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We are excited to announce that we will be taking a short vacation break. For the next two weeks, we will be disconnecting from the digital world and enjoying some much needed rest and relaxation. Oh, and these hypothetical figures account for increased utility bills and food at home, in case you were about to bust out a “well, actually” in response. Yes, reducing the commute also means having more money in the bank. Many like to make the conversation about remote work black or white— either everyone is in the office, or everyone is remote. Rebecca Knight is currently a senior correspondent at Insider covering careers and the workplace.
In order to build your case to continue working remotely, it’s important to understand why the organization wants to bring you back. What if your company wants you back in the office soon – but you want to make a case to stay at home? Whatever your work situation is, staying home half the time presents multiple opportunities to save some cash.
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That way if your supervisor leaves, or another pandemic hits, you’ll have written proof that flex-time is an aspect of your work. You can reach overseas clients at odd-hours without needing access to office resources. Once you have an idea of company policy, you may get an idea of how your needs can fit into their existing structure.
We are expanding at a fast pace, and that means there are new employees in customer-facing roles. In the US and EU, we asked all employees with a weak immune system to start working from home immediately. Those without a fragile immune system were encouraged to WFH if they felt sick or near someone who was ill.
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A pilot is a low-risk way to see this kind of arrangement is doable. Talk to HR about implementing a new workplace policy, or form a small group of colleagues to investigate how other organizations successfully handle remote workers. As Aida’s new boss (we’ll call her, Jane) had plenty of experience with remote teams, she wasn’t intimidated by the idea of Aida’s move.
82 percent of the workers surveyed said they’d like to keep working remotely at least once per week after the pandemic is over. On the other hand, a slightly insignificant three percent said they’d rather forgo working remotely post-pandemic. Depending on the employer and the trust built up with the company, most employees who work remotely have the freedom to make their own schedule—as long as the work gets done.
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Control of your own work hours and visibility are important, but so is the commitment you made to your organization when you were hired. When a last-minute meeting or event pops up and you must be in the office, you can’t really tell your supervisor that this is your day to work from home. You must not only put in the hours required to do your job, but also be on-site or even elsewhere in the field if you need to be in a particular location. Aside from company requirements, federal law—watched over by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration —dictates many of these rules for us. Companies that have Human Resource departments will have these requirements on file.
Jane was a great delegator and a very strong communicator – she set up weekly touch points with Aida to set expectations and keep things on track. In addition, on the spot coaching and lots of open, direct communication was a key factor. To keep Aida “visible”, Jane required Aida to travel back to the office for 3 days a month initially.
And, in the case input is required from several peers, a group meeting can promptly be set up. When Splashtop first launched the WFH initiative in Asia, we were lucky to have access to remote software. Working from home with Splashtop software is better than taking my computer home because many resources reside on the office network, and some are limited to access from the office network. It is also safer than taking my work computer home and directly connecting via my home network. No one could imagine that a few weeks later, Splashtop and many other businesses in Asia would close their offices due to the coronavirus outbreak.
That most people are more productive when working remote compared to working in an office doesn’t factor in as much. The fact that remote workers are not visible except when meetings are called is something that most old-line managers struggle with. Your proposal should be simple and straightforward, Dillon says. Explain to your boss, “Here’s what I am thinking, here’s why, and here’s what the organization will gain.” That last point is critical. “Don’t steamroll your boss with research, but there’s no harm in using empirical evidence” to make your case more compelling. “Many managers understand that people find working from home valuable and motivating,” he says.
To employees, this means the company trusts its telecommuters to work on their own. To employees, this sends a clear signal that they have huge value to the company. GettyGen-Z has lost the art of knocking on doors or talking on the phone.
You can meet with clients in person instead of over the phone if you have a few days a week to schedule appointments. Gass recommends researching the potential cost-savings of working remotely. “A lot of companies find that they’re saving money with remote work.
To prevent this, companies must examine ergonomics as a workplace safety measure. As a business whose core product is remote access technology, Splashtop was fortunate to have access to the right technology readily. That is probably why our company was able to enable employees to work remotely quickly. We are aware that this is not the case for everyone and have decided to do something about it. Click here to find out about Splashtop's WFH initiatives during this time of crisis.
There was little she could do to convince him she could be trusted to work from home. This means they worked at least half the time from home on average over the previous four weeks. So as well as full-time remote workers, a lot of people on hybrid arrangements where they spend at least half of the time at home would be covered by this.
This compares with 169,000 usually working from home pre-pandemic, a 239 per cent increase – nearly 2½ times as many. For me personally, I used to work from a cubicle that was filled with fluorescent lighting next to inoperable windows. Now, I can walk outside, work in the sunshine and fresh air, while delivering exceptional results for my company. Working one day less per week would save the company 20% in salary. “Your work is getting done and delivered, and you’ve maintained the performance standards under extraordinary conditions,” she says. Document examples of these achievements and results – perhaps you and your team delivered a project earlier than expected, or with results that beat goals, for example.
Depending on your employer and manager, there may be other scenarios where it's appropriate to bring in personal reasons for your request. Also, you'll have a better outcome if you go into a conversation and involve the other person's input in the decision, rather than going in demanding they accommodate you living somewhere else. Come to the table explaining why find your current work meaningful and you'd like to stay with the company, why it makes sense for your employer to keep you on in a remote capacity, and what you're willing to do to make the arrangement work. For one, some employers, including Facebook, have a policy to pay their employees market rate based on where they live.
