A remote workforce can be a good move for your company, as long as you manage to nurture a dynamic virtual work environment. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs are still skeptical about hiring a virtual workforce. For those that are still waiting, it’s time to consider synthesizing a remote work policy into your business operations.
A virtual work process is not just about picking the online tools that are the most suitable for you, nor about letting the virtual staff you hire do as they please. In fact, the best way to engage with a virtual employment agency is to establish a framework in which the personal vision of the employees align with that of your company.
Here are some major factors that make the virtual work system beneficial for companies:
1. Cost-effectiveness
A virtual office setup reduces cost overheads such as rent, office infrastructure, electricity, equipment and various other employee facilities. The money saved can be used to pay incentives resulting in improved workforce performance. Virtual work also eliminates scenarios like holidays and employee absence due to bad weather conditions that cause office downtime and business loss. Remote employees can complete their assignments without being physically present in your office.
Remote offices can run round-the-clock by getting various teams to work in shifts. There are some employees who prefer to work at night because there is no disturbance and productivity is higher due to the serene ambience. You can also hire employees that work on weekends. Some people prefer working on weekends as their weekdays are busy due to other tasks. Flexi-timings allow employees with a valid purpose to juggle their work and personal life and churn out quality work performance.
3. Higher Productivity
Research from Stanford suggests that employees working from remote locations are 13% more productive compared to those deployed onsite. This is by virtue of the time they saved in travel, unnecessary meetings, and diversions such as gossiping and prolonged lunch intervals.
4. Better of both the Worlds
Many people take location into account while making a decision to join a company. A majority of them opt for a company that is located near their home. Maintaining virtual offices puts these employees in a unique win-win situation.
5. Highly-Motivated Workforce
When there is no added task of daily commuting, the focus is automatically greater on work performance. This is often seen as an additional perk by employees. This arrangement allows your virtual staff to enhance the quality of their work. All this adds up to a highly-motivated workforce.
6. Reduced Security and Health Hazards
The absence of a daily office commute translates into lower health risks due to pollution, rainstorm, flood, snowfall/hailstorm, and accidents and mishaps. The level of stress in virtual workers is also relatively low which is why they are healthier and have a higher optimism quotient.
7. Smarter, More Independent Employees
Having to tackle their work assignments by themselves motivates virtual employees to be self-reliant and depend on their individual drive and ability to complete their tasks. Moreover, they are also able to hone their creativity by making use of the tools and resources on hand to get the job done without turning to their co-workers.
8. Commitment and Retention
Friction between workers leads to employees having to leave their jobs in many cases. Intimidating conditions may arise in workplaces just as they arise elsewhere. Minimal interaction with colleagues greatly diminishes the likelihood of getting into adverse office situations allowing every employee to contribute to individual as well as organizational growth.
Besides these benefits, virtual offices help make your business more remotely functional, travel-free, prolific, and equipped with talent across all domains. This results in stable business operations. Some entrepreneurs may be concerned about the credit for the success of their business going to a virtual workforce. There is a simple answer to this, and that is—So what if you hire virtual staff, as long as your success is real!
