Remote jobs have really picked up steam over the last five years with companies starting to provide working flexibility to their employees. A remote workplace offers benefits for both the employer and employee and that is why it is becoming more prevalent as an option of employment. Working from home has become almost a necessity due to the recent global pandemic where social distancing measures were considered of utmost importance. Therefore most companies and organizations worldwide including the United States have started hiring remote employees or have instructed their already existing employees to work remotely. With companies using this time to test out a remote workplace, it seems that more and more apply jobs in the future will involve employees working from home.
Benefits for working from home for Employers:
Employees have been shown to be just as productive working from home as they are working from an office; therefore companies are glad to let their employees work remotely.
Here are some of the benefits that companies gain from their employees working remotely:
- The first and primary benefit a company will notice when their employees working from home is that they will be saving a lot of money from costs. The company will save on rent, utilities, building maintenance, meal provisions, furniture, and equipment costs. Even if the employer will have to provide some technical equipment and other amenities for those remote employees they will still be spending much less money than if they were staffing an entire office.
- The employee will be much more comfortable in their home and make it easier for them to complete their tasks. The new employees will find it somewhat easier to integrate as there is no need to adjust to a new space. They will also avoid the problems that will come with commuting to and from work. Remote employees have also been shown to be much happier due to their nature of work and the convenience that comes from it.
- With a remote workplace, employers have a far greater range of options when it comes to people to hire. Their options are wider simply because they won’t be restricted by the pool of talent available locally or in their hiring range. This provides them with a job opportunity to hire individuals with a specialized set of skills that may have not been available if they were hiring from the people around. There are no relocation costs for the company by hiring new employees.
- Employees who work remotely will save a lot of time in their general activities that involve commuting. They will work and use their time more efficiently since there is no time spent on commute. The employee will also have less fatigue to deal with that comes with commuting.
- Working from home has shown that there is a significant decrease in the level of absenteeism from these employees. They can avoid taking time off for appointments and events. They can also avoid traveling when they are feeling unwell, and take the time spent on commuting to take a rest.
Benefits for working from home for Employees:
Working from home has shown to have multiple benefits for employees who get to work from home. These benefits are:
- Remote employees get to experience a sense of freedom and flexibility that employees that work from offices simply can’t have. They have the freedom to be more in charge of their schedules and choose when they get to complete their objectives. They have the flexibility to schedule their appointments and family engagements that they have to go to. They have the ability to personalize their workspace.
- The employees working from home feel more at home and in charge of their lives. They get to plan their tasks at home and work providing them with a sense of accomplishment and productivity.
- Employees will be able to concentrate on maintaining and improving their health especially their mental health. When employed and working in an office it can be easy to neglect one’s health but working remotely can provide the employee the opportunity to better their health.
- They can work from the comfort of their homes and this includes the general location where they live instead of shifting locations for the job. Remote employees will not be grounded to a city or location that doesn’t match their preferences.
Five ways to increase an employee’s visibility at work when they work remotely from home.
Participate in groups and projects: Working remotely can make it easy for an employee to get lost in the shuffle. They can risk falling into the background on important decisions and company ventures which may have some benefits initially, it can also hinder the employee’s ability to grow in the company and progress their careers. In order to combat this problem, the employee must make an effort to engage with their co-workers, be available to help the co-workers, and finding opportunities to participate in projects aiming to accomplish a company objective.
Frequently update accomplishments: Big and small accomplishments can go unnoticed when the employee is not physically present at a workplace. The managers will not realize how far the employees have progressed in their careers and whether the employee is learning from their mistakes. By taking the initiative to make their presence is known and state their progress whether it is big or small they can insert themselves into their manager’s or boss’s thoughts.
Increase their virtual presence: The employees who are working from home need to increase their virtual presence, especially when there are group meetings going on. They need to speak up and express themselves when company meetings are held virtually or are presented with an opportunity to interact with their higher-ups.
Seek high visibility projects: The easiest way for employees to obtain visibility at their remote workplace is to simply ask for projects that are of importance to the company. The employee shouldn’t wait on their seniors or managers to assign them the work from the project but the employee should instead seek it out themselves.
Interact and Engage with co-workers: One of the benefits a traditional workspace has over people working from home is that they can build a rapport with their co-workers much easier. Despite this limitation where it is easy to get lost in the work and forget to make connections with their co-workers, remote employees need to work even harder and put in an effort to socialize. One of the easiest ways for an employee is to be available to whichever medium is available for the employee and their co-worker.
Conclusion
While being good at one’s job is usually enough for an employee to be rewarded for their hard work and dedication, employees working from home will have to put in strategic efforts to get noticed. If an employee isn’t visible when they are working remotely they can miss out on opportunities to improve their skills and climb up the ladder of the company. There is no scope to be passive as a remote employee and instead, efforts must be taken to increase their visibility.
