HR technology leader takes data-driven approach in launching Workspace Anywhere to recruit and retain a highly skilled, high-performing workforce
Businessolver, a leader in SaaS-based benefits technology, today announced its transition to a remote-first employment model, allowing employees the continued freedom to work from any geographic or physical location and widening its potential talent pool across the United States. Under the model, Businessolver employees will continue to have the technical and personnel support to continue working remotely as they have over the last year, or leverage the company’s worksites according to their personal comfort or professional needs. The initiative, which the company calls Workspace Anywhere, is a data-driven approach born of Businessolver’s own informal employee surveys and its research-backed 2021 State of Workplace Empathy Study—both of which show that flexibility regarding work location correlates to high employee engagement, productivity, and satisfaction with their employer.
HR Technology News: PlanSource Reduces Unnecessary Benefit Costs With AI-Powered DependentIQ For Employers
“Last year, after taking stock of what the data and health professionals were telling us, our widely in-person, brick-and-mortar workforce became 100% remote to keep our employees safe and our business operations sustainable,” said Jon Shanahan, Businessolver CEO and President. “This year, we’re again following the data in creating Workspace Anywhere, our initiative to keep our Solvers engaged and productive, and allow us to add new Solvers to our ranks who have our shared commitment to high performance and client delight—without the constraints of shared geography. With this initiative, we will no longer require an in-office force, but rather encourage employees to choose the workspace that is the right fit for them.”
After taking just three days in March 2020 to shutter its eight offices nationwide and shift operations to the homes of its more than 1,200 employees, Businessolver added two metrics related to remote work to its weekly Employee Pulse Survey. The brief survey asks Solvers to rate the extent to which they are engaged in their work, given feedback from their leader, and feel connected to the company’s mission and vision. Within a month of shifting to remote work, Employee Pulse scores increased by roughly 10% and continued rising throughout 2020, according to Businessolver. The organization also notes that attrition rates were 4.5% lower in 2020 than in the previous year, and that being able to recruit top talent from anywhere in the U.S. allowed the company to focus more broadly on candidate diversity, skill, and culture fit.
Additionally, productivity did not suffer from this fully remote workforce. In fact, Businessolver saw some of its highest audit scores in looking at quality and consistency within work completed.
HR Technology News: Align HCM Welcomes New Chief Strategy Officer, Mike Emsley
“As an organization committed to the Baldrige framework, we report out weekly on ‘critical to quality’ scores that assess our ability to meet deadlines and deliver a kind, consistent, and quality experience for our clients and their employees,” said Shanahan. “Those weekly audits did not change with the move to remote work, yet our numbers improved reaching our highest level of consistent scores since launching the Baldridge framework in 2016, proof that quality of work was not affected by the shift to a virtual workforce.”
Further, according to Businessolver‘s 2021 State Workplace Empathy Study, satisfaction with remote work extends beyond its own workforce. The annual study, now in its sixth year, surveys a statistically significant sample of U.S. employees, HR professionals, and CEOs to yield trends and perceptions around empathy at work. Specifically, this year’s data shows:
- 93% of employees say the ability to work remotely is a sign of employer empathy.
- 89% of employees who had the option to work remotely report satisfaction with their employer, 15 percentage points higher than those who did not have the option.
- 66% of employees say they are more productive working remotely, and that the quality of their work has improved.
- Even among employees who don’t believe it would be possible to work remotely, 82% still see the option to work remotely as a sign of employer empathy.
“As a leader, I know this road has not been easy and the future is still uncertain,” Shanahan noted in the study’s executive summary. “However, I am confident that no matter what twists in the road we meet, empathy can propel us safely around the curves. In that spirit, and in acting on what the data is telling us, we’ve taken [steps] at Businessolver to create a more empathetic workplace for our employees.”
HR Technology News: Airspace Expands Leadership Team With Anna Goranson As Head Of People