The benefits of remote working

Ben Treleaven, Managing Director, discusses the benefits of remote working after a year of organisations adapting for the pandemic. Is it here to stay and what are the benefits?

“The pandemic and the last 16 months or so has changed every aspect of our lives and turned the world on its head. Now before the pandemic, plenty of people worked from home. But now it seems to be the norm and with more and more people realising the benefits of flexible or ‘hybrid working’, will people ever want to go back? And how has this changed the way we do business? 

Down in Truro, you’ll find ISO Spaces. Somewhere we’ve been able to benefit is within recruitment despite operating from Cornwall. Pre-pandemic, most businesses, including ours, spent time hiring local people or people living within a commutable distance to the office. The pandemic has highlighted that you don’t always need to be sitting in an office to do your job. We’ve evolved our business to suit. Staff are able to work from the office if that’s where they want to work, or from home. The way we do business means that staff are able to pick up the majority of their role using a computer. 

One of the massive benefits we’ve managed to take advantage of, is the ability to hire remote workers and see what talent lies around the country. As lovely as it is down in Cornwall, it’s not always easy to find exactly the right person you’re looking for for the job. There are a lot of wonderful and talented people here – but as it’s quite far from any city centre, a lot of people with the skills we need don’t live close enough. With technology, you’re a Teams or Zoom call away from your colleagues and some even say they’re able to get more done. We’re no longer tied to losing out on someone’s ability because they don’t live within commutable distance. We can hire them anyway and work 100% digitally. 

It also means that our staff are able to do what they need to do with regards to home-life and work around it. Something which was more difficult if they had to be in the office for a set amount of time. Work/life balance is massively important, not just for staff happiness but for our overall mental health. We need to be able to switch off and are much more productive if our mind is happy. 

That’s not to say that there’s no room for the office anymore – there absolutely is. We still have a large workforce in our Truro office. But hybrid working is becoming more popular, a mix of home and office working. And we’re delighted to be able to use the talent from all over the UK by being able to hire remotely.”

What do you think? Do you see an end to the office or will we all be back there once this is over?