It’s no surprise that working in an office comes with its fair share of distractions, with 70% of employees saying they’re distracted at work — and the top distraction? Chatty coworkers.
If you were to break down how many of the eight hours each day employees solidly worked, you’d realise that a day in the office isn’t as productive as you first thought.
If you’re torn between wanting to make your employees happy and making sure your business still runs as productively as possible, this guide weighs up the benefits of working from home for employers against the drawbacks, and covers what belongs in a working from home policy..
Key Takeaways
- Happier staff and measurably higher productivity are the two benefits of working from home for employers that the evidence supports most clearly.
- The disadvantages of working from home sit mostly around visibility. Measuring output is harder when you cannot see the work happening.
- Working from home productivity holds up when expectations are written down and reviewed. Without that, managers are guessing.
- Since April 2024, UK employees can request flexible working from their first day. You do not have to agree, but you do have to handle the request reasonably.
Are employees happier working from home?
Employees seem to be much happier working from home than in the office. The Global Work-Life Survey found that 65% of remote workers were “extremely satisfied” with their jobs. And only 34% of office-based employees said the same.
Working at home can help employees create a better work-life balance. No commute means saving both time and money, and virtual work means you can control your working environment completely. Music if you want it, silence if you need it, no unnecessary coworker distractions — the list goes on.
Working from home productivity: are employees more productive?
We’ve already established that working from home makes employees happier. But there’s more. A study done by the University of Warwick found that happy employees were 12% more productive. So aside from lifting the mood of your staff, you’re also improving productivity across the company.
Productivity is what’s going to help you compete in your industry. Employees can complete work in less time, improving efficiency, giving you a competitive advantage, and boosting the bottom line. Everyone wins.
How to ensure the productivity of employees working from home
One of the main disadvantages of working from home, from an employer's perspective, is losing sight of what people are actually getting done. Here are some tips that can help you measure remote employee productivity.
Set clear expectations
In your remote working policy, ensure you set out your expectations clearly. For example, do you expect them to be contactable via email or through your Slack channels between core hours? And clearly define targets and goals for each team member to work towards. Without clear expectations, staff aren’t working toward the same team goals, so make it a priority to measure progress this way. It's also worth pointing your team towards practical guidance on how to work from home effectively, so their habits and your expectations line up from the start.
Invest in project management tools
When managing employees remotely, you need a way everyone can communicate and collaborate effectively from anywhere. These tools can help you better manage resources, plan and schedule tasks, track progress, and more.
Market-leading tools include:
- Trello
- Asana
- Monday
- Slack
Get feedback from employees
The best way to learn about what's broken in your remote working process is to ask employees for honest feedback. You want to know what you can improve upon across the organisation, from management to individual team members.
Should your company offer remote working?
Job flexibility matters to the vast majority of employees. Four in five UK workers (80%) say flexible working has improved their quality of life, and around 1.1 million left a job in the past year because they couldn't get it. So if you’re looking to attract top talent and retain your current employees, offering remote working is worth considering.
Although it's your decision whether to offer remote working to your employees, it's important you're aware of the new flexible working law that came into force in the UK in April 2024. This new law enables employees to request flexible working conditions from day one of employment.
Flexible working can include:
- Part-time working
- Compressed hours
- Remote working
And even though you don't have to grant their requests, you must handle requests in a reasonable manner.
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