For many now, the “new normal” is to transition their workforce (where feasible) to work from home. There are still those that will be reticent about such a bold move, mainly because they feel they do not have the same control over their staff, struggle to operate without others around them or the biggest hurdle we encounter is that they feel their files, folders and key information is lurking somewhere around the office.
For others however, the advantages of working from home and not having the overheads of offices in a city centre has finally resonated after being forced to work that way through lockdown, and most are finally realising the below are working in their favour:
- Reduced office size or better still no office at all so lower overheads
- No commute for themselves or staff
- No cleaners or other office costs
- Less money spent on lunches – healthier eating
- More flexible working hours
- No transport issues so less tardiness
- Less time traveling for meetings as we now use Zoom or MS Teams more
- Much less environmental impact from travelling plus fuel savings
- Reduced costs on office consumables or ancillaries
However lets just touch base on that last point “Reduced costs on office consumables or ancillaries” – Many aren’t aware that they have an obligation as an employer to ensure that even if your staff are working from home, they have rights and must be set up correctly.
Under the Health and Safety at Work Act employers have an obligation to ensure employees are working in a safe way that does not jeopardise their health. That could include provision of a desk or chair, plus ensuring the environment they are set up in is not hazardous in any way, but thats only half the story.
If you want to maximise your teams performance and you are concerned about them working from home, then having a suitable “management System” or “CRM” will not only ensure that they can access the information they need, but also that they can work efficiently with everyone else in the team and you can monitor the performance of both your employees and company.
Working from Home could be a massive benefit to yourself and your employees, plus also a tool to use as a way of offering a lower salary for the same role if your employees have less traveling expenses, however you also need to ensure that they reap the rewards as well as yourself and then who knows, you could be turning any enforced lockdown into your advantage!
