Are we talking about home office employees again?

I have spoken about working from home in the past and I have received feedback from both sides arguing as to its effectiveness and its role in the future.

Most common arguments supporting work from home positions:

1. Increased productivity

2. Better work life balance produces better work

3. I am able to replace a 2-hour commute with 2 hours of value-added work

Arguments against supporting work from home positions:

1. Employees need to interact live with other employees in order to be effective

2. Working from home is not inspiring, it is lonely and isolating which is not good for culture

3. It is too distracting for most workers

Working from home might not be for everyone.  I often find that people who want to be associated with a well-known brand or people who thrive on interaction will struggle the most if they are in a home office role.  It seems that they either want to be fully immersed in a sexy brand or working inside the belly of the beast.   

I’ve discussed this before, but strong organization skills are essential for effectively working from home.  Your calendar should account for all of your activities in 15-minute segments.  Creating your calendar so that it is your command centre is the key to being able to be highly productive and staying on task.  People who are not prepared to work this way will often struggle or be unfulfilled. 

Dan Schawbel is the author of “Back to Human: How Great Leaders Create Connection in the Age of Isolation.”  has a piece of advice and some interesting statistics regarding the home office experience.   

Advice:

Employees will work harder if they have a sense of connection. For managers, it is important to let a remote worker lead a meeting.  It also makes sense to fly remote workers in once a year for an offsite or social event.  Video conferencing allows employees to see and hear someone, which is much more powerful than an email.

Statistics:

The majority of people (60%) said they would be more likely stay with their company longer if they had more friends. It further breaks down like this: Gen Z (74%), Millennials (69%), Gen X (59%) and baby boomers (40%). Home office obviously limits the amount of exposure that an employee has with their colleagues thus limiting their potential to make friends at work.

Keep these statistics in mind.  Finding ways to keep your employees engaged with the company is essential.  Sharing these statistics with employees and openly addressing ways to manage these concerns or combating these fears with employees, may be the most effective way of developing a plan so that companies can retain their top employees.

Farewell,

Mike