Attracting and retaining quality talent

Sitting at my local watering hole the other night, I struck up a conversation with a person in town on business. Our conversation took a turn when they asked me what I do. When I told them I work remote with a DC-based strategic branding and marketing agency, they went off on a tangent about how successful their employees are that work remote and the benefits of such an arrangement.

In an age where flexible work schedules and employees working from home offices or smaller remote offices are becoming more and more acceptable, many companies are more open to the suggestion of telecommuting. There are many benefits of this option. Meeting with people in person or having the ability to quickly run over to a colleagues desk to share ideas or suggestions will never be replaced, but telecommuting allows companies to keep valued employees and offer a more appropriate work/life balance for many.

Excellent client service and account management is still a priority when telecommuting. In fact, the ability to cut costs and speak via phone or Skype will help clients with minimal budgets, yet still require some extra attention. We have international clients and have been successfully using Skype for a number of years. In addition, many of our internal meetings are conducted over Skype with employees that live in different parts of the country.

Here are some benefits for you to consider if you are thinking about adopting a distance work model as a part of your business:

1)   Allows you to keep valuable employees

2)   Allows you to keep employees that have strong relationships with key clients

3)   Helps to keep overhead costs down

4)   Allows your firm to spread its wings into different markets you may otherwise not have explored

5)   If in different time zones, availability during work hours increases for clients

6)   May improve productivity because more hours are devoted to actual work and not spent commuting to and from work.

7)   Provides a work/life balance that works for clients, the employee and the employer.

Outside green benefits, these are just some of the benefits that may help you make a decision on whether this is the right model for you and your firm.

Telecommuting is not for everyone, but it works for Moiré. One of our members has been doing it for over 10 years. If you are looking for more on this topic or have questions about how we make this model work successfully, please let us know.