How to Use Work from Anywhere to Your Company's Advantage A scattered workforce nightmare may be the best opportunity to pivot, restructure, save on overhead, and implement strategies for expansive growth.
By Adam Horlock Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Coming out of the pandemic, the workforce for many companies is scattered across the country with work from anywhere changing the nature of work. As a result, millions in the labor force who are working from home want options for a hybrid work model. Many in the labor force are permanently relocating to other cities and states away from the corporate headquarters or regional offices of the company. As a result, it is difficult for many companies to continue to retain top talent.
For employers, what may seem like a workforce nightmare may be the best opportunity to pivot, restructure, save on overhead, and implement strategies for expansive growth.
Use work from anywhere to the company's advantage
Many businesses are eliminating larger office space. Currently, the greatest office space demand is meeting space and shared workspaces that are quickly accessible and configured for individual work or team collaboration, huddles, and meetings. While many businesses are downsizing and renovating their current space to new layouts, others are eliminating space altogether, and not renewing leases for current offices.
Related: Is Working from Home Here to Stay?
In determining where physical office and meeting space is needed, many businesses should research utilizing most, if not all, of their office space into a national brand of coworking /shared workspace offices, especially one that offers unlimited access to meeting room space nationwide. In doing so, having a need for additional office space or satellite offices is significantly reduced or eliminated altogether. This would also allow for fast, efficient flexibility to open new physical or virtual office space in new markets as needed or to support a growing remote workforce. All while significantly reducing overhead, and expenses such as utility bills, purchasing office furniture, property management costs, among other costs.
Add a coworking membership to the employee's compensation
For the remote workforce separated from the corporate headquarters, consider adding a coworking membership to a national coworking/shared workspace provider to the employee's compensation. Many companies are already utilizing this practice, and many remote workers are taking advantage of separating work and home life while working remotely. In doing so, many companies can use this advantage to recruit top remote talent across the country to where the potential employee has office space across the country to work from when needed. It also offers flexibility to add additional talent in a particular market without a large overhead.
Related: 10 Tips From CEOs on Working From Home Effectively and Happily
If possible, companies should seek to make the shared workspace look and feel more like it is the company's space than a coworking space - ask the coworking management team to place the company's name, logo, and any other branding elements into the workspace if possible. In doing so, while separated from the company, the remote workforce feels a part of an office structure. In addition, there are several opportunities in a shared workspace to work with other businesses and industries, and leverage those relationships for networking and referral opportunities, potential new vendors for the business, and other advantages.
Have all remote employees join local business networking groups
Remote work has limitations, and one of the greatest limitations is not collaborating and networking with other colleagues and businesses who can offer advice, referrals, and support in a local or regional market. While working remotely, one way to overcome this is for the remote workforce to join as many local business networking groups as possible, even if joining remotely via a video conferencing platform. Most continue to offer either in-person or virtual attendance, and this is a great way for the remote workforce to contribute to their companies. In addition, consider making attendance, either virtual or in-person, to as many industry events and conventions as possible. The more the remote workforce can get involved at a local, state, and national level makes it feel less remote and more interconnected. Given that almost every industry event now has a remote/virtual attendance aspect, most can attend and participate in more events and networking groups than ever before.
Remote and hybrid work is likely to remain in place for some time, and employers can use this to better recruit talent nationwide, rethink their current overhead, and overall become more flexible and adapt to an ever-changing business environment. Those that innovate the most will likely succeed in the need for recruiting and retaining the best talent.
