And, what a topsy-turvy year it has been indeed. As the global pandemic continues to create a massive impact upon our daily lives, in and out of work, society has had to come to terms with our “new normal,” at least for the time being.
A silver-lining to it all is that technology has taken significant strides over the past 12 months, rushing to meet the demands of remote workers throughout the world. We’re seeing major shifts in the way that small, medium and even large businesses handle their day-to-day operations that are sure to create long-term effects.
Microsoft Allows Employees to Work From Home Permanently
A prime example would be a corporation as big as Microsoft, now allowing its employees to work from home permanently if they so choose.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged all of us to think, live, and work in new ways,” explained Kathleen Hogan, Microsoft’s chief people officer, in a memo directed at employees. “We will offer as much flexibility as possible to support individual workstyles while balancing business needs and ensuring we live our culture.”
This overhaul of major working environments, such as Microsoft’s, is sure to have a ripple effect throughout the economy in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While a vaccine is seemingly on the horizon, many companies will now have to weigh the pros and cons of renting or purchasing office space when employees have already implemented the technologies and practices of working from home across the world for most of the year.
Remote Work Before The Pandemic
Before the pandemic had even hit, 4.7 million people were already working remotely, according to the US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics, signally that the slow transition to remote work had already begun pre-COVID. In fact, within just the United States, remote work has risen 173% between 2005 and 2018, proving that the work from home lifestyle has, in fact, been steadily increasing as far back as the early 2000s.
Does Remote Work Increase Job Satisfaction?
A question that we must all ask ourselves is a simple one, does remote work make employees happier? A study done by Amerisleep found that 80% of remote workers experience less stress and are 57% more likely to express job satisfaction with their career. A Staples workplace survey found that 90% of employees believe that allowing flexible work schedules would significantly increase workplace morale.
Overcoming Challenges Through Technology
Inherently, especially for those not already used to remote working conditions, some challenges must be overcome when transitioning to productive remote work operations. For communication and collaborative efforts, we will all need to restructure our thought processes regarding face-to-face interactions.
We implore businesses to utilize the copious amounts of technology, services, and applications at their disposal to create a vibrant, technologically-enriched working environment, even when employees are miles apart.
Team management and communication software such as Monday, Slack, and many more are transitioning from fun communication forms into necessary and effective business collaboration tools. Zoom and Google Meet are becoming our primary sources of face-to-face interaction, yet productivity holds, business goes on, and companies continue to grow.
Here at M&H Consulting, it is our passion to assist you in any way possible, whether that is in-office or work from home. Our goal is to empower your business through technology, no matter where you work from.
Categorised in: Business Transformation, Digital Age, remote employees, remote work, remote workers