Ensuring employees are happy is key to retention and recruitment. Instead of appealing only to individuals who live close to the organisation, employers can have the pick of the best candidates. While remote workers can often be more productive than their in-office counterparts, one of the biggest problems remote employees face is burnout – it is a very serious risk to their health. Loneliness, distractions, communication problems and technical difficulties are just some of the issues remote workers face. From social distancing to remote working, there are a variety of changes that have been introduced to contain the virus and keep people safe. As a result, employees have more time to catch up on sleep which lowers stress levels. Get the latest posts delivered right to your inbox. Working remotely involves performing regular work outside of the workplace. While some companies claimed that their remote employees were just as productive when working from home, they decided to recall their team to support stronger in … With no commute, employees have been able to organise their day around their work in a way that suits their needs. Do you prefer to work alone, or you want to travel, maybe you have some health issues which will make it easier for you to work from home or maybe you are a mum who needs some flexibility, or perhaps you have a … The benefits to employees are also clear. reduces sick days from 2.6 days per year to 2.4 days per year, 65% of workers have been able to save money. It’s easier to … Needless to say, working remotely has numerous fantastic benefits – as well as some downsides. As there’s no active supervision and your colleagues are not working around you, it can be difficult to stay motivated and meet your targets. Some employers want their remote workers to come in to the office on occasion, which can afford employees the opportunity to travel. cease to exist. Maintaining a healthy lifestyle as an office worker can be quite difficult. Copyright © 2020 GovNet. Expensive business trips are virtually eliminated, requirements for physical office space are reduced, and employee productivity often increases due to the flexibility that remote working allows. For example, pre-COVID, 45% of people spent over an hour commuting a day. Better work-life balance; 3. But for others, working in a busy office is a great way to meet new people and make friends. Remote working is a great benefit to candidates, making the job appeal to a bigger, better talent pool. While my experiences are singular, I also reached out to other fellow remote workers to get them to share their pros and cons of working remotely (& some practical tips): “After 10+ years of working remote, the pros: I have tons of free time, no L.A. traffic to deal with, and I get to make my schedule. The lack of social interaction will affect you most if you are an extrovert or a social butterfly. The pros and cons of working remotely mentioned in this article can help you know remote work better and make the right decision to either work as a telecommuter or not. As a result, you save a considerable amount of time and utilize it to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Of course like anything, working remotely has its pros and cons. 40% of employees have experienced mental exhaustion from video calls while working remotely. Creative people push the innovation envelope every day. However, there are some pitfalls of remote work that you need to consider and have to push yourself to successfully overcome them. The absence of proper communication among remote teams is likely to act as a roadblock for, Thus, you need to put more effort to interact with people in your team and even have to take part in. The 2020 global pandemic has made remote work more popular than anyone could have ever imagined. For some, it can be distracting and reduce productivity. Expanded Productivity Working remotely eradicates the interruptions of the workplace working environment.On the off chance that you require a controlled situation and restricted human collaboration to be beneficial, you might need to consider going after a remote job. Working remotely seems to be all the rage lately, with 37% of respondents. Remote working is the new norm of getting things done. Whether it’s on a train, bus or in their own car, it takes a toll on their life, eating into family time or the time they could spend enjoying hobbies. Depending on your job, this may or may not be a pro or con. Want to manage your tasks more efficiently as a remote worker? Also, this is beneficial to organizations in the sense that it’s easy to retain contended employees and thus, maintain a high employee retention rate. Since we’re a distributed company, here are the benefits we’ve seen from having flexible remote schedules. Instead, they are working remotely. and work as a member of a distributed team. Additionally, it is possible to create a schedule that can help you achieve the perfect balance between work and personal life. Companies that operate solely on the computer are among the most likely to employ remote workers. Her articles are inspired by office situations and work-related events. The Pros and Cons of Remote Working COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way we live and work. In other words, the number one advantage to working remotely is freedom and flexibility. You can kiss goodbye to the dreaded commute to and from work. Is the seating and layout of the employee’s computer workstation correct? CONS 1. Moreover, many remote jobs allow you to work outside the regular 9-5 