Why You Should Trust Your Employees

Oftentimes we find ourselves hearing things about work culture that do not make much sense.

But every once in a while, we come across stuff that straight up makes no sense whatsoever and, somehow, we still manage to ignore it in order to preserve our hard-earned sanity.?

Today, we’ll dissect one of the most baffling phrases we’ve ever heard about remote work:

“If you work from home, then how can we make sure you are really working?”?

It and its many variants stand as a modern classic amongst the more–let’s call it–“vintage” managerial types; those old-fashioned folks used to the way things were for decades before our time.?

Honestly? You really can’t blame them for this mindset.

It has been ingrained into the work culture for plenty of time, more than enough to be considered–by many–as the de facto workstyle standard.

The ties, the suits, the rigid 9-to-5; the unrealistic demands for time and space exclusivity to the company. All things tried and true to the classic, anachronical ways of a 1987 office building.

But these are not the 80s anymore, and it’s time to come to terms with change.

Recessions happened. Covid happened. The Great Resignation happened.

Remote work happened.

What once was a very niche working situation for highly specialized individuals became the new standard starting with the 2020 pandemic.

However, despite the success stories of literally millions of digital nomads across the globe, with tons of companies quickly adopting and adapting to the work-from-home disposition, there still is a surplus of unbelievers when it comes to remote work’s staying power.

So, remote work…

Is it more effective?

Well, yes it is. Demonstrably so. According to a survey conducted by ConnectSolutions, over 77% of remote workers that were allowed to work from home showed an increase in their daily productivity.

That’s already an astounding number for any statistic, but for productivity, this represents multi-million dollar benefits to companies and industries as a whole.

The secret message being uncovered by this statistic is that the cost of having and maintaining a physical, brick-and-mortar office building is actually kind of bleeding companies dry.

Even though it’s really nice to have nifty little offices with a view, the massive expense that comes with it is just not worth it.?

We now know telecommuting is more efficient, but how does it actually feel to work from home?

How do workers feel about it?

For employees, remote work is just better.

For an absolute myriad of reasons, the WFH workstyle is more suited for the comfort of workers than the in-office way. This seems to ring true for most sectors and industries in the workforce.

One of the key benefits reported by remote workers is, perhaps, where the heart of productivity lies: commuting, or the lack thereof.

When looking for a job, a key aspect that drives your potential interest in the position is where the company is located. Why? Because you’d have to drive, walk or take the train to get there every day. And do it again to come back home.?

This represents –at the very least– a couple of hours of wasted time every single day. Time that could be translated to work or leisure for the employee.?

Doing some quick math, the hours start stacking up.

If your office or place of business was located, let’s say, an hour away from your home, you would spend two hours a day just moving to and from work.

Two perfectly good hours, wasted every day by unnecessary commute.

Do this five times a week and you have 10 hours of unnecessarily spent and painfully unpaid time. For proportion, remember that the regular nine-to-five job consists of an 8-hour shift.

You waste over an entire day’s worth of time each week locked in a moving metal box.

If you were to use this time for working, you’d have a 6-days-a-week paycheck for a 5-days-a-week job.?

If you were to use it for leisure, you’d have 10 free hours of rest and relaxation each week, withholding your wage rate and company benefits.

By the way, moving around a big city is expensive, and that cost usually comes out of your own pocket. If we were to shift to a remote situation, where expensive daily transportation wouldn’t be required, the money originally destined for gas and tolls could be saved instead.

By working from home you would be, effectively, earning more money and wasting less time.

Also, many workers claim to focus better on their tasks while working in the comforting environment that is their home.

So yes. It’s better and it feels good.

Is it perfect? Obviously not

Of course, there are tricky bits to every situation, and remote working is not the exception.

Relearning is hard work sometimes, that is no secret.?

Nevertheless, it most certainly can be done.?

Putting a little extra effort into onboarding teams and service providers into the new work-from-home age can be seen as a bit of a hassle at first, but it will bring unparalleled productivity and efficiency to any company.

Miscommunication is one of the core preoccupations management has to face with newly dispersed work teams, and with good reason.

Most people aren’t instinctively accustomed to communicating with people in an exclusively online environment, and that’s fine.?

The important thing is learning how to be as expressive and communicative online as you are in the real world.

A poor flow of information can lead to the quick demise of an otherwise healthy and robust team.?

Even if we are the biggest fans of remote work, we too are the first to acknowledge its drawbacks. The ease of communication that sharing a physical space conveys is unparalleled, therefore it’s vital for newly transitioning teams to learn how to over-communicate to avoid any nasty misunderstandings.

Of course, we can’t ignore the fact that human beings are very individual, nuanced creatures with diverging tastes and preferences.

As hard as it is for us to imagine, there are people that rather go to work in an office building. They exist. Also, even if it’s a happening that grows rarer by the day, for some things you just need to be within arm’s reach of your coworkers. We understand that.

However, these are fringe situations. We know for a fact that for most situations capable of arising in the professional world, remote work is the more solid option.

It isn’t always the answer, but it usually is.

Why should Managers care?

Managers and business executives know these facts, yet are still wary of letting their employees telework indefinitely, often citing their inability to track and check the worker’s every move.

Now, there are a few logical flaws to this thinking, the first one being that they–the managers–are able to know 100% of what goes on with their employees all day, every day.?

Not only is this as deranged and futile as business actions go, but is also impossible to apply in any reasonable work situation.

What it does show, regardless, is a complete lack of employer-employee trust.?

It truly is a thought worthwhile to ponder: why question a worker’s efficacy, if the results delivered have been proven to be more than sufficient??

Well, it really depends on whom you’re talking to. But to us, the answer is clear.

Trust your workers.?

You’re the one who hired them, after all.

What would you be worried about if you were the manager of a remote team?