Virtual Office Option

Companies seem to be finally understanding the importance of offering a virtual office option for their employees. It seems like every week I hear about another fortune 500 company becoming more flexible when it comes to allowing their employees to work from home. Not even 5 years ago, some of these same companies would have walked away from any candidate during an interview who was looking to work from home part of the time.

By some estimates, 1.3 billion human beings will one day be working virtually, and this movement is happening a lot faster than one might think. Even in my business, when I tell people that I work from a virtual office, I can immediately identify the people who understand the logic and they are usually younger and have a better understanding of the future business landscape. The people that respond with, “don't you need an office to impress your clients?”, are the people that don't understand. My clients pay for me to target candidates who are passive, and to provide premium customer service, they do not pay me for allowing them the possible option to drink coffee in a mahogany walled board room.

With more people moving outside of the GTA for added green space or because they cannot afford the costs of housing in the city, it is imperative to be able to appeal to these potential employees in the best possible way. If your competitor has an inside track to obtaining high caliber “work from home” talent because of their flexibility, then you are greatly reducing your candidate pool and increasing your margin for error.

When adopting work from home offerings, one thing that must be monitored and continually invested in is corporate culture. Remember that open and frequent communication is the key for making people realize, as well as reinforce what the company stands for, and what the company is trying to accomplish.

It might get to a point where companies need to re-invest some of their savings from office space leasing into hosting more company conferences or company awards ceremonies in order to re-inforce their corporate culture, but in the meantime, make sure that you are truly able to attract the best talent available in the market.

Farewell,

Mike

Recruiting BusinessMike KingApril 28, 2017Toronto Headhunter, Recruiter, Headhunters, Recruitment FirmComment