office hours. Let’s Talk About The Pros and Cons of Working Remotely, Just like every other work arrangement, remote work or. Whether employees commute by public transport or in their own car, they’re making savings on travel costs. The pros and cons of working remotely or from home. to keep yourself healthy. This is most likely because employees have more flexibility and are able to get more sleep, maintain a greater work-life balance and ultimately spend more time on their general wellbeing. Working remotely gives you access to more workers with this mindset. As mentioned previously, office workers spend a lot of time commuting. Here are the top 10 pros of working from home: We all type pretty fast (the Typing Speed Test was a popular break activity at work when it first came out). Not only that but as people are no longer in the office, offices aren’t using water or electricity, plastic cups for water fountains or providing printed handouts as the majority of remote work is strictly digital. A lot of typing. When working remotely, no one is going to show up on your work desk to discuss trivial matters and have a discussion that is of no interest to you. It can help teams build camaraderie and get to know each other. While video conferencing can be a solution, it can never be as effective as talking to someone who is sitting right next to you. Here are the pros and cons of working remotely. This course can be accessed from any location. Try it for Free now! Difficult to stay motivated 3. Although this may seem like only a benefit for employees, it actually has a variety of pros for employers. An initial risk assessment must be carried out, although this can be done by the employee. For every person, who is either new to remote work or willing to start a remote job need to consider at least the key pros and cons of working remotely that are as follows: People who are working remotely tend to be more productive as compared to their in-office counterparts. 12. Remote work is possibly the best work arrangement if you want to manage your personal life better while staying productive at your work. COVID-19 has dramatically changed the way we live and work. Only you can decide if working from home is right for your small business. Remote Work: Cons for Employers and Employees However, there are cons for employers and employees. Remote work allows employees to live in one place while working for a company based hundreds of kilometers away. For example, startups that can’t afford office space often work remotely. To ensure staff health and safety is maintained while working from home, organisations are proactively looking at ways they can improve it. Start using ProofHub today! By not commuting to work, you also reduce your carbon footprint as you will not be taking your vehicle out. From carrying out a work from home risk assessment to learning how to remotely identify and reduce risks, our courses provide you with an interactive, engaging learning environment. Pros: 1. More savings and lesser carbon footprint; Cons. Working from home—the place where you also sleep, eat, watch TV, play with your cat or your kids—can be extremely distracting. One of the most important things that are missing in a remote work arrangement is proper communication among colleagues. Pros of working from home It … Employers have many fears when it comes to remote working. There’s a point in your freelance career (and in your pro… Others are considering starting remote work anyway so they have better job security in times like this. Another key advantage of working remotely is that you can save more money each year. However, before deciding on working remotely, you must evaluate and determine if this is the right choice for you. Is it Practical to Work As a Full-Time Remote Worker? This can include managing different schedules or simply not trusting their employees to do their work while unsupervised. However, as a remote worker, you have to rely on instant messaging and video calls to communicate with your team members. They can work during their most productive hours and handle inevitable personal issues with greater efficiency. 2. hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(5539127, 'b8836e43-fec5-4a0f-951f-ceb405c5049f', {}); Get exclusive offers, insights and learning resources direct to your inbox. Many of the innovative software companies like Google, Facebook, Ne... , there were an estimated 4.7 million remote workers in the US at the start of 2020. But when you have a lot of issues to handle during your … Working remotely is becoming increasingly common. By getting some extra time daily to manage personal life, remote workers can be more happy and satisfied with their jobs. One such reason is lesser distractions. Vartika Kashyap is the Chief Marketing Officer at ProofHub and has been one of the LinkedIn Top Voices in 2018. Working remotely means that you have to learn and use various technologies, including apps like to-do lists, project management software, etc. Working remotely enhances innovation. The Pros. That’s why remote working is ideal for finding the best talent. Company Registered Number 3307092 VAT Registered Number 686 2779 74 Partnership Media Group Trading as GovNet Communications, 45% of people spent over an hour commuting a day. to stay productive. As per the study conducted by Flexjobs and Global Workforce Analytics, there were an estimated 4.7 million remote workers in the US at the start of 2020. 