Flexibility is the key to a happy work force!

Apparently, the economy is going part-time (as reported by Chris Zappone - The Age Newspaper - 6 November 2008)


Hi again

As a work from home mother of 3 children and more specifically as a Director of Virtual Angels, I was so pleased to read the details of Chris Zappone's report!

In the report, the following points were made:

• Employers are increasingly turning to part-time workers to fill their needs as the economic slowdown begins to pinch and NSW's jobless rate jumps.
  
• The economy added an unexpectedly large number of jobs last month - 34,300 in total - but the gain masked the loss of 9200 full-time positions.
• The unemployment rate stayed put at 4.3% because of the whopping 43,500 part-time positions created last month - the most since April 2001.

This is positive news for all our registered (and would be) Angels.

We at Virtual Angels know the value of flexibility, because we have over 1700 registered Angels who tell us how important it is to them, to be able to work and help to provide for the family, but also to be their for their family. We all know how quickly our children grow up, and if we can, isn't it great for at least one parent to be around when they go to school and when they come home? To be able to attend the Christmas concert or the open morning at pre-school? What about when the children are sick or on school holidays - which is approx 12 weeks per year - what job (apart from a teacher or school worker) can offer 12 weeks annual leave per year?

Obviously some people cannot afford to work only part-time, but businesses have to understand the benefits of recruiting work from home employees.

The feedback from employers when broached with the offer of work from home resources is that they don't trust that the work will be done properly or will take longer and that they have no control over the person. WRONG! The feedback we have from our clients that utilise work from home contractors is that the work rate is far quicker, the cost is cheaper and the Angel often gives 110% . Why? Put Simply, Angels feel grateful, they don't want to loose the opportunity, they feel appreciated, they are contributing to a business and their family and most importantly the are HAPPY! (because we should all know that flexibility is key!)

A couple more points to consider:

• A stay at home worker doesn't have to allow for travelling time, which means they have even more time to dedicate to a job if they work from home.
  
• When normal workers leave work to go home, their work is done for the day. We find that our Angels will work into the evening to finish an assignment if necessary.
  
• Some even prefer to work in the evening when the house is quiet!
  
• How nice would it be to have a task sent out at 4pm and the finished task waiting for you in your email inbox the next morning when you arrived at work?
  
• Now, isn't that the way forward?

So if you are a business person reading this blog - please, don't write off work from home employees, give us a chance.

Contact us on 1300 659 802 or via our contact form.

If you aren't in business but would like to work from home, log on to our website now and register your details to Become An Angel and remember - spread your wings and spread the word - the more businesses that know about Virtual Angels, the more opportunities we will start to see.

If you are interested, you can read Chris Zappone's full report online here

Thanks for reading - have a great week.....

Suzanne @ Virtual Angels

ps did you know is only 4 weeks to Christmas - are your staff going on a well deserved Christmas break? If you need help please contact us know, we have many Angels who are willing to work not only from home, but at a client's office if necessary!!