The COVID pandemic has caused many companies to embrace remote work with a sense of uneasiness, but working from home has successfully become the norm in less than 24 months. 54% of employees have even said that they want to continue working from home post-COVID. What is making remote work so appealing to the workforce?
Many employees have found that working from home boosts productivity and motivation compared to coming to the office five days a week. 87% of employees say they have the right technology at home to accomplish the same work they do at the office, and 77% say they have a proper workspace at home to stay productive. 68% of employees even state that they believe they can work with reduced interruptions, while 64% feel motivated to do their work at home. Employee wellbeing has also improved after the workforce started working from home, with a job satisfaction increase of 57%. Work-from-home employers have also experienced more dollars saved from overhead costs and expenses thanks to people working from home. For example, $11,000 are saved per employee for halftime remote work and $22,000 for full time. Working from home can result in $700 billion in total national savings in a single year as well. As a result, employees are able to save thousands of dollars in personal finances every year.
With so many benefits being gained by working from home, what problems could arise? Unfortunately, employers are experiencing growing pains from remote work due to a rising lack of trust in the work ethic of their employees. 85% of employers have expressed doubt in their leadership pipelines, while 48% of employees believe the amount of trust between employers and employees have altered since the start of the pandemic. This has caused an increase in micromanagement that has negatively affected remote work. 68% of employees have experienced lower morale, while employers have seen a 50% drop in productivity due to excessive micromanaging.
Although micromanaging has disrupted the trust between employers and work-from-home employees, there are ways for employers to rebuild that trust. Some of the solutions include encouraging employees to be transparent about their needs while at work and investing in automation that will allow open lines of communication to help save time and money. AI programs are able to enhance remote work by assisting with major management practices without practicing excessive micromanagement.
By building the right kind of trust between employers and remote employees, peak performance can be obtained even while working from home.