Many prophecies around the ‘future of work’ predict an unstoppable rise in remote working, as employees are no longer tied to their office, technology underpinning a shift towards working wherever and whenever they wish.

Of course, such predictions are nothing really new, and whilst studies suggest that younger workers would happily take a pay cut for a shorter commute, there is also evidence to suggest that they crave some rather old fashioned status related perks in the office.

The pros of remote working

Now, the benefits of flexible working are well known.  They include things like:

• reduction in stress because of a reduced commute
• higher productivity because employees are freed from the disruptions of office life (plus they tend to work longer from home)
• home workers are often better equipped as employers struggle to keep pace with changing technologies
• home workers are often healthier as the diet we eat at home is better for us

The flip side of the equation

Of course, things aren’t all rosy, and face time remains a key factor in promotions, whilst despite the introduction of social collaboration software, it is often a challenge to collaborate with colleagues when working remotely.

An issue that seldom gets attention is the impact working from home has on those left in the office.  If an increasing number choose to work remotely, how does this impact the employees remaining in the office?

That was the question posed by a recent study published in the Academy of Management Discoveries.

Caring for those left behind

The authors studied a large multinational company with over 100,000 employees.  The company was chosen because they have a strong culture of flexible working.

The initial plan was to examine the behaviors of those working remotely, but it quickly became apparent that a more interesting line of enquiry would be to examine those remaining in the office.

For instance, it emerged that the two main reasons for working in the office were the social interaction with colleagues, and the heightened productivity possible.

Unfortunately, when large chunks of the workforce logged in remotely, these benefits are significantly diminished.  This resulted in some employees who would rather work on-site were forced to work remotely simply because no one else from their team was there.

Reaching the tipping point

It suggests that workplaces may reach a tipping point after which the benefits of working in the office melt away.

“At some point between an organization initializing the use of distributed teams, telework flexibility, and so forth, there is a tipping point: a moment in time when the nature of the organizational facility changes from having distributed individuals and groups to having a distributed workforce. What defines this tipping point is the lack of enough physically present co-workers to motivate individuals to come to the office,” the authors say.

Suffice to say, any study that only investigates a single organization has to accept its limitations, but it certainly raises some interesting questions.

It seems unlikely that many organizations are in the position of having a majority of employees working remotely, but it should encourage managers to consider what their own ‘tipping point’ might be, and how greater collaboration and community can be encouraged even amongst remote workers.

How many of your own colleagues work remotely, and does this diminish the benefits of working on-site?