pattern that is subject to repeated restarts. These interruptions occur when coworkers stop by to chat or supervisors pop in to??

There is the additional aspect of the?? The restarts from these interruptions absorb additional time while employees?? While the social aspects of work are important to employees, there are times when these activities detract from their work. Positions that telecommute two or three days per week find that they can be more effective when at home, yet still maintain professional and social relationships at the office.

Schedule Flexibility: Telecommuters are more productive when they can schedule their actual work time a. Some individuals are morning people, others are more productive at night. Telecommuters have the ability to schedule work to accommodate their own internal clocks.

They also find that they can more easily balance their work with other demands in their lives. Such demands include: time with family members and time running personal errands.

Telecommuting is not considered a substitute for child or day care. It does, however, provide telecommuters with greater flexibility in scheduling this type of care. Increased Time Available for Work: Telecommuters contend that it takes productive time out of the work day to??

This is time that is available and productive to them when they work at home. Sometimes, you need to go out of your organization to search for people who can get the job done.

This requires a tedious process of hiring or contacting the right person. Companies that are not telecommuting have to go through the excruciating process of interviewing the candidates for hire.

To meet a like-minded person, they might even have to visit seminars or conferences to approach them. On the other hand, a person working in a home-based organization will simply call, email, or send a direct message to the concerned person to connect with. This is way cheaper and saves more time than the traditional approach. Remote employees tend to dedicate most of their time saved in commuting to work. The work from home culture is deeply based on the fact that you are trusting your employees.

This confidence that you are having towards them will encourage them to prove their loyalty and dedication to the company. As a result, they work harder than those who are in the office. Imagine this: A self-motivated person who is working from home doesn't have to wait to arrive at the office after commuting.

They can just start their assigned task, just right after jumping out of their bed. Telecommuting requires only few to no face-to-face meetings. You can go beyond the boundaries of countries, or even continents to find the perfect fit. This opens up a huge possibility for the company to choose from a pool of highly talented candidates from other countries. Consider a situation where you have to meet clients in Asia, Europe, and then in the UK. In a traditional approach, it will take days to travel.

Not to mention the headache of planning and scheduling the travel, booking hotels, etc. Telecommuters communicate with their clients over emails or other organizational communication platforms. If they have to attend a face to face meeting, they can simply schedule a meeting via video conference with their clients, shortening the time from days to just a few hours or even minutes.