Did you know?
- In 2019, remote work was an unheard-of concept.
- In 2021, 70% of companies were willing to switch to a hybrid work model?
- In 2022, even in the post-pandemic era, companies continue to work from home, or at least give their employees the option of a hybrid work model?
What changed people’s perspective on remote work, and why are more and more entrepreneurs choosing to hire remote employees for their business?
Add to that electricity, maintenance, and other office costs, and you’ll be putting a significant dent in your pocket. When you hire remote employees, you get to save all the money you’d have spent on office operations.
Then we have the cost of equipment and infrastructure. Thousands of dollars go into buying and maintaining computers, printers, furniture, and other office infrastructure.
Since more remote employees have their tech, that’s an additional expense you can avoid by adopting a remote work module.
#2. Productivity
One of the many reasons remote work was a taboo subject before 2020 was that people thought working from home leads to too many distractions and unproductivity.
However, a study of 16,000 workers over 9 months by Stanford found that working from home actually increased productivity by 13%.
What makes employees working from home more productive?
Contrary to popular belief, there are far more distractions in an office than at home. Since 2020, most people have set up a dedicated office space at home and have fallen into a routine where they can work undisturbed.
Additionally, not having office distractions or micromanagement and being accountable for their work resulted in a 47% increase in productivity since March 2020. Or, providing them access to virtual assistants can help boost productivity.
#3. Access To Global Talent
Geographical restrictions might be holding you back from the best talent. For example, when you hire in-office employees, you are only limited to a certain number of people who live close to the office.
That hinders the hiring process and reduces the chances of hiring the right candidate instead of the most convenient applicant.
When you hire remotely, you naturally get access to more applicants and have the opportunity to work with international talent.
Many start-ups these days cater to international clients and having someone from the local region on your team can be a huge asset for your company.
#4. Higher Employee Retention
Employee satisfaction plays a significant role in deciding whether to stay at a company or not.
When people constantly leave the company, it’s a waste of money, time, and efforts to hire continually, onboard, and train recruits.
Working from home leads to higher employee satisfaction. They are free to work from anywhere, do not have the stress of commuting, and feel like they can be more productive without being micromanaged as they would be in a physical office space.
They also spend more time with their families while working from home.
This working arrangement not only attracts new candidates to join the company, but candidates also said that they are 13% more likely to stay at a remote job than a physical office.
#5. Environment Friendly
Sure, working from home has had a positive impact on both employees and management, but did you know that the most critical effect of the shift to working from home has been on the environment.
There’s the obvious case of reduced greenhouse gas emissions because people no longer had to commute to work.
But it goes beyond just that; working from home has also saved paper, reduced the impact on public infrastructure, and resulted in cleaner air.
Many businesses strive to be more conscious about their carbon footprint, and implementing the work-from-home module can be a massive step towards achieving that.
#6. Scalability
Entrepreneurs working on their start-ups know that business can be unpredictable in its early stages. There are bound to be high months and low months, especially when you’re just starting.
That is why hiring full-time office staff might not be the best decision for entrepreneurs.
When you hire virtual assistants, you can hire them on a project/month basis, depending on how business is going.
Since they are not full-time employees, you can end your contract with them as soon as the project is done. This is not possible with full-time employees.
#7. No Training Effort
One of the most taxing hiring processes is the onboarding and training process.
However, If you choose to hire remote assistants from outsourcing agencies who already have their training process and background checks in place, you can hire a person who’s ready to take on the job from the get-go.
The great thing about hiring remote workers is that agencies already do the hard part for you.
#8. Wide Range of Skills and Qualifications
Many people are under the mindset that working remotely limits the number of job roles for which people can be hired.
However, this is untrue. When the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic and everyone was forced into lockdown, it became apparent that almost every role could be done from a remote location.
Your remote assistant can handle all tasks, ranging from administrative tasks to accounting, marketing, and event management.
#9. Flexibility
For entrepreneurs working with international clients, a traditional 9-5 just doesn’t work. Instead, they need to work according to the schedules of their clients.
Unfortunately, flexible shifts are not common or feasible in a conventional office setup.
With remote employees, you can make an arrangement beforehand about work timings.
For example, you can choose a person from your location to work a night shift, or even better; you can hire a remote employee from your client’s location so that they can work based on their timings.
#10. Happier Employees
According to a study, only 55% of employees were happy about working in an office. At the same time, around 71% of people were delighted about working remotely while booking a coworking space via the app from time to time.
There are a few reasons for this – less time spent commuting, more time spent at home, less stress, more flexibility, time for their hobbies, and an overall healthier work-life balance.
This overall employee satisfaction leads to better productivity for the company. So working remotely not only makes employees happier but is also an intelligent business decision. Here are a few tips on how to keep remote employees happy.
The New Normal
We hope you found this article helpful, and it helped you see the benefits of hiring remotely. It’s clear that the remote work revolution is here to stay and is bringing positive changes to the overall company culture.
Businesses that embrace this movement early on and switch to hiring remote employees are making the right decision for themselves, their employees, their business, and their clients as well.
Author bio: Swapna, content writer for Wishup.
