Cornered by Corona, is that a hashtag you are looking for right now as you curl up on your bed with your laptop and log in on your office account and work remotely? Well, that is the situation with almost everyone. Just even a month ago you were not this much familiar with terms like a pandemic, coronavirus, WHO and so on and so forth. Or, even if you were familiar, you were surely not getting updated on them regularly. Logical that was. Why would you! But now, how does it feel when Work from Home is thrown your way instead of you begging your boss for one? Good to some extent, yes. But isn’t there a tinge of fear too? Putting aside the Corona threat, let us take a look at what Work From Home (WFH) has in offer for us.
What Tools You Would Need to Work from Home?
Before we move on to the advantages, let us first have a glance at the tools we can put our hands upon as we embrace WFH for the times to come.
- Internet Access
Where would you be without it? A fast and reliable internet connection is the first thing you would need for WFH. Broadband- great! Mobile hotspot? Even better!
- VPN Remote Access
To safely access the corporate resources at your office network
- Video Conferencing Applications
For ensuring a good quality meeting with your seniors or other teammates or for conducting online classes. The most popular web conferencing tools are Skype, Google Hangout, Zoom, GoToMeeting, etc.
Remote CRM Tools
- For word processing, making PowerPoint presentations, developing spreadsheets and other project management works
- Updated G Suite
So that you can connect to other employees and your team workers as well
- Cloud Telephoning Services
This will even ensure that the person on the other end does not realize that you are receiving the call from home
So, you see, cloud technology is here to make WFH a piece of cake for you. It is not a tough nut to crack anymore. Relish it!
Who Can Get to Avail WFH Facility?
Almost all service providers, barring only a few, can opt for WFH during tough times like these. Who are they? Here we have them for you:
Private sector companies, especially the multinationals having workforce distributed all over the world can easily go for this work-mode as most other countries are already facing lockdown as we speak. With video conferencing tools, it is even easier to make virtual contact with your teams, clients, associates.
Schools and universities can continue to impart knowledge in the remote process too. Students can log into the school server with their user ID and password as provided by the institute and slots will be allotted to the teachers also for a particular duration. It’s just like the classroom only without the hassle of going there and bringing forth the risk of infection. That’s how online classes go on. Even private educators of vocational courses can continue teaching their students using online classroom platforms.
If you are involved in IT and ITES sector, you are one of the first workers who can enjoy the WFH service. In fact, work-from-home jobs are growing at the fastest rate in this sector only. It is convenient for web developers, graphic designers, digital marketing professionals and content writers. You also get the maximum number of freelancers working exclusively from home from this sector and earning reasonably well!
Even though it sounds odd, medical and health services too, to some extent, can go WFH mode. Now, which works would be suitable for this? Those with the responsibility of billing, health insurance, and scheduling appointments can work remotely. Though this idea is not still widely popular here, nurses can provide phone-based services also.
Administrative workers like Business Development executives, Managers, and Assistants can work virtually as well. Even bankers can do jobs other than customer dealings from their own home setup. WFH during business hours is a plausible idea for all.
Telecommuting is a common method of working in sales. Account Executives, Marketing Manager and other associates like this involved in sales works can promote new products and follow up with the customers from their home only.
Did we leave out any job? If we did that’s because they can’t work from home as the emergency service providers. If you are not one, you are good to go with WFH.
Advantages of Work From Home
To be truthful, myriad. Let us brief you on some of them that will make you believe that WFH might be the future of working as we look at it:
- Cosiness of Home
Well, who can ignore that? Doing office work from the security and comfort of home is always unmatched.
- Flexibility
Nobody is vigilant about when you take a break or what you wear while you deal with the clients virtually. You can have your lunch anytime and wear your pyjamas for all that matters. Just that, you have to be online during the working hours and submit your deliverables on time.
- Time-saving
In order to reach your workplace by 9:30 in the morning, you need to get out at least an hour ago. Plus the time for getting ready. Plus the traffic jams. Add up all the time you can save by working from home!
- Increased productivity
Yep, true! With no distractions, you can concentrate completely on your work or the project at your hand and finish it timely too. A study by Stanford University concludes that productivity is 13% more when WFH is availed.
- Happy Employee, Happy Employer
Without being compelled to hang up on calls from family members, without being away from the children and enjoying the companionship of the close ones while working- nothing makes an employee happier! The happier they are, the better their performance and happier the employer, simple! (Psst! There is almost zero chance of quitting as you keep them happy!)
- The best- always at your service
This is particularly for employers. Location of a prospective candidate is never an issue as far as WFH is concerned. Take Toptal for example. They connect most efficient software developers across the world with top companies in a location-independent way.
- Become famous
Promoting WFH will bring you, the employer, on the front page. Amidst the corona terror, a local news channel from Kolkata initiated WFH policy and newsreaders were presenting the news from their homes. It became the talk of the town within minutes. Well, who wouldn’t like a good PR? Even during normal times, supporting WFH can make you stand out in the crowd as an employee-friendly organization. Do it. You will not regret.
- Learn more – On your own
Do you shudder at the thought of not being able to run to the tech support team while coming across an issue and not being in their vicinity? Know what you have to do when you are working from home? Google the answers. This will actually make you proactive. Also, you will find yourself composing more concise and to-the-point e-mails. Learn about your teammates’ demands more aptly. Learn and grow, dear!
- Staying focussed
Well, you may think that during WFH, the TV volume in the next room, or your children budging into your room at any point in time, etc will distract you. Yes, they will. But only for a couple of days. Focusing will be a skill of yours once you start to get the hang of it. Your working situation is more in your control. You will eventually learn to concentrate while socialising subsequently.
From the organization’s point of view
- Lean workforce
With maximum office staffs working from home, you as an employer have very little to maintain- be it office space, office snacks, electronic gadgets, electricity- everything. Fewer things to invest in, a lean-sized workforce to maintain spell only one thing- lesser overhead, more profitability.
You can see there are one too many pros of working from home. It will be only wise to invest in it as soon as possible as it assures of a bright future.
Well, what does the future look like?
Bright, of course. Employers should seriously consider making WFH the mainstream mode of working. The technology world is already a step ahead of all the sectors changing the way you had been working all these days. Though full-fledged WFH is still not a norm, it is considered every now and then. While for employers it is increased productivity and saving money, for employees it is a stress-free work-life with enjoyable amenities.
Increased numbers of employees are expressing their view and preference for working from home. The more companies come up with WFH facilities, higher will be their chances of positive employee retention. Employers are often worried about losing control over the employees as they cannot see what the latter is doing. But dear employer, at the end of the day, it is the work output that you should actually be concerned about. All you would need to do is apply a different employee appraisal policy so that the HR can monitor the employee performance online or in ways that suit the modified working method.
Some studies have also found that on the income front, freelancers are earning more than office-goers. And the gap between their earnings is anywhere between 18-23%. Along with manpower and financial commitment, increased cost of real estate is also another reason corporate companies would find it difficult to open up offices every here and there. Your workers from home, as research indicates, are less prone to ask for sick leaves too.
It will be foolish of you if you continue to ignore it. Corona or not, get geared up for WFH. Oh and know what’s best? As employees work from home, employers get to do that too! All these lead to one positive answer to the question this article starts with. Yes, work from home is, after all, the future of employment. Hallelujah!
