Successful businesses today are always on the hunt for the next ‘big thing’ to give them an advantage over the competition. For most organizations this means finding a way to cut costs and increase employee productivity. Remote workers are a growing population worldwide and they are that “next big thing.”

Remote working involves no longer being tethered to a desk and a phone at a central office location. Instead, these employees are out in the field, meeting with clients and working efficiently regardless of their physical location.

But working from home isn’t just something that employees can enjoy, as new benefits for businesses are also being recognized.

Thanks to technologies like mobile devices, an Internet connection and UC solutions, both employers and their workforce can be more efficient and productive and in turn reap financial benefits.

Awareness of these benefits has created an uptick in the market. According to a recent survey conducted by Polycom and Redshift Research, companies across Europe are in favor of flexible working strategies because they do more than just cut down on the cost of travel, but are also improving worker productivity, attitudes and satisfaction, while also helping the business to realize bigger overall financial advantages.

Happier, more satisfied employees also create the basis for a strong workforce.  Almost all of the respondents of the survey (97 percent) agreed that these employees did work harder and were in fact more productive.

Businesses in Europe have already begun to realize this and more and more are allowing their workers to have flexibility with the hours they work and the location they choose to work from.

A key technology behind this push to a larger remote workforce is video collaboration. With devices like Apple’s iPad and services like those offered by Skype, it’s easier to connect to a live video conference with another participant or a group of others, regardless of each person’s location.

Around 60 percent of survey respondents said they are already using face-to-face video collaboration and 72 percent said it’s a key reason efficiency is up as well as productivity (about 39 percent higher).

“In the past, flexible working has primarily been considered an employee benefit, enabling a better work-life balance and reducing travel time and costs,” said Gary Rider, president of EMEA Polycom. “But in fact, these results show that a flexible working strategy is a huge benefit to the business too.”