Turn Workers into Teleworkers to Save Money

Turning your employees into teleworkers could save money for your small business.  Consider that 40% of U.S. workers hold jobs that could be done at home, at least for part of their time.  According to research reports in Undress for Success, telecommuting can result in a savings for your business in several ways:

Reduce overhead and facility costs. Fewer employees working, so less need for office space.  No need to buy that bigger office to expand; just send employees home to work. Of course, you would also save on utilities, maintenance, parking costs, and think of all those cups of coffee you wouldn’t have to buy for employees who are working at home and can get their own.

Reduce employee absenteeism. Employees who work from home don’t need to take the day off when their children are sick.  They can get to doctor and dental appointments in between assignments.

Increase employee productivity. This is related to reduced absenteeism, of course, but it is worth mentioning.  Think of it this way:  All that time spent by employees chit-chatting in the halls and at the water-cooler would be reduced significantly.

Increase employee job satisfaction, reduced turnover. While increasing employee job satisfaction may not be your goal, reduced turnover should be.  It costs a lot more to terminate and re-hire employees than to keep your current employees happy and productive.

Save money on employee pay increases. Undress for Success reports that 32% of employees would choose working from home over getting a pay increase.  Imagine that!

Sure, there are drawbacks and disadvantages to you and your business.  You have to figure out how to fairly compensate home-based workers.  You must still deal with many employee issues and data security concerns.  You must deal with employee isolation and you still have to figure out a way to evaluate employees when you can’t supervise them directly.

Global Benefits. While I’m at it, I wanted to point out the obvious benefits to the world that come from more people working from home. We can save on fuel costs, reduce our dependence on foreign fuel sources, cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from fewer commuters, and reduce wear and tear on our highways.

The sooner we figure out how to deal with some of the issues related to people working from home, we can start saving some of that money and put it back into our economy.

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