NEW YORK-I just read about an FPC Workplace Web Poll—and it had some startling results with major implications for today’s companies.
The bottom line: There may be a major shakeup in the employment marketplace in 2012. As employees see the job market improving, they are looking around for new opportunities. Consider the numbers:
- 79% say they are planning to look for a new job when the job market improves
- 50% felt they had gained marketable skills and lack advancement opportunities in their current position
- 28% indicate they would move on at least in part due how their employer treated its employees during the recession
- 8% stated that they were well treated and planned to stay put
Only 8 percent. Survey respondents were relatively indifferent to work-life balance perks either as a selling point for a new position or as a “keeping” feature for their current employment. Half of respondents indicated that perks such as casual Fridays, free lunches, and company-sponsored events were important to them, but would not dissuade them from considering a new position that did not offer them.
“As the economy and the job market continue to improve for college-educated management professionals, we’re seeing a level of pent-up demand for career change that candidates may have put off over the past couple of years due to economic uncertainty,” Ron Herzog, CEO & President of FPC. “Despite much of the negative commentary we all hear these days, employers are finding that they need to compete to attract and retain their top talent. Companies should be thinking about this in a proactive way.”
Virtual office space can help you stem the tide of turnovers, and stop the bleeding of best and brightest talent going to work for your competitors. You can maintain high levels of engagement with virtual office workers, as well as empower employees. Engagement and empowerment are two pillars of a happy workforce.
With virtual office space, you are offering more than just another work-life balance perk. Alternative workplace strategies give employees the flexibility and freedom they need to handle personal and business issues as they arise. In fact, many studies show that employees who work from a virtual office actually work longer hours in the end and are overall more productive. So as you consider your talent attraction and retention strategies for 2012, consider virtual offices.
NEW YORK—New research predicts continued focus on wellbeing of human capital—and a virtual workforce (which means working from a virtual office space) is among them.
The 2012 Workplace Trends Report from Sodexo reveals employees are looking to organizations for tools and resources to help them simplify their lives, stay healthy and balanced, and bring their “whole self” to work as these continue to be top drivers of engagement. Employee engagement, productivity, brand image and loyalty continue to be relevant measures of success.
So what are these trends, exactly? There are 10 in the 2012 report, including inclusive workplaces, workplaces that promote sustainability, rewards and recognition, flexible workplaces and virtual workforces.
“We studied research over the last year to understand what issues are top of mind for our clients and what are the benchmarks in the overall market,” says Rachel Permuth-Levine PhD, MSPH, senior director, outcomes-based research and solutions for Sodexo’s toLive workplace strategies. “Our team predicts these trends are the direct link to designing environments that enhance individual performance, foster collaboration, and contribute to the well-being of employees—it’s the workplace of the future.”
The workplace of the future is definitely more flexible—and in many cases more virtual. With the rise of telecommuting, virtual offices are at the fore. Virtual office space is one of the enablers of a new way to work in the new world of work. What’s more, virtual offices contribute pave the way for employees to realize some of the other workplace trends they crave, such as sustainability and flexibility.
COSTA MESA, CA—Costa Mesa has a thriving business community. You’ll find everything in Costa Mesa from mom and pop shops and boutique retail to major brand named big boxes, auto dealerships, hotels, manufacturing and entertainment industries. You’ll also find virtual office space.
Indeed, Costa Mesa is a regional center of commerce in Orange County. Costa Mesa is just 37 miles southeast of Los Angeles, 88 miles north of San Diego and 475 miles south of San Francisco. Costa Mesa is also just one mile from the Pacific Ocean. Costa Mesa’s population is growing. The city incorporated with 16,840 people in 1953 and today has more than 113,000 people.
Davinci Virtual Offices offers virtual office space in Costa Mesa at the Costa Mesa Office Center. Located at 1901 Newport Blvd., this Costa Mesa virtual office offers you a prime business address with mail and package receipt and access to a business support center.
Your clients and prospects will be professionally greeted by a lobby receptionist when they drop off and pick up packages, or come to meet you in a conference room, which you can rent by the hour on demand. If you need office space, you can also rent day time offices on demand for between $10 and $35 an hour.
