Could The Office As We Know It Soon Be Obsolete?
More employees are working from home than ever before, thanks to a surge in the number of businesses willing to embrace flexible and remote working policies.
The benefits of remote working for both businesses and individuals have been highly publicised in recent years, with early adopters citing everything from an increase in productivity to an improvement in staff retention as reasons to wave goodbye to traditional working hours.
With the number of flexible workplaces on the rise, the most talented of workers are becoming increasingly choosy when it comes to finding a new role at a new organisation. As a result, many forward-thinking companies are realising that in order to attract and retain top talent, they must move with the times and allow employees to tailor their working hours around their lifestyles.
And so a cycle is perpetuated. With more and more companies introducing flexi-time, businesses are having to compete with one another – striving to offer workers more benefits than their competitors.
For this reason, it’s easy to see how the office as we know it could one day become obsolete, with companies battling it out to be seen as the most innovative workplace.
Remote working can also have tremendous rewards for the company’s finances too, allowing employers to slash the costs commonly associated with managing and maintaining an office environment.
However, if the office does in fact become obsolete within the next couple of decades, is this an entirely positive move?
Back in 2012, one study showed that workers were optimistic about the future of flexible working, with almost three quarters (71%) of workers believing that millions of employees will work from home or other remote locations by 2036.
However, many of those who responded to the survey also raised concerns that if the office does become obsolete and employees have no choice but to work from home rather than in an environment surrounded by their colleagues, this could result in feelings of isolation. 54% of respondents believed they’d never meet any other members of their team and 39% said they’d find work less enjoyable if they were unable to collaborate in person.
The research suggests that employers and workers alike can benefit from a mix of remote and office-based work. The benefits that come with having the freedom to choose one’s hours are almost undeniable, but social interaction and collaboration with colleagues can have benefits too.
If you do decide to adopt a remote working policy in your workplace, embracing the right technology can make a substantial difference to your employees’ productivity and job satisfaction. From creating a thorough cyber security strategy to introducing cloud-based tools for storing corporate data, there are plenty of things you can do to make flexible working a seamless process.
Please get in touch with the team at Prism to find out how we can help you reap the benefits of remote working and flexible hours.