in: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/253426
The Biggest Work Trend You're
Unintentionally Ignoring
CONTRIBUTOR
Former
Journalist, Current PR Guy (wielding an MBA)
DECEMBER 3, 2015
It may not come as a surprise to many readers of Entrepreneur.com that last year the London
Business School projected
that by 2020 up to 50 percent of workers will be working remotely a majority of
the time.
What might be a bit more astonishing, however, is a recent survey by FlexJobs and WorldatWork which found
that only 3 percent of the organizations surveyed were actually
trying to quantify the return on investment for job flexibility or remote work.
"That's shocking to me, because
it says loudly and clearly that employers and management believe
flexible work only benefits the employee; they don't even think it will
benefit the broader organization," Sara Sutton Fell, CEO and founder of FlexJobs, said of the survey's findings. "If management valued
it, they would be tracking and monitoring it."
The CEO went on to point out that remote work was
already happening widely -- if not formally.
"Employees are working from home," she said.
"They're working during their commute. They're working on their
smartphones, mobile devices and tablets. [Remote work] might be 5, 20 or 100
percent of their job, but the vast majority of companies don't have a formal
process or method in place to track the value of remote work."
According to the study, top management tends to be
more of a barrier than middle management, and often acts as an obstacle to
telework programs. The reasons for this resistance? The top reasons given by
more than half of the organizations surveyed included:
·
Some jobs are not
conducive to flex time or remote work (54 percent).
·
Part-time
schedules are a confounding variable (53 percent).
·
Lack of expressed
interest from employees is an obstacle (39 percent).
·
Phased retirement
is a barrier (38 percent).
Despite these expressions of reluctance, companies would
be wise to acknowledge the beneficial opportunities remote work poses
for any organization willing to formalize it for employees.
"There are obvious short- and long-term economic
benefits for employers of remote workers," Sutton Fell pointed
out. "Things such as smaller office space, lower utility costs or
back-office overhead are all examples of savings that can easily be
realized from a flexible work model."
Beyond expense reductions, another key advantage is
the ability to maximize access to quality talent regardless of market rates or
geography. "Whether you're in a rural area or in a
highly competitive talent market, such as San Francisco, you can access
high-quality, affordable talent even if you don't have a large, deep pool of
candidates locally," the FlexJobs founder said.
Obviously, not every job is or should be eligible for
100 percent remote work. Regardless, savvy companies will
recognize that building a path to accommodate remote workers
might actually be a road to their future success.
