This meant I only saw my colleagues about twice a year – that was definitely too little contact for me. The company doesn’t have a large enough office, it’s completely remote, or operates from abroad. The lessening of emissions of co2 released into the atmosphere is the other principle benefit that derives from not commuting. Which given the rate at which our planet is heating up, is a very positive side effect to remote working. Nibusinessinfo.co.uk, a free service offered by Invest Northern Ireland, is the official online channel for business advice and guidance in Northern Ireland.

By allowing employees to work from home all or some of the time, you spread the net for potential talent far wider. You’re no longer limited to employees who are either within your immediate area or who are willing to travel. Remote working simply means working away from the office and it’s become a key part of modern flexible working. And that’s versus a lower rating of 6.5 out of 10 benefits of working remotely for teams working in open plan offices. The number of UK workers who have moved into remote-working has increased by nearly a quarter of a million over a decade according to the Office of National Statistics. In fact, figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest that more people are working remotely than ever before, with almost 50% of workers in the UK being remote by 2020.

Are you capitalising on the benefits of enabling your staff to work remotely?

Staff are also able to fit in household chores around their working day giving them more free time in the evenings eg loading or unloading the dishwasher or preparing dinner on their lunchbreak. A 2016 TINYpulse survey found 509 full-time remote employees, when compared against benchmarks calculated from 200,000 employees working in various arrangements, felt more valued, productive, and happier. And companies that consider employees as their most significant asset are proactively working on establishing a remote work policy. When this continual connectedness happens regularly, weekly hours build up – possibly without employees even realising it. And while this might be good for productivity in the short term, the long-term pressures on workers are either unhealthy or unsustainable.

In the future, we should expect to see the use of more work tracking and well-being software. As technology continues to evolve, we’re likely to see more people working in this way, and other ways of working, which are yet to come to the fore.

No commuting

For example, many parents are struggling to juggle childcare and home-schooling with 9-5 work. However, under normal circumstances, children would be at school or nursery leaving their parents free to work remotely. Therefore, it’s important to remember that even if remote working was already normal in your business, we are definitely not operating under normal circumstances. It is undeniable, however, that while interest in remote working has been growing over the years, COVID-19 has forced businesses to embrace it much quicker than they otherwise would have.

In fact, 77% of distance workers claim to be more productive when working from home, compared with in the office. However, considering the amount of people that suddenly had to work from home following the initial Covid outbreak , we have been given a glimpse of how remote or distance working might evolve in the future.

Supporting employees in a changing workplace

One of the commonly quoted stats about working from home is the tendency for employees to work longer hours. Employee benefits for remote workers could include access to counsellors, advice, regular team social events , and offering perks such as ‘remote fika‘ . This would allow regular one-to-one or small group socialising and encourage and help facilitate the watercooler moments. Many companies refuse to allow remote work because it can’t be controlled to the same extent as having employees on site. From some corners, there are even concerns remote workers tend to be lazy and less productive. In fact, some studies have shown remote employees end up working more.

This approach will allow you to transition from a state of constant overlooking to a trustful environment where workers are responsible for fulfilling their tasks. One of the common challenges of working remotely is that it’s really tough if you don’t have a separate office space, or you don’t have somewhere outside to sit and eat your lunch on a sunny day. Well, this might be a reason to rethink whether this is still the right place to live.

This means businesses can hire the best candidate for the role through a larger talent pool. By hiring the most qualified experts in their field, it aids the success and development of the business. The coronavirus pandemic has given some employers, who may not have otherwise considered working from home an option for staff, a practical insight into how it affects their business and employees.

But these working from home problems aren’t just about inefficient meetings. One of the things you will miss about an office when you start working remotely is that there is no longer a whole bunch of people you can grab a coffee with whenever you need to let off steam. Likewise, it’s easier to see from people’s facial expressions and body language when they’re not having a good day. Without the right technology, an employee had to go to the office to get their work done. Keep employees engagedby encouraging personal and professional development, for example invest in training for remote working staff, take a look at our virtual training tips for businesses for more advice on this.