Oh, and you’ll get a warm welcome in Costa Mesa. The mission of the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce is to be the leading proponent for the interests of local business, which includes the prosperity of its individual members, the vitality of its marketplace and the quality of its community life.
Check out this YouTube video for a quick look at Costa Mesa:
NEW YORK—5.2 million. That’s the current number of telecommuters in America, according to the National Resources Defense Council. And that number is only growing. By 2016, the number of people working from home is expected to rise by 69 percent.
More employers—even those who resisted the trend until recently—are setting up offices in employees’ homes and realizing the cost savings of allowing them to telecommute from a virtual office, at least part time. Indeed, virtual offices are a concept whose time has come.
If you are looking for time management and productivity tips for your virtual office, turn to Laura Stack. Stack says that whenever an individual makes the change to working from home, the key to success is creating a productive home office environment.
“The first mistake new telecommuters make is setting up shop in one of their home’s cozy, comfortable spots, tossing aside everything learned about ergonomics in the office. After a week of unnatural posturing at the breakfast nook, the back starts to ache, hands and feet go numb, and productivity plummets,” Stack says.
“Bite the bullet and buy good, solid office furniture of the appropriate types. Use a wrist pad to keep your typing and mousing hands straight, so you don’t fall prey to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome; make sure you have sufficient lighting coming from above; and supply all cordage with surge protectors just in case.”
Stack says that some organizations have written policies requiring specific types of ergonomic furniture in the virtual office, as well as specifics on where and how it should be set up. Stack recommends setting up in a clean, spacious, well-defined and distraction-free workspace that offers good ventilation for your virtual office space.
“If space is a problem, at least ensure you have a door you can close to place a boundary between work life and home life,” she says. “Don’t set up in the kitchen, your living room, or the master bedroom, though an unused spare bedroom or dining room can work well.”
Stack also recommends having plenty of room for all furniture, electronics, files, and supplies, so there is no need to run back and forth to find work-related items in your virtual office space.
“You want to make your home office as comfortable and convenient as possible, so you can more easily maximize your personal productivity,” Stack says. “Just be sure to define your work space and don’t give in to the temptation to carry your laptop from room to room. Going to an established home office should be a reminder that you’re there to work, just as the drive to your old office used to be.”
NEW YORK—Is one of your New Year’s resolutions finding greater work-life balance? If so, you are not alone. Whether you are an entrepreneur with a virtual workforce or a telecommuter or somewhere in between, you can resolve to create healthier work environments for employees in 2012.
David Grossman, founder and CEO of The Grossman Group, is suggesting what he calls the Workplace Diet. This works just as well for the virtual office space user as it does for the brick-and-mortar office space user.
“The Workplace Diet is designed to help leaders conquer employee confusion, apathy, lack of motivation, and the increasing cost of ineffective communication,” says Grossman. “There’s no celebrity spokesperson or meals to buy. No magic pills to take. Just some simple yet powerful actions that will help leaders eliminate bad habits, as well as shed unproductive time and wasted resources to lead better in 2012.”
Here are some of the ingredients of the Grossman Group 2012 Workplace Diet. As you read the list, it becomes clear that this might be even more important to a distributed workforce working from virtual offices. That’s why I’ve adapted these tips for the virtual office worker.
Share expectations: People rise to the expectations set for them. Leaders need to create a list of expectations and share them with virtual office staff. Be as specific as possible to enable employee understanding. When expectations are met, reinforce the positive behavior. Otherwise, give feedback and suggest alternative behaviors.
Plan communications: Planned communication strategies are more purposeful and measurably more effective.
Ask for input and feedback: Ask open-ended questions, such as: “Help me understand how you are thinking about this?” or “What ideas do you have to resolve this?”
Listen more: Stop talking so much. Listen to what employees have to say and act on their recommendations. Try to reduce the amount you talk by at least 25 percent.
Take action on employee suggestions: Act on the input you get. Whether you implement a suggestion or not, close the loop with virtual office employees so they know their input was valued. They’ll be more likely to share their thoughts with you in the future.
Show you care: Find out what’s important to employees on a personal level and remember that information. This makes virtual office work more personal and relationships stronger.
