Raising the spirits of the company employees can be a very expensive proposition.
Free lunches, free dry cleaning, free transportation to the office, paid vacations, and the list goes on and on.
Those perks are incredibly expensive and you still will have to pay top dollar for the talent – perks won’t decrease the payroll.
The combination of pay and those perks will be painful enough to make the CFO weep.
Let’s not talk about remodeling offices for “collaboration” and other new fads (approximately $200 per square foot see this article).
The worst part is that I cannot find any evidence that all of these expensive perks provide returns in productivity (at least that can be measured).
I know the old adage is “…the best things in life are free.” but in the case of these perks, free is the cost and the return on productivity is amazing.
Free!
Yes, these perks are free and do not require turning the corporate wallet upside down.
Remote Work
Imagine missing the daily commute with 10,000 of your closest friends. Missing those hand signals, horns, and bent fenders! Don’t forget putting yourself in danger by texting while driving – yes, I know you do it!
Imagine being able to concentrate on work without interruptions – you can get the day ended early with additional work done.
Imaging staying home with a cold that puts you off your game but you can work in your comfy clothes (or naked if you want – remember no video calls).
Imagine being able to stay home with a sick child who cannot go to school but does not need a huge amount of attention. Schools aren’t excited about a sick child in the classroom.
Imagine saving money on gas.
Imagine helping to reduce your carbon footprint by not spending an hour+ in your vehicle each way in the commute.
Imagine spending 2+ hours additional time each day with your family.
Imagine being able to make the first inning of the Little League game.
Imagine…it goes on and on.
Yes, there are some drawbacks…
Some careers don’t make it possible to work remote – think a cardiac surgeon, police officer, tree surgeon, house framer, store clerk, barista, etc.
However, many people have data-bound jobs. This is a new term I have developed for people that are location independent in their jobs.
Millions of jobs in the US are data-bound and eligible to work remote. Insurance agent, customer service agent, project manager, medical biller, a government clerk,
Building a program that has employees working 100% remote or part-time remote and you will have huge returns.
It is important to start the program slowly and I will discuss how to ease into the remote program with minimal impact.
In the next blog post, I will discuss additional perks you can provide for free – and get huge returns.