Working from Home ups the odds of loving your job: Survey

Working from home significantly increases your chances of loving your job, as opposed to working from one traditional office building, the findings of a survey from Leadership IQ reveal. The survey, published last month, was based on responses from 3,478 employees using an online test. The findings show a remarkable gap in the perspectives, motivation and ambition of different types of employees, based on where they work from.

Here are the findings of the survey:

"I love it!"

• Employees who work from home, and are mobile workers, are much more likely to love their work as compared to their colleagues who work from an office
• While 24% of the respondents who work in a traditional workspace affirm their ‘love’ for their work, the number rose to 38% in case of mobile workers and 45% in case of employees who work from home.
• The sentiment is repeated when 4% of traditional office goers say that they disliked their jobs, as opposed to 2% of mobile workers and 1% of those who telecommute. Similarly 3% of the respondents who went to a regular office ‘hate’ their jobs, as opposed to 1% of the other two categories. 

Ambition

• To dispel the notion that employees who telecommute or are mobile workers only love their job because they can afford to be lackadaisical, or can get away with subpar work, the survey also measured the ambition of different types of workers. 
• While 71% of those who telework and 73% mobile workers consider being ‘average’ to be a terrible thought, a lower 65% of the traditional office goer hold the same viewpoint.
• Similarly, the need to be the ‘best’ at their work was as opposed to simply being good was higher in mobile workers and teleworkers. 

Beating the deadline 

• The survey also sought to understand how different types of employees view deadline and the pressure that come with it. Unsurprisingly, the results were not in the favour of regular office goers.
• The inclination to meet deadlines, even if it means pulling all-nighters, was notably higher in those who work from home (87%) and mobile workers (83%) than traditional office goer (76%).
• Furthermore, asking for extending deadlines was more frequent in those who worked in an office at 24%, as opposed to mobile workers (17%) and work-from-home employees (13%).

Mark Murphy, the founder of Leadership IQ, says in the blog discussing the results of the survey, “The data suggests that to love working remotely you’ve got to have a hard-charging, go-getter, self-motivated mindset. Working remotely isn’t always easy; there’s isolation, a fear of missing out, miscommunication and more. So it seems that to overcome those pitfalls, a successful remote worker has to be driven and hard working. There’s often less support (emotional, administrative, managerial, etc.) for telecommuting and mobile workers. So the only way for them to survive and still achieve their desired career success is to push themselves to be the best and be willing to work all night to hit every deadline.”

Indeed, the findings of the survey show a remarkable departure from the false notions that are prevalent regarding employees who work from home or are mobile workers. The biggest of them all is probably the assumption that those who do not work from office, do not take their tasks and work as seriously, and prioritise others things (say household chores, entertainment, other projects) over their job. The results show that not only is this untrue, but also employees who work outside of the office are likely to be more ambitious and more regular in meeting deadlines. With a dramatic increase in the size and force of a workforce that seeks flexible options to work, the results are essential to comprehend how they work. However, Mark does sum up rather aptly, “To work remotely and love it requires striving harder and working longer. And while that’s certainly not for everybody, those traits are a far cry from the negative stereotypes we often hear.”