Pros And Cons Of Letting Your Employees Work From Home

   

(Pixabay Licence)   

Being able to work from home is a dream for many employees, and especially for those businesses that can allow it, it is something worth considering. However, there are pros and cons involved. Should you be an employer, you might have considered these already.

Still, if you are still undecided, here are a few pointers to help you make the right decision for your business.

PROS

You have the technology available to make it happen

You probably have the technology in place to allow your employees to work from home already. Microsoft DirectAccess, despite some of the disadvantages posed in the linked article, might be something you use already, especially where your company intranet is concerned. This will give your employees the chance to connect to your business remotely, although you might also consider more secure options, as suggested in the link.

Then there are Skype and other video communication technologies, that do away with the need for face to face office meetings. And assuming your employees are where they should be, you will have the option to contact them as and when a bit of facetime and project management sharing is needed.

And talking of project management sharing, while this can be done through some video communication tech, there are other pieces of cloud software that can also afford the possibility.

So, consider what you already have available, and then consider making investments elsewhere to allow remote working a possibility.

You will raise your employees’ morale

Not many of us enjoy the commute to and from work. And not many of us enjoy being surrounded by the four walls of office or other workplace environments. And so it is with your employees. By giving them the opportunity to work from home, you will take away such miseries. They will have a better work-life balance, as they will have the opportunity to spend more time at home. And they won’t have to endure the stresses that a commute or workplace can bring. Instead, they can work in the (assumedly) relaxing environs of their homes, and suffer less stress as a consequence.

Thanks to the raised morale of your employees, they should also be more productive. They should also get more work done because they won’t have wasted time travelling to and fro. We say ‘should,’ as productivity isn’t always a constant for remote workers, but we will get to that in a moment.

Your business will save money

Cost-cutting will be one of your key concerns, of course, so this is another reason to allow your employees to work from home. You won’t have to pay travel expenses if a company car isn’t needed. There will be less damage to your utility bills. And you won’t have to cover the cost of office lunches and other minor expenses.

You can also save money on new hires. If you don’t need people to come into the office, then you might consider remote working a long-term facet of your business. This means you can employ new workers, wherever they are in the world, be that on a full, part-time, or temporary basis.

CONS

Problems with security

(Pixabay Licence)

If your employees are accessing important company files from outside of the office, there are dangers where cybersecurity is concerned. While this is less of an issue if they are working from home, there might be issues if they decide to work on unsecured networks in a library or a cafe. You can get around this with VPN software, of course, and employee training on cybersecurity will also be advantageous. Still, you do need to keep this in mind, especially with those employees who are careless in the way they use their computers.

There could be issues with productivity

We alluded to this earlier, and for a good reason. You see, not every employee will be productive at home. This isn’t always their fault, as they might be faced with family distractions that hinder their capacity to work efficiently. On the other hand, they might start to engage in lazy behaviors, such as taking the occasional morning off to do something less productive or staying in bed longer than they should. Of course, if they still get work done, then fine. Remote working is supposed to allow for flexibility. But if targets and deadlines aren’t being met, then you might want to reconsider the option of your employees working from home.

We haven’t listed every pro or con here, but we hope we have given you a good overview. Continue your research online, speak to your employees about the possibility, and then consider the viability of remote working for your business.

0 Responses to “Pros And Cons Of Letting Your Employees Work From Home”


  • No Comments

Leave a Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *