The professional landscape has changed drastically in the last four years. Before COVID, remote work was hardly accepted in most organizations. After the pandemic, it has forced many organizations to reevaluate the way their employees are able to perform their jobs.
What is Remote Work?
Remote work is a working set-up that empowers employees to work offsite from their standard office space. Some organizations allow employees to work from anywhere, as long as they are active during their scheduled work hours and have a stable and secure internet connection. Others have more strict policies that limit exactly when and where an employee can work outside of the office.
Making the leap to a remote workforce takes a lot of time and planning. There must be procedures in place to help the organization continue to function fairly, efficiently, and in many industries, compliantly.
How to Get Started as an Organization
A key factor for a business, corporation or non-profit agency to allow employees to work remotely is a solid work from home policy. Without a researched policy that’s widely understood, the organization could end up negatively impacting its company culture and employee morale.
Organizations also must look at how the remote work environment affects their employees and performance. Tracking productivity of remote employees can be difficult. Some organizations having tracking systems in-place, but others must be a little more creative. Regardless, effective communication is key.
Benefits of Remote Work
A remote work environment helps to provide flexibility in the work schedule and improve work-life balance. Balancing time spent on the job with everything else someone may need time for in their day is key to not only productivity, but also to mental health. A positive by-product of employees with healthier minds is a more profitable and productive workplace and a more inclusive organization.
Employees working from home can cut personal costs on things such as gas for their commute or eating out for meals. Organizations can also save money on operating and equipment costs with a partial, or fully, remote team.
What to Do as a Work from Home Employee
Building a daily routine while working at home is crucial to ensuring your productivity. This daily routine will also provide discipline in your schedule and help you focus on good time management skills. Having good self-discipline will help you succeed in your work from home tenure.
Furthermore, having a routine and dedicated workspace can help ensure you have a healthy boundary between home and work. With this in mind, it’s probably worth it to invest in your equipment. Things such as wrist-supporting mousepads, blue light glasses and ergonomic desk chairs can make a big difference for your long-term physical health.
Potential Disadvantages of WFH
Working remotely, especially for the first time, can at times cause employees to feel isolated. Being isolated could cause the employee to feel like company culture is lacking and engagement to suffer. Keeping up with constant communication with remote employees will help prevent them from feeling isolated and left out of their internal teams.
As a WFH employee, it’s important to leave your home office sometimes. Taking a walk, working outside or from a coffee shop, and having regular check-ins with others can help combat feelings of loneliness.
Working at home could also pose constraints with internet or technical issues. These issues then hinder the employee’s ability to remain productive, sometimes for days. Having a solid IT department trained in things such as virtual private networks can also help mitigate some of the technical issues that may arise.
What’s Ahead for Remote Work
Now that most everyone has adapted to today’s remote work environment, organizations are reevaluating what their team structures look like and what would be most effective for them from both a personnel and expense perspective. This of course looks a little different for every organization.
Many companies are now offering a hybrid work model that is slowly becoming the norm. A hybrid model allows employees to work a percentage of time in the office as well as a percentage of time remote - essentially allowing the best of both worlds. Hybrid schedules also allow organizations to better keep their culture intact and make it strong through changing working conditions while also attracting and retaining employees.
Some organizations are trying to find the happy medium when it comes to remote work - how it looks and what will work best for them. Hybrid or remote work isn’t a good fit for every organization, but the ones who successfully strike that balance often enjoy a more satisfied team of employees.
OMB is always growing our team and proudly offers hybrid and remote work schedules for certain departments. You can see a full list of our current openings here.
OMB and its affiliates do not provide legal, tax or accounting advice. You should consult your legal and/or tax advisors before making any financial decision.
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