Who would have thought at the beginning of 2020 that the UK would see nearly half of its adults in employment working from home?  Yes, the Covid-19 pandemic has forced many businesses to adopt the working from home concept, but even before this the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that remote-working had increased by nearly a quarter of million over a decade.

The question is how many businesses will now retract the option to work from home once we resume a new normality? It is likely that many companies across the UK will look to offer a hybrid working model. From an employee perspective, individuals have now had the opportunity to become more empowered regarding their choices around their work/life balance expectations. Subsequently, many companies are now looking to adopt a hybrid working model providing greater flexibility for their employees in order to retain a high calibre of individual.

This is particularly evident within the tech industry. Preliminary data from the Harvey Nash Survey 2021, found that ‘79% of tech workers wanted to continue working three to five days from home after the pandemic’. This bumped up to ‘95% when asked about working from home two to five days from home’.

So, it would seem that the hybrid working model may be the way forward. The ONS showed that in 2015, 4.2 million people across a range of sectors worked from home from both small and large businesses. This is only likely to increase over the coming months and years as we recover from the pandemic.

This new way of working is certainly not a one-sided gain, there are plethora of benefits for both parties including;

  • Reduced office costs
  • Increased staff retention and morale
  • Reduced carbon footprint
  • Wider talent pool

By not embracing this new form of working it may lead to businesses losing valuable employees as they look to other companies for the flexibility that they seek. Of course, this is all very well, but not all businesses are in a position to operate effectively remotely due to the operational infrastructure being unavailable or integral software systems not being suitable for this format of working.

Accounts and Payroll are two integral functions in any business, after all no one likes not to be paid whether you’re a company or an employee. So, what’s the solution?

The solution comes in the form of a hosting service provided by Advantage Services. Designed specifically for hosting the software that we provide and support, and it doesn’t need to be installed on every computer. Accessed via Remote Desktop, users can use Sage Accounts and Payroll along with third-party add-ons as if they were in the office anywhere in the UK, or World (if they have an internet connection).

It’s a cost-effective solution as no large cap-ex investment is required for onsite servers and it provides the flexibility to enable employees to switch between computer devices. No more transporting your PC/laptop from the office to your home study (or kitchen table as was the case for many of us).

It is apparent life will never be the same as before Covid-19, there will ultimately be a new ‘normal’ where employees will be seeking a better work-life balance that suits them, as well as their employer. To prepare for this new shift, businesses need to start to embrace this new mindset and ensure that they have the correct processes and systems in place to support a hybrid working model.

If you are looking for a hosting service to enable your accounts and payroll systems to be seamless across the office and at home, then speak to our friendly team at Advantage Services who are on hand to discuss your requirements on 0330 335 0011 or email info@advantageservices.co.uk.

Posted at 7.49am on 06 April 2021 by Dawn Smiley in category Company
Tags: Accounts, Hosting, Payroll