Information And Communications Technology And The Congested Nature Of The Transport System Means An Upsurge For Working At Home
Very few people actually like commuting. I know that I surely don’t. It’s a total and utter waste of time and is damaging to the environment one way or another. OK we all know someone else whose office is a mile from their home and they run to work and run home again and enjoy every minute of it but, , this sort of fortunae commute usually happens to someone else , doesn’t it?
Not everybody likes sitting in an office either. The office environment may be a bit distracting if you want to really get your head down and do a challenging segment of work. Distractions are everywhere as you usually feel the need to have a bit of a catch up with your workmates , check out the new coffee machine, tidy your corner of the office up, stroll around a bit etc and before you know it it’s coffee break time and you go off to the canteen for coffee and biscuits. And it’s eleven thirty and you haven’t done a bit of work !
The traditional office environment is, in my opinion, a bit of an endangered species. For one thing premises are not usually owned by the company . Gone are the days when a company would own a large office outright as more offices are rented these days, thus incurring a rental cost. Also business rates are much higher than in previous decades , so are heating or refrigeration costs. Power costs are up, health and safety requirements are tighter, the list goes on and on . It all adds up to the plain fact that running a modern office with a number of staff all in the same premises isn’t cheap
With the advent of new technology and our ever growing communications network a number of other ways of working must definitely be open for consideration by companies wanting to cut costs. A Home Based Franchise, for instance, or a small home based business will obviously be well set up for operating without the need for the shared office environment so it’s logical to think that if a large or medium sized business was to shed some of its office space then it would be able , through the use of technology, to distribute its’ workforce , provide more flexible working and save a fortune on expensive premises to boot! Why don’t more companies take up this mode of working when the advantages of doing so are obvious?
One reason is the corporation mindset. Traditional managers have a “bums on seats” type of mentality that says “you must be in a place that I can see you, should I choose to do so, at any time”. It’s a form of insecurity and is often displayed by managers that have a limited ability to delegate and are profoundly distrustful of their staff and are insecure about their position in the organisation. More staff, visible at all times and prepared to be at the managers’ beck and call, means more status in this kind of managers’ eyes . It takes a special sort of philosophy for a manager to say that he or she doesn’t mind where the work gets completed as long as it gets done! A largely political company structure does not value this sort of attitude as it may well be more important climbing up the company ladder than ensuring that the wellbeing of the company prevails .
Government legislation is pointing the way towards more flexible working patterns including flexible hours and home working. It’s an idea that is coming into its own these days, as amongst other things, parental obligations have formed a major part of current political campaigns. A company may well have to accept that paternal parental leave is part of a remuneration package , nowadays , and if they can supply the necessary technical and communications infrastructure then a new father , working at home, can play a significant role as part of the company’s’ workforce. It’s that or kiss the new daddy goodbye for six months!
If you really want to get out of the office, but your manager wants to see you plonked in your chair behind the desk, where he can see you from eight thirty to five , then you may want to take up a Franchise For Sale opportunity that is a Home Based Franchise. It is common sense to think that Franchises don’t have the luxury of an office but then they also don’t have the expense of the office, and business begins when you choose it does. Franchises therefore have a real advantage over office based jobs in that there is no commute to work and if the business is a Home Based Franchise then there is actually no need to maintain premises. Perhaps it’s time to seriously consider the Franchise For Sale market as the true contender to the traditional office based working practice !












