The working dynamics across the world are changing, especially in tech roles. The virtual staffing trend took off significantly in 2020 due to safeguards in response to the COVID pandemic. However, the concepts of working with a virtual staffing and remote team members predate COVID but were not as popular as they are today.
Virtual business staffing is a growing trend due to the variety of benefits it yields for organizations and employees. For this reason, unprecedented job roles are now created for remote workers.
Benefits of Virtual Staffing
An array of benefits supports the implementation of virtual staffing at different businesses. For instance, an IT support company can troubleshoot different issues by offering online expertise, at a lower cost, from someone working from thousands of miles away. Read on to know more about why organizations are increasingly adopting the remote working model.
Outsource to Experts
Often companies have tasks other than the core business. Outsourcing to experts significantly improves the quality of service in such cases. Contact center services are at the top of the list of services that businesses outsource to experts. Onboarding niche experts allows businesses to resolve more queries and increase customer satisfaction rates. Contact center services can provide solutions for in-house sales, customer service, technical support, IT Help desk, and back-office functions to name a few. Virtual Staffing Agencies can extend the geographic area from which your employees operate without having to manage the payroll, taxes, and business presence required of hiring directly. An improved customer experience with a virtual business staffing company can potentially increase the lifetime value of customers. Outsourcing solutions for other departments can help businesses in bridging the gaps in the quality of service.
Low Operational Costs
Leveraging an offsite staff significantly lowers the cost of operations. With staff members working from home, companies can save on downsizing office space. Besides rent, other overheads that they save include utilities, office supplies, workstations, furniture, and maintenance.
Hiring from regions with lower costs of labor further increases cost savings. Managed virtual employees from BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) companies from such regions can considerably reduce operational costs which is one of the major concerns, especially for expanding companies and startups during their development phases. Therefore, hiring a remote workforce can be an effective strategy to quickly tackle staffing challenges and allow the business to focus its budget on core business functions.
High Productivity Among Employees
Employers have seen higher productivity among employees when working remotely. Multiple studies have shown a 35-40% increase in productivity among remote employees compared to in-house workers. 60% of employers have noticed higher productivity among virtually collaborating team members. Different factors like less or no commute time, lower work-related stress, and lesser distractions are responsible for improving productivity. Lower absenteeism and leaving work for personal tasks further increase productivity.
The utilization of dashboards and communication applications helps overcome many traditional workforce management challenges.
Improved Employee Satisfaction
More time spent on work-related activities creates a poor work-life balance. A simple 9-to-5 job often ends up consuming a significant portion of the day for the majority of working people leaving very little time for personal life. Commuting and eating out costs consume a large chunk out of their salaries and non-productive time which could be otherwise saved by working virtually. Studies have shown that 36% of employees would prefer working from home over a raise. Also, 80% of employees consider remote working a job perk.
Better Employee Retention
Retaining an employee is usually more affordable than hiring a new one due to the costs of hiring, onboarding, and training. 46% of companies that allow virtual collaboration successfully reduced attrition rates and 95% of employers believe that teleworking has an impact on employee retention.
With trends like The Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, virtual staffing, and collaborations can help companies retain their best-performing employees.
Access to Bigger Talent Pool
Companies based in less populated regions face the challenge of a limited talent pool. It is a major problem because most employees do not prefer relocation for a job. Businesses can fill those vacant positions by reaching a broader talent pool with virtual hiring within region, state, country, or even globally.
In addition to finding suitable candidates with relevant expertise, companies can create a more inclusive workforce with different ethnicities, religions, and races. A multicultural and multilingual team can really help businesses looking to expand in other markets.
Conclusion
Virtual business staffing yields multiple benefits for both employers and employees. Organizations can lower the cost of operations, boost productivity, increase attrition, and hire from bigger talent pools from around the globe. Simultaneously, employees can enjoy higher job satisfaction and achieve a work-life balance. Simply put, virtual staffing creates a win-win situation for everyone.