The rapid pace of technology advancement and the internet has brought about a new face to the workplace. Because work is now accessible anywhere with an internet connection, more and more professionals are opting for work-from-home arrangements.
Imagine that your office is your living room. You get up in the morning, take a cold shower and get straight to work. You can choose to work in your pyjamas or at your favourite cafe. The concept of working from home sounds great for workers. But is it really a better option for their employers?
When working with virtual assistants, the debate has been whether to choose between office-based or home-based. Which is better?
At Outsourcing Angel, we chose home-based because we believe that it makes for happier and more productive VAs.
Here are the reasons why:
1. Distractions
When working in an office, staff are exposed to multiple distractions all the time. There’s break room chatter, background noise, interruptions, strict policies, lunch outs and so on. A study by Udemy shows that workplace distractions affect performance, productivity, and potential of employees. With working home-based, your virtual assistants can often choose their own environment and have the freedom to eliminate distractions.
2. Productivity
Having fewer distractions will lead to staff being able to focus on quality and timely output for their employer. And eliminating travel time to and from work can also lead to less stress and more happiness. As a study from the University of Warwick found, happiness results in a 12% spike in employee productivity.
3. Work-Life Balance
Many of our staff at Outsourcing Angel are mothers and fathers who gave up corporate careers so they could spend more time with their kids. Because they have location and time flexibility, their kids get to see them more.
4. Time Freedom
Office-based employees spend more than an hour everyday commuting and that’s only for areas with low congestion. In cities like Manila in the Philippines, many people take 4 to 6 hours a day to commute to and from work. With the option to work from home, virtual staff get more time to do things that matter to them like exercise, rest or spend time with family and friends.
5. Flexibility
When you’re committed to an office, it can be very hard to operate without it. Most office-based employees are locked to one location. One research shows that 91% of human resource professionals will admit that flexibility improves morale and work satisfaction. And with flexibility, some virtual assistants can even opt to become digital nomads, travelling while working and experiencing more in life.
6. Talent Pool
When hiring office-based staff, your talent pool can be quite limited. Say for instance a VA company has an office in Manila. The people you can hire are people close to and within Manila. Whereas working with a remote set-up gives you access to anyone in the country and even around the world. The availability of an internet connection is your only real limitation.
7. Happiness
A business with a heart will always wish happiness upon their staff. Imagine what it would be like to be a company that contributes to a person’s joy. Not steal it. Well with more flexibility, work-life balance and freedom, work-from-home staff are generally given so many reasons to be happier with their work and their life.
8. Finances
Working in an office comes with expenses not just to the company but to staff as well. Spending on things like gas or eating out on a daily basis can add up. When working from home, travel and food expenses can be minimised or eliminated.
Our founder, Linh Podetti, also quit her office job nearly a decade ago in search for a better work-life-balance. Since she started Outsourcing Angel, a purely home-based business, she’s working from home. That’s why she wants to dedicate her company to help others to be able to have the same work life balance like she has.
If you’re looking to hire a productive work-from-home virtual assistant, we’d love to help you. Talk to us today.
