Why Work-From-Home is Not a Trend, But The Way of The Future

Flexible and adaptable are the buzz words right now, but if companies are serious about retaining experienced, talented employees, then these words need to become values, and ingrained in workplace culture.

Working from home is not a trend, it’s the way of the future.

The pandemic tipped the global workforce on its head, as millions of employees were forced to work from the safety of their homes.

As we begin to navigate the post-pandemic world, and return to some kind of normalcy, it remains to be seen whether the idea of working from home will form part of the new-look office structure.

Here in Australia at least, companies advertising vacancies are frequently using ‘flexible working arrangements’ as an incentive to secure staff in a tight market. But I question whether this will continue when there is again a steady stream of available staff.

What started as a way to keep people safe from a deadly virus now needs to be considered as a viable, and necessary part of working life.

Here at Profile Media, we were ahead of the game, with our entire team working remotely since the foundation of the business.

It not only means that we were well placed to weather the storm of the pandemic, but more than that, we’ve been working from home for long enough to tell you it’s successful.

We have staff based across multiple states, and thanks to various apps and software, we are a strong, connected team. Employees have flexibility built into their careers, offering a better work-life balance.

However, it’s not just about providing benefits to workers, the advantages for businesses too are profound;

• Retaining experienced staff: Remote working provides flexibility for both women and men who may wish to remain at home more after becoming parents. Companies also have the ability to hold onto staff who may need to move, for various reasons.
• Wider recruitment: Location is suddenly less of an issue when recruiting staff. Found the perfect candidate, but they live in another part of the state, or even on the other side of the country? Depending on the role, allowing them to work from home means they don’t necessarily need to relocate.
• Potentially less time off: The pandemic has made people hyper-aware of the need to stay away from others when they are unwell. However, the ability to work from home when a person is symptomatic but feeling well enough to work means they don’t need to take an entire day off. The same can be said for parents who need to look after a sick child.
• Cost savings: Having a portion of your staff permanently working from home means the main office can be smaller, reducing overheads. A reduction in sick days and retaining staff for longer, as previously outlined, is also good for the bottom line.

Working remotely won’t work for every profession, of course. There may also be employees who don’t want to work from home, ever, and that’s fine. But we need to move away from this attitude that work from home is an exception to the rule, or in some way ground-breaking.

In fact, for those in industries who think work from home will never apply, I would urge you to think again. They may be elements that can be done remotely, or perhaps it requires a rethink of how particular tasks are carried out.

Remember when the idea of doctors consulting over video-call was fanciful? And while remote learning throughout the pandemic has certainly thrown up its challenges, for generations of children it has also been their primary source of education, and it has worked efficiently.

Of course, there are issues associated with working from home too, including burn-out for those unable to effectively switch off, and a blurring of the lines between a person’s working life and private life. There must also be effective trust between employer and employee, to ensure neither is being taken advantage of.

But encountering problems shouldn’t be a deterrent. We as a society have been solving problems since the dawn of time, and this shouldn’t be any different.