Empathize (more): Learn how to make a reflective statement, which validates someone else’s feelings and shows thoughtfulness.
Share recognition and appreciation: Say “thank you” for a job well done with specific details about the positive performance. Reinforce good behaviors.
Ensure employees can articulate how they fit in: All virtual office employees want to know that they’re contributing to something larger than themselves. Talk with employees to ensure they can articulate how they specifically contribute to the overall goals of the organization.
Measure efforts: Use in-house tools such as a 360-degree or employee engagement surveys to get data on what’s working and what’s not. Alternatively, leaders should ask staff: “What two to three things can I do this year to make me more effective in how I communicate with you?”
NEW YORK—Are you working 60- to 70-hour shifts? If so, you aren’t alone. In many workplaces, staff has been reduced. In others, it’s a matter of working longer hours to generate new business.
Working from a virtual office can save you many hours of time in telecommuting and office distractions alone every day. But while virtual offices can definitely save time and bolster productivity, it’s not the only weapon in your time management arsenal.
Productivity and time management expert Laura Stack is suggesting we take a “work smarter” approach to living life in 2012 without suffering the high pressure burnout and potential health problems that many Americans are facing in their overburdened lifestyles, rife with distractions and low priority time sinks that interfere with work productivity and personal productivity. Virtual offices can help you avoid a lot of those distractions.
“Some professionals view a 40-hour work week as part time at best,” Stack says. “They believe that if you limit your hours to the traditional number, you also limit your opportunities.”
Stack says balancing the demands of the times with a healthy lifestyle requires careful planning and commitment to fitting positive productivity practices into the daily schedule. Among her suggestions: turn off the technology, visualize the successful completion of the days’ tasks, identifying priorities, and cut back or eliminate unnecessary distractions that eat up large portions of the day.
“Many people would be surprised if they added up all the minutes in a day they spent with unnecessary distractions like Facebook, for instance. We all need to attack our overcrowded daily itineraries head on, schedule everything we do during the day in advance, and stick to that plan to the best of our abilities,” Stack says.
“Obviously you can’t account for the unexpected all the time, but if you remain flexible and focused, you can stay on track without falling back into the same old pattern of burning the midnight oil night after night.”
Check out this classic video on time management tips from Brian Tracy:
IRVINE, CA–In case you wondered if virtual office space is really more efficient than traditional offices, you don’t have wonder any more. The Global Workspace Association is confirming it with its latest workspace industry study.
“Industry-wide, virtual office and meeting room services grew during the recent recession, but the real story is that these segments actually emerged from the recession supercharged, posting double digit growth in each of the past two years,” said John G. Jordan, president of GWA.
“Mobile workers who are self-employed or work with large companies have seen the benefits of shedding the risk and limitations of the traditional office in favor of virtual offices, touchdown space, and on-demand meeting spaces, and they are embracing these alternatives.”
Before we go any further, let’s clarify some definitions. Virtual offices fall into the workspace-as-a-service category. Workspace-as-a-service is on-demand workspace available with terms that allow businesses to align workspace and business needs.
Workspace-as-a-service offer fully serviced office space on flexible terms by the hour, day, week, month or year and include office business centers, executive suites, co-working facilities, virtual offices and meeting spaces. The workspace-as-a-service industry has seen strong growth of virtual office and meeting room services, catering to the growing corps of mobile workers around the globe.
Tony Wilkins of TCS, Inc in San Francisco, California, appreciates how the flexibility of on-demand meeting spaces allows him to tailor his meeting space expenses to his clients’ needs.
“I teach a business development workshop for small and midsized firms,” Wilkins says. “Sometimes my workshops have 30 people and sometimes only three. What I like most about Davinci Virtual Office Solutions is the flexibility in locations, cost and availability.”
GRAND RAPIDS, MICH.—Will most Michigan residents be telecommuting soon? That’s what Jennie Phillips, an MLive.com writer, wants to know. It’s a good question, too, considering that The Connect Michigan report reveals employers are more often allowing employees to work remotely from virtual offices. Consider some of the report’s findings:
- 47% of employed Michigan adults say the either telework now or would be willing to telecommute if their employees allowed them to.
