We all know the adage, “Location is everything.” Training and research firm Leadership IQ® recently surveyed 3,478 employees using a 10-question online test called “Is Your Personality Suited to Working Remotely or in the Office?” The results of where employees want to work was a rousing endorsement of … not in the office!
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Conversely, employees who work remotely are significantly less likely to dislike or hate their jobs.
According to Leadership IQ Founder and CEO Mark Murphy’s blog, for research purposes, typical working situations were defined by the survey in this way:
- Mobile work—where the worker uses multiple spaces both in and out of the office;
- Telework or telecommuting—in which the employee works primarily from a home office; and
- Traditional worksite—such as an office building.
The breakdown of where respondents indicated they worked was 22% for mobile work, 13% for telework or telecommuting, and 65% worked at a traditional worksite.
Respondents were then asked to choose one of the following statements to describe how they feel about their job:
- I love it!
- I like it.
- It’s tolerable.
- I dislike it.
- I hate it!
Murphy announced that results showed only 24% of people who work in an office say they love their jobs, but 38% of mobile workers and 45% of telecommuting workers love their jobs.
That means, he said, that telecommuters are 87% more likely to love their jobs than office-based workers!
According to a press release, while respondents who classified themselves as remote workers were more likely to love their jobs than workers in an office, the question remains: Why? The data suggests that to love working remotely, you must have a hard-charging, go-getter, self-motivated mindset.
The survey also indicates that remote workers (telecommuting and mobile workers) display more ambition than those at traditional worksites. And, remote workers are significantly more likely to say they’re willing to pull all-nighters than their office-based peers.
“We hope this data helps dispel the stereotype that working from home (telecommuting) means sitting in pajamas, watching television, doing laundry, and only occasionally working,” says Murphy.
“To work remotely and love it requires striving harder and working longer,” he maintains. “And while that’s certainly not for everybody, those traits are a far cry from the negative stereotypes we often hear.”
More detailed information, including data charts, click here.