PARKER, Colo. — David Boskovic always had a plan for a remote-based work environment for his 35 employees. He is the CEO of data onboarding company Flatfile.
"We were sort of ahead of the curve before the COVID problems we were about to see," Boskovic said. "We found with a lot of our team members, they were trying to balance their personal life. They were trying to position their laptops so their messy bed in the background wasn’t there."
So, Boskovic decided to expedite his remote-first formula by offering $10,000 stipends for his employees. It allows for the employee to hire an interior designer to come in and provide an extreme home-office makeover.
"We realized we needed to take the same investment that we would have put into an office place and put that into our employees," Boskovic explained.
Employee JK Sparks had a garage bay full of storage. It was totally transformed thanks to his boss.
"Having the dedicated space is so important," Sparks said. "They’re putting their money where their mouth is. It's their way of saying they value us and know how much value we bring to the business."
Sparks is a dad. Before the renovation, he had to juggle his personal life with work. He said he doesn't have to anymore.
"I'm more productive. I'm focused. It gives me a space to detach from your home life while still working from home," he said.
Boskovic said he believes this was a necessary business decision in a work environment that has been changed forever.
"Our employee satisfaction has gone through the roof and our retention has also," Boskovic said. "Those are two things that every employer should care about and this is absolutely worth the investment."
According to Forbes, an estimated 70% of the workforce will be working remotely at least five days a month by 2025.