- 29% of Michigan businesses offer telecommuting
- About 19% of Michigan employees work from home rather than driving into the office
- Teleworkers save $336.5 million in reduced auto operating costs statewide
The list of stats goes on and on. With the rise of telecommuting, of course, comes the rise of virtual office use. Davinci Virtual Office Solutions has plenty of virtual offices in Michigan, including the following cities:
- Bloomfield Hills
- Portage
- Grand Rapids
- Southfield
- Livonia
- Sterling Heights
- Novi
- Troy
One example is the Grand Rapids Executive Center in Grand Rapids. Located at 2525 E. Paris S.E., this virtual office location offers competitive solutions starting at just $50 a month. For this price, you get a prime business address, mail and package receipt, a business support center, lobby greeter and client drop off and pick up point. You can also have your mail forwarded to you for a nominal fee, or rent a conference room or day office on demand by the hour.
So if your company wants to be recognized for its flexible workplace initiatives, try alternative workplace strategies that employ virtual office solutions. Whether your company is located in Bloomfield Hills, Portage, Grand Rapids, Southfield, Livonia, Sterling Heights, Novi or Troy, we have virtual offices in Michigan to help you get started.
CERRITOS, CA—Cerritos is in the geographical center of the Los Angeles/Orange County metropolitan area. It’s a park-like community with a network of well-maintained, tree-lined streets.
Cerritos does indeed offer a strategic location for entrepreneurs who don’t want to pay the high cost of Los Angeles living but still want fast access to the City of Angels. Cerritos is served by Freeways 5, 605 and 91. Cerritos calls itself “A City with Vision.” So if you are an entrepreneur with a vision, then this may be the right location for you.
Davinci Virtual offers virtual office space in Cerritos at the Cerritos Business Center. Located at 18000 Studebaker, this Cerritos virtual offices has everything you need to get up and running. Not only do you get a prime business address, you also get mail and package receipt and access to a business support center.
When you rent Cerritos virtual office space from Davinci Virtual, clients who visit or drop off packages to the Cerritos Business Center will be greeted by a professional lobby receptionist who will help you make a good impression. You can also opt for mail forwarding and shipping services if you don’t want to stop by and pick up your mail.
If you need to rent a conference room in Cerritos or office space in Cerritos, Davinci Virtual has the hook up there, too. You can either opt for the meeting room package, which gives you 16 hours of meeting room access every month for $135, or you can rent conference room and office space by the hour on-demand.
Check out this YouTube video on Cerritos and get a quick glimpse of the city—from a bird’s eye view:
Business development. Non-profit. Account management. Medical and health. Data entry. These are the leaders in the flexible jobs category for January. So says FlexJobs.
FlexJobs is predicting that 2012 will be a big year for telecommuting jobs. I agree wholeheartedly. The trend is rising and it hasn’t hit its height yet. And where there is an increase in telecommuting, flexible work hours and other alternative workplace strategies there is a rise in the use of virtual office space.
“It’s exciting to see more and more telecommuting, freelance, part-time and flexible schedule jobs being offered in wide range of careers,” says Sara Sutton Fell, CEO and Founder of FlexJobs.
“There are many, many studies that have been concluding the overall benefits for companies to offer jobs that provide work flexibility for their staff, such as cost savings, increased productivity, and overall happier and less stressed employees. We have seen significant growth in the flexible jobs market in the past five years, and we anticipate more of the same for 2012!”
In December, FlexJobs reports that the Medical & Health category reclaimed the top position as the career field with the highest percentage of flexible job openings, a position it held for nine of the 12 months in 2011.
Following Medical & Health with the next highest number of flexible job openings in order were Administrative, Education & Training, Computer & IT, and Sales.
Meanwhile, career fields which saw the biggest declines in available positions in December were Graphic Design, Bilingual, Web & Software Development, Art & Creative and Customer Service.
I look forward to the FlexJobs report every month because it helps me track virtual office trends. I expect to see even more awareness of virtual offices in 2012 as flexible job directories like FlexJobs gain momentum—and as employers begin to realize that there are many different types of jobs that one can do from a virtual office.
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