Remote work has shifted the old paradigm of work.

Everybody used to work in centralized offices from 9-5. Today, companies who hire remote workers manage employees who are distributed in different time zones. These companies enjoy the competitive advantages of collaborating remotely.

And in store for businesses who balk at the idea of remote work are some serious disadvantages. We’ll talk about them in this post. that makes competing that much harder.

The 5 Dangers Of Not Embracing Remote Work

#1 The business will miss out on world-class talent.

Ever since content became digital, and courses, knowledge and training can be accessed online, the path to expertise has been democratized. This means that even professionals from developing countries have access to world-class training and instruction, and the latest breakthroughs in their field.

World-class skills are not just being honed in first-world countries anymore. Expertise is now being minted even in the unlikeliest of places.

Companies who hire remote workers love to hire Filipino remote workers, for example, not just for their unequalled work ethic, but for their seasoned competence in the job.

If your company does not embrace remote work, it will miss out on these emerging “rockstars” (eg. software developers, accountants, online marketers, and HR) that have developed in the last few years.

Moreover, employees are now requiring flexibility as an employment requirement. So if you want to get the best, regardless of their location, one of the ways you can “sweeten the pot” is by offering remote work schedule flexibility.

#2 The business will have higher operating costs.

The resulting cost savings from hiring remote workers come from different areas. First, because these experts reside in developing countries, they have a different cost structure than employees from expensive cities and jurisdictions. Simply put, they have a more affordable cost of living than comparable experts from more expensive countries.

On average, companies who hire remote workers enjoy a 70% savings on labour costs. This means that they can give attractive salaries while still saving a ton.

Second, because a virtual workforce does not require a brick-and-mortar office, the company also saves on office rentals, equipment, and utilities like power and internet.

So by going the remote route, companies are streamlining their costs, saving on having to put up and maintain a space that employees only use during office hours.

Investments in technology are the balance to these savings. The company will have to buy software solutions to make remote collaboration work. But with the cost of tech going down each quarter (if not already free), we can expect the savings to accrue even more in the coming years.

#3 The business will lag in productivity.

Contrary to popular belief, remote workers actually work a little longer than their office-bound counterparts.

As it turns out, part of the time that’s saved from not having to commute is ploughed back into productive work. And not having the stress of the daily commute means more energy allocated for the work itself.

This is just one of the ways remote workers up the productivity of a business.

Another way is with business continuity.

When a business is centralized in an office, and everybody reports to that office at an appointed time, there will inevitably be hours when it closes and winds down the business day. This is fine for some types of businesses. For example, an auto detailing shop can operate like this and do just fine.

But in today’s globalized economy when round-the-clock service and orders are coming in, you cannot just close down the store and tell people to come back in the morning. This is especially true for companies, roles and positions that are mainly digital in nature.

A distributed workforce, distributed across different time zones can ensure that the “store” is covered at all times, customers are attended to, and the job is being done all the time.

Having a distributed workforce also helps manage the risk of business continuity. Let’s say your city suddenly loses power, by having somebody located somewhere else, your business has an added layer of flexibility and safety.

#4 The business will lag in creativity.

As mentioned, companies who hire remote workers and embrace virtual collaborations can tap the deep pool of international talent.

This often leads to diversity in the workforce. And studies show that a diverse workforce is more creative, more innovative and better at problem-solving. (These three are very important for any kind of job.)

Teams composed of individuals from the same locale will most probably have the same background, and the same experience and will inevitably have the same line of thinking. This severely limits the potential of the team to creatively solve a problem or come up with new ideas.

By hiring Filipino remote workers, for example, companies are leveraging diversity in thinking that can only be had by coming from a different background and having different experiences.

#5 The employees will miss the chance for a better work-life balance.

Happy employees are more motivated to work and have more meaningful jobs.

Now, this sounds like an advantage for employees—and it is, but it also brings key benefits to employers.

A good work-life balance, studies find, results in things like:

• reduced absenteeism
• better staff retention
• higher employee engagement
• increased productivity, creativity and innovation

For example, by offering work flexibility, and allowing employees to design their workday, companies who hire remote workers enjoy the benefits of people with high morale and strong focus at work.

When people can work at their best, they are less stressed and experience more job satisfaction. You have less turnover, which is costly nowadays.

Ultimately, it leads to more profits.

Happy employees serve happy customers…and ultimately result in happy employers.

When you stack all the benefits of remote work—access to global talent, significant savings, increases in productivity, creativity and having high morale in the workroom—it’s a wonder why not everyone is embracing it. Remote collaboration makes a company that much more competitive.

One of the reasons this is the case is that owners are often unfamiliar with the setup. They scarcely know how to go about it, and this unfamiliarity constrains them to the old ways of doing things.

Kinetic Innovative Staffing helps owners and their businesses go from a completely traditional office-bound workforce to a distributed workforce.

We don’t just help you find the ideal remote professionals for your organization, we teach you how to manage your staff remotely and provide you with a complete suite of software solutions that can track productivity and performance.

(Here’s how the whole thing works.)

It is as close to a turn-key system as you can get.

With a database of over 4 million vetted Filipino remote workers, seasoned in their respective fields, Kinetic can fill a broad range of positions from lawyers, accountants and engineers, to software developers, graphic artists and writers.

So if this sounds like something you would like to explore, or if you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch with us.

Kinetic Innovative Staffing has been providing hundreds of companies in the Asia Pacific, North America, the Middle East, and Europe with professionals working remotely from the Philippines since 2013. Get in touch to know more.