With the rise of remote and flexible work, employers may wonder if they should add flexible work policies.
However, many companies are concerned that without a manager physically present to keep tabs on things, employees may become less productive, harming the company in the long run.
Researchers at Harvard Business School recently published “(Live and) Work from Anywhere: Geographic Flexibility and Productivity Effects at the United States Patent Office.”
This first of its kind study looked at whether or not employees are more or less productive when allowed to live and work from anywhere.
An opportunity to measure productivity.
The researchers studied employees at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) because of their rigorous work from anywhere and work from home policies. When an employee starts at the USPTO, they must work in the office for a minimum of two years. After that time, an employee can transition to the work from home program. While working from home, employees can work remotely part of the week, but the rest of the week they must work in the office.
After two years as a work from home employee, staff can then transition to the work from anywhere program. In that program, staff can live anywhere in the United States but remain regular employees at the USPTO.
Because there is a specific timeline that employees must observe before transitioning to the next step, the researchers were able to measure and compare individual employee productivity while they worked in the office, from home, and, finally, remotely from anywhere.
USPTO employees are evaluated using the same set of metrics (how many cases they were assigned, how quickly they submitted their findings, etc.). These parameters made it easy for the researchers to measure individual productivity, no matter where the employee worked. It also allowed researchers to compare one employee’s productivity to another. The researchers could also measure how productive all employees were across all the programs (in office, work from home, or work from anywhere).
Why is flexible work important to employees?
Many employees juggle multiple life responsibilities on top of their jobs. And even employees who don’t juggle as much don’t enjoy commuting. Flexible scheduling and the ability to work remotely play a significant role in whether or not applicants accept a job offer. In fact, it’s so important to potential employees, that a 2017 study found that applicants are willing to take up to 8% less in salary to work someplace that allows flexible schedules.
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Flexibility gives employees a feeling of autonomy over their job. It is this feeling that lets staff exert more control over their life, helping them handle or even minimize work-family conflicts. That control, in turn, can result in more productive and engaged employees.
How do flexible schedules benefit employers?
Though it may seem that a flexible job only benefits the employee, remote teams benefit the employer as well.
When employees work remotely, they no longer commute to the office (or commute less frequently). As a result, there is a positive impact on the environment. During the Harvard study, the USPTO produced 44,000 fewer tons of carbon emissions.
Since there’s no office, companies also save money on rent and the associated costs of owning or renting office space. For example, the USPTO saved approximately $38.2 million on office expenses because 831 people took advantage of the remote work options during the study.
Salary is another way companies save money with flexible work policies. USPTO employees in the remote work program often move somewhere with a lower cost of living (compared to staying near the headquarters in Virginia). While technically not a raise, the decreased cost of living allows staff to have more money in their pockets without any additional expense to the USPTO. This, in turn, helps staff feel wealthier, even when there’s no salary increase.
Productivity Improvements
One reason employers might be hesitant to establish flexible work policies is the fear that staff will become less productive. Or they fear that staff will pretend to be less productive when in the office to make themselves seem more productive when they work from home or remotely.
Because this study tracked the same participants over time and throughout the different phases of the program, they were able to calculate and compare worker productivity when they worked in the office, from home, and from anywhere. For this study, worker productivity was defined as how quickly staff performed their assigned tasks and whether or not the work had to be corrected later. Staff that completed their tasks quickly and with fewer errors were rated “more productive.”
The study found that, on average, USPTO staff were 4.4% more productive when they transitioned from work from home to work from anywhere. Furthermore, they found that work from home staff are more productive than in office staff.
The study also found that staff in the work from anywhere program stay with the USPTO longer than staff who work in the office. The ability to move to a warmer or more retirement oriented location encouraged staff to retire later than those who work in the office. This career extension means the USPTO is not losing institutional knowledge with each staff retirement, allowing newer staff to learn from more experienced staff.
Keys to Success
While it seems clear that flexible work arrangements benefit both employer and employee, it’s not as easy as waving a wand and instituting a remote work policy tomorrow. To make the transition from an in office workplace to a flexible workplace, employers should consider a few key elements.
Communicate expectations.
Set clear goals and expectations for staff. Communicate clearly and concisely the metrics used to measure staff success and productivity. All staff members should have a clear understanding of what these metrics are and how they’re measured. However, these measurements should be tailored to each individual. You should not measure a three-year employee on the same metrics as a 20-year employee.
Use the right communication tools.
Require staff to use specific tools to communicate and track progress. Fortunately, there are a lot of great tools out there to help accomplish this goal. But having the tools isn’t enough. You must create a policy that mandates their use.
That said, using the tools is not about micromanaging staff. While keeping everyone updated on project progress or individual goals is important, it also doesn’t mean logging every little detail. Create a policy that outlines what should and shouldn’t be tracked in the tools and how often staff need to update their progress.
Also, as important as formal communication is, communication tools should not be limited to only work discussions. Using the tools for informal communication helps build community with a distributed staff and fosters improved teamwork and relationships.
Provide training and support.
When you do institute a flexible work policy, make sure you have a robust training plan for new staff. Or require new staff to report to the office for some time to learn the ropes and understand what they need to do to be successful at the company. Encourage them to reach out and ask questions if they’re feeling lost. This training and support are crucial to the employee’s success as well as the company’s success.
Stick to your commitment.
Lastly, remember that a flexible policy requires commitment and should avoid grey area. Flexible work programs that don’t communicate clear expectations (or don’t allow as much flexibility as staff want) tend to backfire. Once you commit to flexible work policies, follow-through from both employer and employee helps create a successful remote workplace.
Flexible and remote work policies benefit everyone.
While this is just one study, it does demonstrate that remote employees are productive employees. The ability to exercise control over their jobs allows employees to balance their home and work lives. Employers benefit, too, with decreased expenses and more productive, and, hopefully, happier employees.
Sold on adding remote work to your company but don’t know where to start? Check out our study on how flexible work impacts employers or read about how work flexibility keeps people in the workforce longer.
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