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by Aware
First Published Jul. 2019. Updated Mar. 2024.
As Gen-Z enters the workforce and employers consistently look for the best talent, today’s workforce is on the path to change. Companies are interested in building teams diverse in both location and skillset, while employees are looking for flexibility in their schedule and work environment.
What is a distributed workforce?
A distributed workforce is a workforce composed of remote workers from all around the world.The Benefits of Distributed Work
When companies introduce distributed work, they see improvement in both their employees and their company.
Attract top talent
A distributed workforce allows companies to recruit people from anywhere. Companies can find the strongest people for their team, regardless of location, and truly encourage diversity.
Not just that, but remote work keeps top talent on your teams. OwlLabs reports that increased flexibility brings a 25% decrease in employee turnover.
Higher employee productivity
Remote work addresses many core issues that has traditionally impacted employee productivity such as long commutes or distractions in open offices. It's why a 2016 study showed that 2 out of 3 employees said working remotely increases their productivity.
Diverse customer support
Having a team of employees across time zones and cultural regions allows companies to provide 24/7 customer-service and provides customers with access to a multilingual pool of customer support representatives, making communicating with your customers fast and easy.
Happier and healthier employees
Employees who work from home are more likely to have a better work-life balance by spending more time at home with family and have more time to care for their mental and physical health.
The Key Challenge of a Distributed Team: Communication
While distributed work creates opportunity for more diversity and flexibility, day-to-day small talk and kitchenette run-ins are often eliminated with distributed work. As a result, intentional communication is critical in order to ensure clear work expectations and minimal barriers among employees.
Close the Communication Disconnect
If you had a question while working in the office, you would likely turn to someone on your team for help. Working from home should be no exception. Whether you have a team working on a large project or individuals with work-related questions, your organization needs an effective way to communicate.
Collaboration technologies—such as workstream collaboration or enterprise social networks—tackle this challenge head on. Platforms like Workplace by Facebook and Yammer offer conversational spaces that are built for idea and knowledge sharing, as well as private and public conversations.
Investing in employee connectivity and efficient collaboration for your distributed workforce pays off. McKinsey reports that using social technologies, companies can raise the productivity of workers by 25%.
Create a Powerful Workforce Through Enterprise Collaboration
If you want to overcome these challenges and embrace the future of distributed work, it’s time to give your employees the ability to communicate from anywhere, at any time. The first step is the selection of a platform for your workforce. There are many players in the space and one-size-does-not-fit-all. Download our resource on choosing a collaboration platform to learn the good, bad and ugly on the top players in the market.
Download Aware's Comprehensive Guide for Workstream Collaboration Champions to be prepared for their questions, ease their concerns and achieve wall-to-wall adoption.
