How Telecommuting Can Improve Employees' Morale
If you're an experienced business owner or manager – or even one that's just starting out in the business world – you no doubt realize the importance of good employee morale. After all, only workers who are satisfied with their jobs are truly motivated to continue performing at a high rate of productivity or, even better, to increase their productivity rates.
So the question is, how do you improve employee morale? Although it may not be intuitively obvious, one of the most effective means of creating a positive attitude on the part of your employees is by allowing them to telecommute. No, it's not what you think – you're not giving them license to fool around on company time. In fact, just the opposite is true. Many studies now report that workers who are given the opportunity to work remotely are actually more productive than their office-dwelling coworkers!
Here are just a few ways that telecommuting can improve your employees' morale:
If you don't feel entirely comfortable with telecommuting, you can always use employee monitoring software to keep track of how your workers spend their time. There are plenty of products to choose from. Just make sure that your workers know if you try employee Internet monitoring. These products are often called "spyware" and for good reason. Using employee monitoring software without your workers' knowledge will destroy whatever trust you've worked hard to build. If you choose to do so, you might consider issuing company computers to your remote employees so you can use employee Internet monitoring to view how your employees are spending their time.
So the question is, how do you improve employee morale? Although it may not be intuitively obvious, one of the most effective means of creating a positive attitude on the part of your employees is by allowing them to telecommute. No, it's not what you think – you're not giving them license to fool around on company time. In fact, just the opposite is true. Many studies now report that workers who are given the opportunity to work remotely are actually more productive than their office-dwelling coworkers!
Here are just a few ways that telecommuting can improve your employees' morale:
Allows them to have a more flexible schedule, giving them more time for family. If you have employees with young children, it's particularly important to allow them to have time to devote to their growing families. Having the chance to work at home can cut down on child-care costs as well.
Demonstrates your faith in their ability to do a good job no matter where they're working. Letting your workers know that you trust them enough to feel confident that they'll still do a good job even if they're not working within the confines of the office will actually encourage your employees to live up to your expectations.
Increases employee loyalty to their manager and the company. Make no mistake about it – your workers will very much appreciate being given the opportunity to telecommute, even if it's only on a part-time basis.
Results in greater job satisfaction. We all know that there's almost nothing more satisfying than a job well done. But when a worker is given the chance to prove that he or she can do a good job on his or her own, that satisfaction is all that much greater!
If you don't feel entirely comfortable with telecommuting, you can always use employee monitoring software to keep track of how your workers spend their time. There are plenty of products to choose from. Just make sure that your workers know if you try employee Internet monitoring. These products are often called "spyware" and for good reason. Using employee monitoring software without your workers' knowledge will destroy whatever trust you've worked hard to build. If you choose to do so, you might consider issuing company computers to your remote employees so you can use employee Internet monitoring to view how your employees are spending their time.
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