Telecommuting: Out of Sight, In Touch

We have been witnesses of how traffic congestions build up in downtown metropolis on Monday mornings. Employees are so stressed out in traveling each day from their homes to their offices. On top of that, they are also concerned with the families they left in their homes; whether the hired help was able to follow instructions concerning the children; or just plain spending more quality time with them. Government has been trying options on easing up the traffic jam, encouraging companies to adopt flexible work schedules and adopting a telecommuting program.

In the advent of technological breakthroughs, telecommuting became pretty much feasible to companies. In the December 31, 2004 issue of the INQ7.net, it stated that Japan wants 20% of its workforce to telecommute by 2010. Japan had launched pilot programs to ensure that they could achieve the target comes 2010. As of 2004 Japan had four million workforce using technology to work away from their offices.

In 2003, 4.4 million Americans did all or most of their work from home; this was according to International Telework Association & Council. Furthermore, by the end of 2004 that number had increased to 84% or 8.1 million.

In the Philippines, a survey commissioned by Avaya Inc., a business communication applications provider, showed that 75% of Filipino managers now trust their staff to telecommute and 68% believe that allowing employees to telecommute improves productivity.

According to Avaya, the technological advancement has changed the perception of senior managers towards telecommuting, with 66 % of Filipino executives carrying two or more mobile devices (mobile phones, laptop). The survey tapped 1,661 executives from 222 companies in the country.

What is telecommuting really? Well, it is simply referred to as doing all or part of one’s job at home. It is a situation where an employee is free from stress of commuting each day to the office, fewer work interruptions, and a comfortable work environment. In a book authored by Felstead and his fellow authors Nick Jewson and Sally Walters, they argued that “eliminating downtime and stretching working hour is another way of intensifying work”. As we all know a portion of the labor force has young children, and one of the means to help them is through homeworking or teleworking.

Other benefits we could derive from adopting a “telecommuting program”:

Employees

· Decreasing stress
· Providing flexible work/family schedules
· Increasing job satisfaction
· Improving the work environment
· Decreasing cost of clothing and food

Employer

· Increased productivity
· Decreased absenteeism and turnover
· Increased recruitment advantage
· Expanded labour pool
· Improved managerial techniques
· Improved employee morale
· Decreased overhead costs

Community

· Decreased peak-hour congestion
· Cleaner air
· Reduced fuel consumption
· Decreased transportation costs
· Increased neighbourhood security

Benefits include increased productivity when freed from non-essential meetings, office socializing/gossip and office politics; working in a familiar, comfortable, quiet work environment; greater accuracy in output; performance based on productivity and quality of work rather than by clock-punching.

At the flip side, the employers are thinking of foregoing capital expenditures from the properties required to operate a traditional structure of operation and ultimately investing it to the expansion or improvement of the business. Flexibility is often the driver of the program because it creates a positive ripple effect on the other aspects of the business and organization.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Statistics has showed that a motivated employee produces more quality results than an average employee who is not.

In a 2002 survey, AT&T, a vast proponent of teleworking, was found to be saving an estimated $25 million each year on office space in addition to over $65 million annually in improved productivity thanks to its home-based

Telecommuting as a work option for organization can greatly help in its drive to recruit and retain skilled employees. We have also to consider the fact that recruitment cost had gone up and it’s difficult to find qualified candidates. We have to look into the benefits it provides not only to prospective employees but also the expansion of the geographic area from which companies is able to recruit.


The International Telework Association and Council (ITAC) suggest the following steps to a better telecommuting program:


Designate jobs for telecommuting.

Companies that plan to telecommute should exert extra effort to identify the jobs for telecommuting because sometimes the ones that work are the least obvious. ITAC suggests that companies should look into the activity, not job title, to determine suitability. The key, it says, is to find jobs with at least a portion of the work that can be done as well, or better, away from the office. The program can therefore get the employee away from the distractions and interruptions in the typical work environment.

Choose the right employees.

According to the survey conducted by U.K’s University of Central Lancashire, telecommuters who need the emotional support and camaraderie typically found at the office end up suffering from poor concentration, sleeping problems, worry, and stress. Not every Tom, Dick and Harry can work as telecommuter. They have to undergo selection process and qualify.

Get management support at all levels.

Just like any other programs in a business organization, telecommuting requires support from all levels. At some point programs fail because it has no “buy in” from executives who have authority to the processes. We cannot blame them for reacting that way because they might not have been consulted about it or probably it was just a quick-fix for retention problems.

Oftentimes, programs very similar to telecommuting are not successful in the implementation because they are not supported by the same people given the task to implement it. Why? Probably, it challenges their beliefs and practices in supervising people or they are not comfortable losing physical proximity to their employees. And it is not far to say that the supervisors themselves might be the one creating problems for the telecommuting program just to ensure that management will stop its implementation and get back to the traditional way of conducting the operation.

Provide training to supervisors, telecommuters, and on-site employees.

Inasmuch as telecommuting is a new program which extensively uses technology and a different model to perform its tasks, it must train its people how to cope up with the intricacies and challenges of the program. The team must be aware of the new work environment, changing cultures, management styles so that they are able to anticipate any contingencies along the way. Formally training its personnel for the telecommuting program is an effective way of handling the transition.

ITAC suggest that a major component of the training should include an explanation of the organization’s telecommuting policy. This policy should outline the company’s positions on eligibility, work hours, equipment provision, technical support, performance measurements, family care, recordkeeping, ownership of physical and intellectual property, requirements for in-office appearances, and termination of the program.

Telecommuting policies should be understood and cleared to the participants and non-participants of the program to ensure understanding and support from each of this group. This would avoid conflicts and confusion. A good example is the speculation that workers are using their time at home to be with their children can be stopped before it starts by clearly stating the company’s policy that alternative child care arrangements must be in place during the agreed work hours.

Make telecommuting an integral part of the workplace.

The success of the program depends upon the acceptance of the organization. The program must be considered part of the regular flow of information and decisions. HR professionals must now determine ways and means to improve complementation of the program with the rest of the units in the organization. Effective communication must be maintained between that telecommuters and head office.

We are heading in the new ubiquitous era, where we can work and access the systems in our respective offices at the convenience of our homes, a solution indeed. Both the company and the employee can come out ahead, something that we don’t see happening very often.


References

Brinkmeyer, Jessalyn, Home Sweet Office, Vol. 157, Issue 3, March 2005
Edwards, Catherine, Remote Control, People Management, Vol. 11, Issue 12,p30-32, June 16, 2005
Fishner, Anne, How telecommuters can stay connected, Fortune, Vol. 151, Issue 11,p142, May 30, 2005
Kisor, Michael, Telecommuting, Magic Publications, Copyright 1995-2002
www.news.inq7.net
www.instanthrpolicies.com
www.telcoa.org