Should You Let Your Employees Work from Home?

Last year, when Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer proclaimed that employees would no longer be able to work from home, the great debate began of whether or not remote employees help or hinder business productivity. Many employers started questioning what their employees were really doing at home and if it was ultimately costing their business money.

However, Telework Coalition research showed that productivity rose 22% for those who began working remotely. Gallup also recently reported an interesting statistic that those who work remotely from time to time are over 18% more engaged than those who don’t. However, engagement steadily decreases the more time is spent off site. Be careful!

At Placers, our employees can Earn the Right to work remotely either on a one-day-a-week schedule or on occasion. We believe that if planned and executed correctly, a remote schedule is an excellent perk and incentive to help motivate employees and boost morale.

Here are a few tips for having success when offering remote work days as a perk:

Plan. Create a schedule that works for everybody. If you’re in a smaller office environment, schedule remote days so that each team is represented and not all members of one team are working from home on one particular day. Create a weekly meeting for each team so that all members are on the same page and each person is aware of their responsibilities and deadlines.

Communicate. The biggest key to ensuring that remote employment works is to have Open Book communication. At Placers, we use several tools to stay connect. From conference calling to Google Hangout, we make sure that we check in with our teams daily to provide a systematic approach to knowing what’s going on in the business and with each other.

Trust. The biggest issue with letting your employees work from home is whether or not you trust what they are actually doing behind closed doors. Some studies have shown that people do laundry, run errands, and even play video games during their remote time. If you trust your employees and they are self-sufficient, then letting them work from home should not be an issue. Be wary of giving the privilege of working remote to those who need to be closely managed or those who frequently miss deadlines.

All in all, incorporating a remote schedule into your business depends on the work environment and the culture of your company. If your team can actively communicate and trust one another to be productive in the comfort of their own home, then give it a try!