Working from home is a nice thought on a rainy Tuesday in January, isn’t it?
According to recent figures, over 1.5 million people throughout the UK agree and have swapped the office for their humble abode!
Over the last decade, the number of employees working from home has increased considerably, a trend which shows no sign of slowing down. Of the aforementioned, record-high 1.5 million employees currently working from home, approximately 900,000 are male. The number of female home-working employees represents the highest growth in the trend, increasing by 35% to around 600,000. Furthermore, a staggering 4.2 million employees split their working time between home and the office.
Two surveys, investigating the opinions of UK workers and college leavers, further emphasised the growing significance of opportunities to work from home with regard to staff recruitment and retention. Of the 1,000 workers surveyed, 90% expressed desires to work from home, outlining the importance of a healthy work-life balance. 80% of the 500 college leavers researched, listed home and flexible working opportunities as a key factor in deciding whether or not to accept a job offer.
Now that we’ve established the growing popularity of working from home; what are the benefits for employees and employers?
From an employee’s perspective, not only are they spared of the dreaded morning commute; working hours can be scheduled around other commitments such as caring responsibilities for children or other family members.
Interestingly, a number of large employers who enabled their employees to work from home experienced increases in employee productivity and decreases in absences. The productivity debate is particularly intriguing. Which is the optimum environment for productivity; an office full of chatty co-workers and supervisors keeping you in check or your own home and all the potential distractions that come with it? The fall in staff absences was attributed to a lack of opportunity for infections to spread and reduced stress levels.
While some employers are unable to discard the notion that working from home is an excuse for employees to sit in their onesies all day; others would be willing to trial such working processes but lack the necessary technical infrastructure to do so…
That’s where we come in!
Leading UK Time and Attendance Systems provider ELF Productivity offer a diverse range of solutions to facilitate employees working from home. Our award-winning Ceequel® Software Suite delivers real-time information, enabling organisations to monitor the attendance of employees working remotely. Dynamic web-based platforms, accessible from PC’s, laptops, smartphones or tablet devices are available for both employees and managers. Employee productivity can also be analysed using intelligent activity tracking software. For a free-of-charge consultation, please contact ELF Productivity.