1. She likes to write about productivity, team building, work culture, leadership, entrepreneurship among others and contributing to a better workplace is what makes her click. It’s not like that remote working or work from home wasn’t popular before, but now more and more people are seeing it as the future of work. While we can offer you some of the pros and cons, the decision is ultimately yours. Cons. Some employees have a one hour journey to work and back five days a week - that’s 10 hours spent purely on a train or bus or in a car. So, before you jump in to take the final call, you should take a good look at the pros and cons of working remotely discussed in the next section. Companies located all around the world have now asked their employees to work from home. Thus, you can utilize these saved hours to have some quality time with your partner and kids. That may sound a little wordy, but it’s true: rather having to check into the same room at the same cubicle every day, you can work from your home office, in the garden, at the community cafe, at a gathering, from a bus, and so on. From social distancing to remote working, there are a variety of changes that have been introduced to contain the virus and keep people safe. Even if you are an in-house employee, it’s possible to make a smooth transition to remote work and work as a member of a distributed team. to one survey reporting they telecommuted at some point. The best part about working remotely is that you get to work from anywhere. 60% of homeworkers report feeling happier since working from home. Telecommuting: The Pros, Cons and Risks of Working from Home. Higher productivity; 2. In fact, most of them can be resolved. As a remote worker, you can easily become prone to a laid back attitude, and a habit of procrastinating. To learn more or to sign up, click the button below. All these savings become a reality when you are working remotely. Reduced stress for employees In this interview with Aleyda Solis, Hamlet goes into the ins and outs of working remotely, why he chose this for RankSense, and why it works so … Working remotely means that you have to learn and use various technologies, including apps like to-do lists, 4. that supports the fact that remote workers are more productive. This has had drastic effects on the environment, with the transport sector in the UK and US being responsible for more greenhouse gases than any other. It’s essential to answer why you want to work remotely. Remote working is just one of the many ways businesses can reduce their carbon footprint and effect on the environment. Several reasons account for the enhanced productivity of remote workers. With more people working from home now than ever before, we’re already seeing a dramatic decrease in harmful emissions. You can work at different times of the day when you are more productive. This chapter explores the pros and cons of working remotely. Switch to ProofHub today! Moreover, it is also possible to take short breaks between work and do some physical activity like taking a brisk walk, etc. The benefits of working from home. If you’ve ever freelanced, you understand this well. This will help them to adhere to the social distancing rules that are implemented along with the global pandemic. Today, both organizations and professionals all over the globe are taking this work arrangement quite seriously. Working remotely means that you can spend more time with your family. More savings and lesser carbon footprint. However, as previously mentioned, the lack of commute has delivered a great deal of wellbeing benefits. Are extension leads and cables for computers and printers safe? Just like every other work arrangement, remote work or telecommuting has its own upsides and downsides. The Pros and Cons of letting your employees work remotely. This is a very common question that comes to the mind of most people when they think about remote work or work from home. So what are your responsibilities as an employer when it comes to health and safety in remote work? If you’re a business owner, keep reading to learn about the pros and cons of remote work. So can a coffee shop or, for that matter, a tropical beach in the Caribbean. Lack of … There are fewer chances of office small talk and banter, which is often a nice distraction. Many individuals believe that the everyday hustle restricts them from having balanced meals, especially in the morning and the afternoon. If a business is located in a rural area, it can be really difficult to find the ideal candidate, especially compared to cities where job vacancies usually receive hundreds of applicants. Our Excel at Remote Working Health and Safety course contains the techniques you need to virtually ensure your employees’ health and safety at home. As working remotely becomes more acceptable by the day, companies are increasingly offering positions with flexibility. Additionally, it will not only help you do your bit to save the environment but also save fuel for the future. Since its inception 16 years ago, GovNet has produced vital industry magazines and hosted keynote conferences to the highest standards due their unparalleled industry access and by building a platform to encourage industry insiders and delegates to discuss issues in constructive ways. While this can be considered a pro of working remotely in the short term, it’s a con in the long-term. If you are not ready to switch to full remote working, you can opt to have hybrid work practices, that will … Is there adequate lighting levels, ventilation and room temperature. There are many studies like the one sponsored by Cisco that supports the fact that remote workers are more productive.