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The Advantages of Teleworking

Every company understands that work-life balance is a great motivating factor for ensuring employee loyalty and retention. Initiatives like flexible timing, creative leave options and teleworking are emerging as VERY popular trends. In the past teleworking was regarded as a perk but today many organisations consider it as a necessity.

It is a preferred option for both employers and employees. Teleworking can be described as the practice of establishing, developing and maintaining successful off-site business practices through telecommunication. Current workplace trends are promoting more flexibility for employees and tailoring jobs to fit individual needs. The image of the traditional workplace where employees walk-in into a work area is being replaced with associates working wherever they can be most efficient and productive, whether at home or anywhere outside office. The availability of affordable technology has also been a major contributors to ‘any time, any place’ telecommuting trend.

Telecommuting is a work option that has steadily gained in popularity and commands a strong position as a viable alternative in the IT business world. Telecommuting is intended to provide a better quality of life for associates and promote enhance job performance.

The availability of more affordable technology has enabled companies to adopt telecommuting as an alternative work arrangement. A tight job market, fierce competition for talent and a record high turnover among the IT workforce are several reasons why many organisations see teleworking as a benefit to entice new recruits. Another factor fuelling the teleworking trend is the high price of commercial real estate. Instead of leasing new office space or expanding existing office buildings, it is considerably less expensive to provide associates with notebooks and phone lines to work from the convenience of their own homes. Ranajoy Punja, vice-president, marketing, Cisco Systems India, says, “Increasingly, there is a lot of pressure on IT organisations to improve productivity and the need to quickly react to market requirements.

Teleworking is not entirely replacing the office environment, instead it is increasing in certain key IT segments such as call centres, customer support and telemarketing, where the workforce for whatever reasons cannot work in office full-time.

For employees teleworking has its obvious advantages leading to increased productivity, more autonomy, greater lifestyle flexibility, reduced stress, work satisfaction, motivation and no wastage of time commuting to the workplace. Teleworking also provides easier work conditions for workers with disabilities. On the other hand, employers can benefit from teleworking as it allows a reduction in overhead costs, increases labour productivity, which means higher profits and provides additional recruitment and retention options due to a larger, talented labour pool. Telecommuting also reduces business disruptions due to emergencies such as floods, power outages, strikes and illnesses.

There are several problems associated with teleworking, namely time management and team coordination with co-workers and managers. Isolation is another drawback as teleworkers at home may miss the camaraderie and support of co-workers. Without formal structure that the workplace provides, it may be difficult for telecommuters to work efficiently. Teleworking can also lead to burnout or overwork as telecommuting gives 24- hour access to work and workaholics may work in excess. This mode of work is vulnerable to household distractions and hence there can be blurred boundaries between work and family, which might interfere with a teleworker’s productivity. In certain cases teleworkers may worry that their reduced visibility will limit their potential for advancement due to isolation, the potential for longer work hours and diminished access to resources in the workplace.

On the other hand, one biggest obstacle for employers is the issue of control. Because monitoring performance is more difficult for those working at home, managers often do not recognise the contributions made by teleworkers by way of good performance reviews and promotions.

Teleworkers are often not provided clear performance goals by their managers, who sometimes mistake useful work with physical presence.
Successful teleworking comprises four main elements — the right work, the right associate, the right supervisor and the right top management support.

This article was sourced from the Web Confercing Council Blog dated April 17, 2009

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