Has the time come for the SMB Market (the SMB market as we refer to it is generally seen as businesses with less than 1000 employees) to embrace Telecommuting? At Creative Consultants Group we believe it has and we have the technology, the products, and the expertise to help the SMB market achieve the goals of saving money, become greener, and growing their business.
But that is easy to say for us. The real questions as to why you should want it in your business are: how is it going to better serve my customers, how will it save my business money, what are the benefits of promoting my business as being “Green”, how will I implement it, and how will I manage my workers effectively?
How will it better serve your customers?
Several aspects of Telecommuting research indicate that employing Teleworkers will help you better serve your customers. One of the most important aspects is that Teleworkers are 15% to 45% more productive than their office counter parts. More productive workers means better handling of the needs of your business that in turn should equate to better customer service. After all, if the needs of your customers are being handled faster and more efficiently then your customer will be happier.
Other aspects that affect customer service are less absenteeism, happier employees, and attracting better talent. All which are given facts of telecommuting studies from numerous sources. If your employees are at work more, happier, and you can attract top talent then I can guarantee you your customers will be better served.
How will it save my business money?
Depending on your current technology infrastructure there will be definite investments that need to be made to implement telecommuting in your business. But the returns are many and they are very measurable. So how will it save you money? The list below is a brief listing of the tangible savings.
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Area For Potential Savings
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Details
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Annual Savings Per Employee
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Flexible Work Arrangements
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Businesses lose money when employees feel obligated to be in the office. By allowing workers to work from home businesses can cut absenteeism and other associated costs.
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$2,000
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Real Estate / Facilities Costs
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Not having to provide space and supporting services such as electricity HVAC, cleaning, and maintenance costs for your business saves you a lot of money. At an annual average cost of $15 per an employee in a 12 x 12 space the cost alone of the space is $2,160 not taking into account electricity and other support service.
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$3,000
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Employee Loyalty and Morale
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Flexible schedules ranks higher than compensation for most employees and decreases employee turnover. If employees leave you have training cost, replacement costs, and lost productivity
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$2,500
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Full Time Teleworkers
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Remote workers are typically paid less on average and do more work. They typically pay for their own internet and electricity to do their work. Telework is seen as a benefit by most employee surveys. They can even supply their own computers which is becoming a bigger trend in all businesses.
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$5,000
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Commuting Hurts Productivity
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Average daily commute of 40 minutes equates to eight working weeks per year. Plus teleworkers work more time than their office bound counter parts.
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$2,000
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Environmental Impact
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Working from home one day a week saves 78 gallons of gas per year. For full time teleworker pay can be reduced by that cost annually and justified. A full time teleworker on average will save 390 of gas per year. That equates to a reduction of almost 4 tons of carbon dioxide per year per an employee. Additionally by reducing the need to build more buildings we are in turn saving more of the environment.
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$1,072
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Average Savings for Teleworker In SC*
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$15,572
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*Based on information from the Telework Research Network – Telework Savings Model which has been cited in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, USA Today, and Harvard Business Review amongst many others. The model uses census and economic data to estimate the average real savings per teleworker. This model includes savings from lower turn-over, less absenteeism, and increased productivity. Data can be calculated by US, individual states, and individual counties. Source: http://undress4success.com/
What are the benefits for promoting my business as being “Green”?
Besides the obvious cost savings with telecommuting, there are other ways that being “Green” can help improve your bottom line. Promoting your business as being “green” is desirable in today’s more eco-centric world. Customers are willing to pay more for “Green” products and services. Their perception of businesses that are “Green” is better than businesses that are not. Just ask the likes of IBM, Cisco, GE, and Wal-mart just to name a few; alll are companies that have reaped greater profits from promoting themselves as “Green” businesses.
Another added benefit of being "Green" is that eco-aware workers are becoming more prevalent in the work place. They seek to work for businesses with “Green” practices.
So if bigger profits, more customers, and better talent make sense to you and your business the benefits of going “Green” and promoting it to your customers and employees makes good business sense.
How will I implement it?
So how will you implement in yur business to insure connectivity, productivity, and security? That is what Creative specializes in for the SMB market. We are experts at providing the technologies from a single integrated source that are necessary to allow your workers to telecommute seamlessly and safely. The technologies needed vary but typically include: VoIP Telephone Services, SSLVPNs, Terminal/Citrix Services, VMWare, and other security related products plus managed services.
Creative has worked with many small to medium sized businesses, banks, and healthcare organizations in implementing these technologies in the most affordable ways possible. We can serve as your IT department or assist your existing staff in implementing these technologies.
We have the knowledge and expertise to design, implement, manage, and monitor all components of your infrastructure proactively to insure it keeps running 24 x 7. We can serve as your 24 x 7 help desk to assist remote workers in completing their jobs.
How will I manage my workers effectively?
One of my favorite sayings is that if you have to see an employee to manage them then you have bigger problems. I tell that to all my supervisors. The reasons are obvious. If we feel we as business owners, managers, and supervisors feel we have to see an employee to know they are working, then we have not done our job.
There are four key areas to the success of managing teleworkers that Creative can assist your business with developing. The key areas are policies/procedures, correct assessment of jobs that should be teleworker positions, managing for results, and coaching for success.
If your business has addressed all the elements of these four key areas, then managing, monitoring, and insuring your teleworkers are successful will be easy. We have a seminar on teleworking we are currently presenting quarterly that better addresses these areas in more detail. If you would like to attend please contact your account executive or our office directly.
Conclusion
While teleworking and telecommuting do not work for every business and every job position, all businesses should evaluate ways to implement this strategic advantage for positions well suited for telecommuting. So what types of jobs should you consider implementing telecommuting for within your business? Well a short list would include but is not limited to:
· Data processing
· Accounting
· Research and policy development
· Telephone-intensive tasks
· Intensive thinking and writing tasks (policies, programs, papers, etc.)
· Project-based work
· Reviewing cases
· Computer-based training
The benefits, cost savings, and increase in profitability if properly managed and implemented are undeniable. As we progress in the early part of the 21st century, your competitors will adopt telecommuting as a strategic advantage to lower costs, hire/retain employees, and increase profits through “Green” marketing. Being ahead of the curve now will allow your business to gain a competitive advantage. Waiting until later to do so will eventually become a competitive disadvantage. Certainly any business in need of more space or that could move to more affordable space if they implemented this strategy should put telecommuting at the forefront of consideration for implementation.
If you are interested in learning more about how Telecommuting can save money for your business contact Creative Consultants Group today to arrange a no cost evaluation or to sign up for one of our seminars to learn more. Creative can be contacted by calling 1-888-293-4224 or via the contact page on our website.