Remote working teams in Hertford

The benefits of co-working spaces have been well documented for freelancers, solopreneurs and small businesses, and now larger companies are beginning to see how remote working at business office hubs can also help them recruit and retain staff.

Remote working has been a popular option for staff members for a number of years. Companies like Cisco have found that flexible working results in greater employee engagement as well as cost savings in terms of commuting time – not to mention extra travelling time lost in terms of delays and strikes.

Remote working is so popular that some companies have created their business around it. For Travel Counsellors, using staff working from home or their own office space is a fundamental part of their hugely successful business model.

Widening the talent pool

In fact, by taking away the need to travel into a central office, you can increase the amount of talent you can attract to your company. Instead of looking at a talent pool within a defined commuting time, you can extend your search to people living anywhere in the country – or the world! This exponentially increases the chances of getting the right person for the job, rather than the best of the smaller pool of people who are geographically close enough to travel into your office on a daily basis.

An additional benefit is that remote workers tend to be more engaged with their company. In a recent blog for SmallBusiness.co.uk, one MD said his company had seen a “huge drop” in absenteeism since introducing remote working, with a consequent rise in productivity.

Co-working solutions

Remote workers who are based in co-working office spaces enjoy a number of benefits which they wouldn’t have if they were solely working from home.

• A professional meeting room – co-working spaces have meeting rooms for hire, so if your remote worker needs to organise a business meeting, they won’t necessarily have to meet in cafés or hotels, and will always have access to WiFi, screens, white boards etc.
• Fewer distractions – a lot of people who work from home find that it can be very distracting. On the other hand, working in a co-working space, surrounded by other professionals, has been found to encourage a significant increase in motivation and productivity.
• Networking – your remote workers will be surrounded by other professionals doing a wide variety of work. The natural networking opportunities working with people this presents could benefit your business in terms of collaboration, advice and new business possibilities.

Cost savings for you

There are significant cost savings to be made in terms of head office space and overheads by companies who encourage their staff to work remotely. The American organisation Global Workplace Analytics has studied research from around the world and analysed the probable cost benefits to companies that allow their staff to work remotely:

• 38% would opt for remote working in preference to a pay rise.
• 37% would even be happy to take a pay cut of up to 10% if they could work remotely.
• Six out of ten employers have pinpointed cost savings as one of the main benefits of remote working. International corporation IBM has reported that, globally, their real estate costs fell by $50m thanks to remote working.

If members of your staff who are based in the Hertford area have expressed an interest in working remotely, click here to find out more information about The UOE Hub, a co-working space offering great value for money, high-speed WiFi, a meeting room and a host of other benefits.