How Can Allowing Staff To Work From Home Improve My Business?

Using the latest technology, and updating your attitudes and work practices, can mean that remote working saves your business money while improving results

- Nik Rawlinson

The Office for National Statistics has been counting home workers since 1998, and its latest set of figures – for the first quarter of 2014 – set a new record. One in ten of the UK working population (that’s around 4.2million people) now works from a home desk or kitchen table, and as the technology that links us together improves that number will continue to increase.

There are many reasons why this is an excellent thing for employers as well as employees: it helps you retain high-quality staff and attract the best employees, and if you get things right then the output should even be of higher quality. If you haven’t already, start thinking about home working as a business benefit rather than a staff perk. Supported with the latest communication technology, it can improve your bottom line in ways you might not have imagined.

Case by case application

Not every job is suited to home working, but it’s surprising just how many are. From telesales to finance, from IT support to programming, there may well be a business case for moving to a mix of home/office working or even shifting the job permanently out of the office. After all, remote desktop sharing means you can provide tech support without ever visiting a colleague’s desk.

This is borne out by the ONS figures, in which almost three quarters (73.4%) of home workers were in some of the highest skilled roles in the economy, including managers, professionals and associates.