What’s your strategy for 2022?

Is 2022 finally getting us back to some normality, or are we looking into an unknown future? While change isn’t all bad and adapting to new realities can create new opportunities for businesses, caution is key. An optimistic outlook and harvesting the benefits of remote work from the previous year should be a key strategy for the upcoming year.

Will remote work prevail?

According to a study by the OECD, in the US and Canada 85-90% of new COVID-19 affected teleworkers reported to be at least as productive as on site. A research among Russian companies conducted by RAEC, HSE University and Microsoft found that 75.5% of top managers noted good productivity of their subordinates with the transition to remote work. South Ural State University came to similar conclusions with 77% of respondents stating that they work more effectively remotely.

Work and leisure time being mixed up also means that employees can manage their work day flexibly and are often available at earlier and later hours, i.e. whenever needed.

In cities like Moscow reducing commuting time may gain employees 53min of time daily, which they can use for work or leisure.

It’s a hot topic and we expect surveys and more data to emerge in the months to come, to support the new concept of virtual team work and organizations. Provided you invested previously in establishing a corporate culture of excellence, hired the right employees, fostered their engagement and developed your leadership skills, you may keep on benefitting from remote work.

Could virtual work mean saving costs?

When you venture to your corporate office, how many employees do really occupy their desks nowadays? If you are looking into empty halls and deserted work stations you may want to overthink your arrangements. If the majority of your employees are remote, then why should you keep unnecessary office space?

Consider cutting it. Review if your landlords provides flexible options on decreasing and increasing space as needed or switch to coworking space altogether. Coworking space is bound to continue to increase worldwide, with an estimated 5 million people worldwide to work from such spaces by 2024 according to Coworking Resources.

It’s not just what you save on office rent. We recommend looking into your current partnership and supplier agreements. According to our practice, many companies neglect reviews and thus overlook ways of creating more efficient structures and deals. A few examples from our experience:

• Landlords and office providers often have internet service contracts included that are higher than competing offers on the market. We were able to re-negotiate and reduce the monthly internet provider cost (Beeline) for one of our clients by 50%.
• What are you paying monthly for administrative support services? For remote work a good office manager and administrator is a key factor. If you currently have your administrator in-house, consider an outsourced model. We serve as outsourced administrative provider for many of our clients, which is especially attractive if you have a small team in Russia. If you have the administrative function currently outsourced, get a competing offer! You can always use it to negotiate better terms with your current provider.
• Outsource your company management or combine it with another position in your company. The formal function of a General Director can be overtaken by the Sales Director, or another responsible person in the company. We can offer you management services such as General Director services and outsourced Chief Accountant.
• Profit from tax reductions. Some companies qualify due to the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce their social tax rates from 30% to 15%. For this an audit and registration in the state registry of small and medium-sized companies is required. Contact us for assistance!

Contact us for a quote to review your current service and supplier agreements.