Stanford study shows remote workers to be less distracted and generate more sales

Business officials in Illinois have likely become accustomed to hearing about cloud computing. As such, many companies have probably realized by now that cloud technology enables data to be accessed from remote locations as it is hosted on either internal, hosted or hybrid platforms.

And when considering the remote work affordances presented to industries of all kinds that deploy cloud solutions, they seem to be fairly awesome. On one end of the spectrum, because an employer does not need to house as many staff members in a primary workplace, a brick-and-mortar facility can be downgraded to save on real estate costs.

Moreover, because devices are being powered outside the office, energy costs are maximized as well. Additionally, from a staff perspective, they can work from virtually anywhere, meaning they can have more flexible schedules and not have to worry about the stresses of a morning commute.

But, business officials may not be convinced of the efficacy of remote work based on these assumptions alone. Interestingly though, in a move to provide scientific backing for the positive aspects of remote work, researchers at Stanford University in partnership with a large Chinese travel agency developed an empirical way to test the idea.

After identifying 255 employees that were determined to have a legitimate home office setup and a reliable work record, the researchers juxtaposed the remote workers to traditional workplace employees and found that telecommuters performed better.

“They took more calls (it was quieter and there were fewer distractions at home) and worked more hours (they lost less time to late arrivals and sick breaks) and more days (fewer sick days),” wrote the researchers. “This translated into greater profits for the company because more calls equaled more sales.”

Considering these findings, companies in Illinois seeking to enable remote work can do so by partnering with a Chicago IT services partner such as CTI Technology that can provide cloud computing solutions.

Business officials in Illinois have likely become accustomed to hearing about cloud computing.