When small business owners hire new employees, or want to keep their current ones satisfied, they might have to consider the new reality that many people like to work from home these days. This may seem like a perk that many seek simply so they can slack off, but experts actually say that allowing this kind of flexibility can go a long way toward building loyalty, without negatively impacting productivity.
Simply put, giving employees the ability to work from home – not necessarily every day but at least a day or two a week – might give those companies that have struggled to attract high-quality candidates a new leg up on the competition, according to a report from ZDNet. Further, it should be noted that if one or more employees aren’t coming into the office, then they’re not using company resources, such as electricity, water, and so on. Plus, it might reduce the company’s need for a large office space to begin with.
So what should owners do?
Of course, not every worker can necessarily be trusted with working from home, and not every job is necessarily right for that kind of flexibility anyway, the report said. As such, entrepreneurs will have to think carefully about who should be able to work from home, and how often they can afford to allow it. This is especially true if they have established employees whose jobs require them to come into the office; letting some people stay home and work remotely while others come in could breed a little bit of contempt, because they might not feel that it’s fair.
It might therefore be wise to run something of a test program, explaining to a small number of employees that they may be able to work from home on an interim basis, just to see if it can work successfully, the report said. That might even encourage them to work a little harder in hopes of making their newfound role stick in the long run. When doing so, however, companies will also have to ensure that their employees have what they need to get the job done as quickly as possible at home, just as they would at the office.
In addition to this, it might also be wise for owners to also examine all their other expenditures. Taking the time to identify ways to save money on small business insurance – such as errors and omissions insurance, for instance, could end up saving thousands annually.
