The advantages and disadvantages of developing teleworking in your company

During the health crisis, the number of teleworkers in France reached an unprecedented high, with 41% of employees working from home during the first lockdown in May 2020. Today, according to the same study, the vast majority of managers (67%), would be in favour of implementing teleworking in their company in the long term, in the wake of the health crisis. However, although this current practice has proven beneficial for both companies and employees, it does have some drawbacks. Here we take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of developing teleworking in your company.  

What are the advantages of developing teleworking in your company?

Instigating teleworking, whether part-time or full-time, in your company offers a number of advantages on the economic, human, commercial and environmental level.

The economic advantages of teleworking

By working from home, a company can save money with regard to transportation, office rental and maintenance, supplies and other overhead costs. Costs related to absenteeism and tardiness are also reduced. In addition, teleworking contributes to increased well-being at work, higher employee motivation and greater commitment. Employees are more loyal, which translates into lower turnover. This is another source of savings for a company. Lastly, the home office allows employees to be more efficient. During the various lockdowns, the productivity of French employees increased by 22%. This improves a company's performance and profitability. According to the same study, teleworking saved between 216 and 230 billion euros of GDP in France. In addition, the generalisation of teleworking can facilitate recruitment since a company no longer has to take the geographical location of candidates into consideration. This can be a determining factor for jobs suffering from shortages, which can be done remotely. On the other hand, teleworking makes a company more attractive to talents, and enables it to position itself on the market as a firm that is in sync with current and future trends.

The human benefits of teleworking

On the human level, teleworking also improves the quality of life at work for employees. For example, teleworkers say they feel less tired (72%), and more autonomous and empowered (69%) when they work from home rather than on site. In addition, a large proportion of employees find that teleworking helps concentration (60.1%), stress management (63.1%), productivity (53.4%), and that it provides a better work-life balance (58.7%). In conclusion, 86% of teleworkers would like to continue working from home once the health crisis subsides. There are several explanations for these figures. First of all, a teleworker does not have to travel daily, which saves time and energy. In addition, a teleworker has greater flexibility in their working hours. Further, the employee is not confronted with the noise of an open space, interruptions from colleagues, and other unforeseen events related to office life. They are also less tempted to take frequent and long breaks. This translates into better concentration and greater efficiency on a daily basis. However, it is difficult to generalise these advantages since the well-being of teleworkers depends on a large number of factors (quality of the home workspace, constraints imposed by the company, personalities and individual needs, etc.).

The environmental benefits of teleworking

By developing teleworking, a company is also acting in favour of the environment. In fact, 2.9 days of teleworking per week allows greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced by 0.5% - equivalent of the annual emissions of 366,000 people in France. The implementation of teleworking is therefore perfectly integrated into a CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) strategy.  

The drawbacks of developing teleworking in your company

Although the benefits of teleworking are numerous, this organisational mode does present some drawbacks, both for the company and its employees.

The disadvantages of teleworking for the company

For employers, the home office presents several challenges, including maintaining team spirit and collective links, developing skills, monitoring performance and controlling tasks or mobilising teams. Despite regular communication and the use of innovative and collaborative intranet tools, it can sometimes be difficult to guarantee the efficiency of employees, as well as their daily commitment and motivation. Managers are less and less in favour of teleworking (50% at the end of 2020, compared to 55% at the end of 2018), and many of them admit to encountering difficulties with this practice (40% at the end of 2020, compared to 18% at the end of 2018).

The disadvantages of teleworking for employees

Many employees have also discovered the dark side of working from home during the health crisis. For example:

• Isolation, loneliness, lack of social connection and a sense of belonging.
• A heavy workload, which can lead to overwork, burn-out and other psychosocial problems.
• Difficulties in disconnecting completely, and a tendency not to count the hours worked.
• Difficulties in reconciling professional and personal life.
• An unsuitable work environment, sometimes without a dedicated space.

Moreover, working remotely can sometimes lead to a loss of meaning and professional disengagement among employees. In fact, 56% of teleworkers say they feel more engaged when they work on site Faced with these drawbacks, could hybrid work, a clever balance between remote and face-to-face work, be the solution? Whatever the case, it seems inevitable today that managers should look into the possibility of developing teleworking in their company. In this respect, 66% of managers are convinced that teleworking will continue to grow in the years to come.