In a world of ‘new norms’, one term you’ll hear a lot more of as 2021 unfolds is location agnostic employment.
COVID 19 normalised remote working. Now, all around the world companies are wholeheartedly committing to the concept as an integral part of their business future. Location agnostic employment – where you can work from anywhere – has advantages for employers and workers alike.
FOR EMPLOYEES?
For employees, there’s more flexibility to choose where to live because you don’t need to be in daily commute distance. The greater freedom to choose where you live makes essential life decisions like buying a house or finding the best school for your children much easier and cheaper to realise. Though COVID has been the catalyst for location agnostic working, the factors underpinning it have been in plain sight for some time. Greater broadband penetration, access to smarter mobile devices and the evolution of artificial intelligence, the rise of the knowledge worker economy and an ever-increasing freelancer population, and more, have all contributed. These transformational technologies also ensure that location agnostic working does not mean being disconnected from your colleagues. Quite the opposite in zoom cases.
And with location agnostic working now a ‘thing’, employers are fast tuning in. The wealth of advanced technology available today, including cloud platforms, AI-powered analytics and automation means companies are able to digitally transform themselves relatively simply to capitalise on this new mode of employment.
As a result, online recruitment is fast becoming the new norm and may become the preferred approach, even after many of us return to the office. Onboarding, compliance and training & skills upgrading are also going virtual in a big way in the mainstream business world.
Hot on the heels of these developments, HR departments are busy updating policies, rewriting plans, and revising recruiting strategies to reflect the new virtual work models and an increasingly distributed workforce. Previously, an overhaul to long-standing HR practices and processes would have been prohibitively complex, but in a Covid-19 world and economy, many companies have been forced to adapt quickly to a remote workforce.
FOR EMPLOYERS?
For employers, the benefits of this new business model are significant. Take for example their talent pools. Today, because of the rise of virtual work models companies now also post positions that are location-agnostic, opening up a whole new world of qualified applicants. Conversely, candidates seeking work who may have previously overlooked firms that were unwilling or unable to accommodate remote work, or were located far away, are now also lining up at the starting gate.
In times to come, businesses that embrace and facilitate this new mode of arrangement will become employers of choice. Top dogs when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.
Like to find out a little bit more about how your business can best capitalise on the rise of location agnostic employment and the new virtual work models. You’ll be amazed at some of the technologies involved. Contact CXC today on info@cxcglobal.com.
