Hot Desking - a new business strategy

by David J. Moorman

Hot Desking is a term that came about with Hot bunking on ships in the Navy. As businesses seek more ways to reduce their costs, they find themselves taking new and sometimes even radical approaches to meeting their goals. Cutting down on the largest expenditures is first in line. After all, a small percentage reduction in the biggest expense can save a lot of money. Employee accommodations are in the top 3 highest variable costs in most businesses. It can take lots of space and hardware to house an employee.

Market conditions has brought a new IT business philosophy onto the table as an option for reducing these space and hardware expenses. That strategy is known as hot desking. Hot desking uses a series of technologies, like VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastruture) and virtualization, and packages them together. Hot desking gives employees complete mobility with all of the data and applications necessary to facilitate their productivity. With this new mobility, they are free from the requirements of a desk space and the same computer. They can work literally anywhere, anytime on most any device. The more dynamic the work environment, the greater benefit hot desking will provide.

Businesses With A High Percentage Of Shift Workers

If your workplace runs on more than one shift, hot desking can cut your costs in half. It’s obvious that people who work at different times can share a single computer, but shift work is rarely that cut and dry. Often times, there are overlapping shifts, flexible hours, and the same employees working multiple shifts. When your workforce has complex personnel requirements, they shouldn't have to be bound by a single desktop computer. Hot desking allows workers to use any computer that is available and still have access controls to their own customized work environment. Wherever there is a computer available, they can work.

Businesses With A High Percentage Of Part-Time Employees

Some businesses only need part-time employees, but it can be resource intensive to provide each one with a desk and computer. Hot desking allows part-time employees to log-in anywhere there is a computer available. Since they are only in the office part of the time, 40 part time employees can easily share 20 computers and maintain their productivity.

Businesses With A High Percentage Of Remote Workers

Remote workers only spend 10% or less of their time actually in the office. It would be ridiculous to provide them with the same resources as someone who is in the office 40+ hrs. a week. Hot desking gives remote employees independence and freedom from a single workstation.

Businesses With A High Percentage Of Travelers And Sales People

Those who spend most of their time on the road don’t find it necessary to have a permanent spot in an office. Dedicating space and resources to people who spend a fraction of their workweek in one place need a solution that is as mobile as their lives. Hot desking is the perfect travel partner for road warriors. Regardless of their device, whether its a smart phone, tablet, or laptop, their digital work environment can be with them.

Dynamic Work Environments

Hot desking is the ideal solution for companies that have under utilized desktops. If you notice work spaces remaining empty for any period of time in your office, hot desking is a worthy of consideration. It’s a high tech solution to an old business problem. With hot desking, you can decrease costs while increasing mobility and productivity.