Why distributed workforce is the future of work

The pandemic made working from home a necessity, globally. Given that organizations were forced into this model, many of them were under the assumption that remote working would firstly, be a temporary response, and secondly, would hinder productivity. That unless employees came into work every day, timelines would be overlooked, and expectations would go unmet. But, as it turns out, those who work from home spend 10 minutes less a day being unproductive, work one more day a week, and are 47% more productive. Additionally, in 2021, 70% of those who worked from home during the pandemic report virtual meetings are less stressful, and 64% now prefer hybrid meetings. 

Many organizations decided to have a distributed workforce that would give them the flexibility to stretch beyond the physical restrictions of a traditional office set-up. One of the most critical factors affecting organizations today – technology sector and employment – is the growing acceptance of remote or distributed working teams and the adoption of key digital collaboration tools. 

So, what is a distributed workforce?

Simply put, a distributed workforce means an organization has employees spread across multiple locations instead of having them all come to work in the same office. In a distributed workforce, some employees may work from the company offices while others may choose to work from satellite offices, co-working spaces, or their homes.

Note: remote and distributed working environments are not the same. 

• Remote work requires discipline for the individual worker, but distributed work requires discipline for the entire organization. It is based on the idea that an employee does not need to work in a specific location to complete their work.
• In distributed work, employees may work from anywhere in the world, even if the organization has a physical headquarters. Though it might be a thought that’s already come through, digital technology is critical for a strong distributed workforce.

What has become clear is that the future of work will be a combination of where and how work happens. 

Let’s first briefly look at potential challenges (and solutions) of this way of working.

Feeling disconnected with the rest of the team

In the office, there are plenty of opportunities for employees to engage with one another – lunching together, having a chat over coffee, and so on. It’s these little moments, that we really didn’t give too much thought to, moments of sporadic connection, that go a long way in enhancing team dynamics, building a sense of belonging, and initiating collaboration between teams and team members.

In such scenarios – what is usually done in person, should happen virtually. Given that distributed working requires a change in mindset, when managers are mindful of the connection gap, they can take the necessary steps to virtually fill these gaps. Some ways to do this might be through bonding and fun activities, online workshops, one-on-one check-ins and so on. But these become critical in enabling employees to feel more connected with team members, and engaged at work. 

Productivity issues at a process level

While employees themselves reported increased productivity in this way of working, where organizations may see a challenge is at the process level. Because organizations transitioned quite quickly to distributing working, there is a risk of teams working in different ways across different tools.

What managers and leaders can do is put in place set working norms and choose standard tools that can make remote working seamless.  Some of the tools we use at Talent500 to standardize work are: 

• Slack for daily communication
• Trello for project management 
• Google Meet and Zoom for video meetings
• Miro as an asynchronous collaboration tool

Difficulty in maintaining company culture

According to a Virginia-based Hinge Research Institute study, when evaluating job prospects, 57% of job seekers across all career levels consider culture as important as pay. Transitioning to a distributed working model might sound relatively easy but it is quite complex in the various nuances that need addressing. For instance, a company’s culture doesn’t transition automatically.

Given that culture happens, no matter what, establishing the right company culture becomes a challenge. Managers and leaders will need to replicate moments throughout an employee’s time at work to instill and reiterate company culture.

Benefits of a distributed workforce

Global companies to fast-growing startups, the distributed workforce is helping organizations achieve company-wide goals by offering opportunities that are only possible when the workforce is geographically dispersed.

1. Increased employee productivity 

A study by Stanford of 16,000 workers over 9 months found that working from home increased productivity by 13%. By providing employees with access to the right tools and technology to enable distributed working, companies can save on many resources as well as increase productivity. Additionally, employees who are disciplined and motivated can get more work done within a shorter period of time.  A key outcome of distributed working is that a remote employee may perform better than those who come into the office regularly because there are lesser distractions in terms of meetings and other interruptions common to a shared workspace. CompuVision is a good example of how a distributed workforce can help increase productivity multi-fold.

2. Access to a global talent pool 

80% of tech CEOs said the availability of key skills is their top challenge. Organizations have always struggled with finding the right/ideal candidates to fulfill openings. However, now that they are no longer restricted to physical locations, organizations can experience the benefit of hiring beyond geographic boundaries. According to McKinsey & Co, skilled and superior talent can be up to 8X more productive than average workers. By thinking beyond location-dependent teams, and evolving their hiring strategies, organizations can gain access to and hire the best developers and technical employees in the market, anywhere in the world. 

3. Reduced cost 

It is estimated that the average office space cost per employee is around $18,000 per year. Building a globally distributed workforce offers cost savings for organizations in several direct and indirect ways. With a globally distributed workforce, organizations can greatly reduce the main office footprint. Overhead costs related to office space, internet, electricity, water and more is a big cost factor for businesses. Additionally, as companies shift applications from onsite to the cloud, it enables decentralization and reduced IT costs.

4. Improved employee retention

The Great Resignation has made it challenging for organizations to attract, hire, and retain skilled talent. Some industries are feeling the burn of this talent crunch which is why employee retention is a critical determinant for an organization’s success today.  According to Stack Overflow’s 2016 developer survey, flexible working options are a top priority for developers with 64% of them already working remotely. Giving employees what they want leads to a happier workforce, therefore a more engaged and productive workforce. So, instead of organizations focusing on where employees are located, the focus should remain on empowering them with the right tools to make distributed working possible.  

5. Adds diversity to the workforce 

Agility, autonomy, better talent pool, and reduced costs are not the only benefits, but a diversified workforce is a proven asset for profitable companies. McKinsey found that companies with higher ethnic diversity in the workforce are 36% more likely to be profitable than companies with lower diversity. Hiring employees with different backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and perspectives improves the team’s ability to innovate, solve problems, and be creative. Another thing to remember is that hiring diverse employees can help fulfill the organizations diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) commitments.

Companies adopting the distributed workforce culture 

Apple: Maker of the iPhone allowed for 100% remote work options for some of the roles in the company such as Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst. The company also expressed its willingness to promote a hybrid work model allowing employees to work from home at least once a week.

Automattic: Automattic, the company behind WordPress has over 800 staff spread across 67 countries. The company prefers the term ‘distributed’ workforce as they believe ‘remote’ implies there is a central hub of more important staff. This approach has been instrumental in their growth since the beginning.

Amazon: The eCommerce giant employs over 92,000 people all over the world. With a large presence in each continent, the company made a crucial decision of allowing employees to work from home two days a week from June 2021, provided their roles allow for such flexibility.

A distributed workforce – a mutual benefit 

In a distributed workforce, organizations depend on all employees to continue to meet the expectations of the job and company, and this is where hiring the right talent can make all the difference. Talent500 is helping companies of all sizes ranging from startups to Fortune 500 companies to shift to distributed work models. We connect you with the best of the talent from over 50 countries. Request a consultation to discuss more.