For the last two years, companies have wrestled with the complexities of remote working. Driven by pandemic lockdowns, most have been forced to implement home and hybrid work models.

‘Work from anywhere’ is the latest iteration of remote employment, with large organisations like Deloitte, PwC, and Atlassian giving employees the freedom to work in other cities, states and countries.

It’s a great opportunity for them to catch up with family, after lockdown separations. It also offers the chance for teams to work while travelling, in a new form of work-life balance.

We helped our client Webprofits set up their own ‘work from anywhere’ staff benefit, introducing their teams to this exciting new working model.

The challenge

Webprofits is blazing a trail in the Australian ‘work from anywhere’ space. That’s because other major companies are only offering this form of outreach work in countries where they already have offices.

Our client wanted to offer this opportunity to their workers and while this presented some unique challenges around payroll and tax compliance, it also granted their employees an incredible amount of freedom and opportunity.

The outcome

With close consultation and collaboration, we created a ‘work from anywhere’ framework that included guiding principles to ensure there was no interruption to business and clients.

The policy allows employees to work overseas for up to two months every year.

The benefits

‘Work from anywhere’ is still in its infancy for Australian businesses. It offers undeniable advantages, however, opening up global talent pools to companies currently starved of access to the skill sets they need.

• Broaden the talent pool when recruiting.
• Compete with larger businesses for the same talent.
• Attract new staff, while retaining the best talent.
• Allow employees to live and work close to family members.
• Give employees the flexibility to combine work and travel.
• Supports staff to extend working from an overseas location beyond their holiday.
• Provide all staff with remote access, wherever they are based.

Paul Sprokkreeff, Webprofits CEO says it was a calculated next step in the company’s development.

“We’re proud to be a remote-first company, with all the benefits this bestows. Having restructured our entire operation, our employees can now choose to work from anywhere in the world. And we are able to attract and nurture some of the best digital talent globally, significantly expanding our recruitment talent pool.

This progressive move is a logical extension of Webprofits’ dedication to technological innovation, digital growth and professional development. We see it as a natural evolution in our performance-based business operations.”

The Webprofits team is also delighted with the new policy, their feedback includes:

-“I felt stagnant in routine post-pandemic, and being able to travel for work and enjoy a new country in my own time was a potent reminder of how to balance life and work.”

-“Exceptional! It provides great work-life balance and for us who don’t have family close, the opportunity to connect with family and friends. It has a positive effect on our mental well-being. In terms of the policy itself, it is straightforward, it is fair and it is manageable. It is very simple which makes it easy to comply with!”

-“I think it’s an awesome benefit – I’m definitely going to do it someday. I love the idea of it and provides freedom to the employee. It also allows you to work on different hours to everyone else. I know this might be a negative in some ways, but also a huge positive in terms of how much work you’ll be able to do due to the reduced distractions.”

Keen to overhaul your own working model? Ask the HR experts for help!