Will your employees work from home? 3 quick tips to get started.

As Canadian real estate prices rise, young people move further away from urban cores, taking their talent with them. After exploring the potential of working from home, they have learned how to use the technology to continue using their highly desired skills while achieving a better work-life balance. These young people give many businesses an ultimatum: allow us to work from home or lose us from your talent pool.

The topic of remote work has been brought up by nearly every company and industry; even schools are looking to move more lessons online so the next generation may expect to have the option of remote work. So while companies may be hesitant to make the move, e-learning, new technology, and recent events are bringing these discussions to the forefront of business.

Teleworking has undisputed benefits to employers, such as reducing overhead costs with less office space required, and increased employee loyalty. So how do you track productivity and ensure employees are making the most of their time when you don’t see them every day?

1. Set clear expectations

Employees will need to know what flexibility is being offered. Do you still want them to do 9-5 or are you allowing them true flex time? Will office visits still be required or will meetings be done via chat/video apps? Will the company be covering any costs like utility bills or consumables?

2. Keep Communications Open

Decide how you will be communicating when workers are out of the office. Are you going to use a chat app or the telephone? How often do workers check in or will you use existing software in place of a visual or timecard check-in and staff meetings (i.e. how do they indicate when they have started the day)?

3. Trust your staff

While this is obviously easier for employees who have been with you for a long time, it’s a good idea to show your employees that you trust them to take this step of working remotely. You already know what they can accomplish and that should be a good baseline for how to gauge how effective they are working out of the office.

Are you ready for employees to work remotely? Companies like NextDimension Inc. work with organizations to build networks that maximize user productivity and fortify information. If you need help getting ready for an out-of-office workforce, give them a call at 519-945-2032.