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Telecommuting: Its Pros and Cons
During the nineties, the
number of Americans doing 'telework' or 'telecommuting' grew from four
to twenty million. The number of 'teleworkers' seems set to increase
even further.
Teleworkers work from home or other remote locations, communicate
electronically with their workplace and generally lodge their work
electronically.
Teleworking has a number benefits for employers and employees but it
also has some pitfalls.
One advantage is reduced cost to
the employer, who can run a smaller office. This can be good for small
businesses operating on tight margins. A Telework America survey
showed that 45 percent of teleworkers were employed by companies with 25
employees or less.
There are some costs to telework, however. For example, teleworkers
often start out using their home computer but companies may eventually
provide upgraded hardware, as office needs may outstrip the capacity of
the home PC.
Home equipment also needs to be compatible with office equipment, and
bandwidth limitations on the home phone line can also cause problems if
work involves transferring large files.
IT security issues need to be addressed. Some companies use security
technology to protect themselves against hackers or other data thieves.
Sensitive information can be easier to access outside the company
intranet.
Security technology includes virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls,
virus scanning and callback software that can trace lost or stolen
laptops.
Telecommuting may increase worker productivity. Some surveys show
productivity increases of between 10 and 20 percent.
It's often said that home workers are better able to concentrate, as
there are fewer distractions. That's assuming there are no small
children running about the home, presumably.
Workers may also be mentally fresher when they don't have to make a long
commute. And flexible work schedules may benefit the employer; it may be
useful to have some workers available outside normal office hours.
Offering a teleworking option may also be a way for employers to hang
onto valued employees.
But not everyone is suited to working from home. Teleworkers must have
good time management skills. The employer needs to choose their
teleworkers from among staff that have a track record of being
proactive, independent and managing their work schedule well.
There can be disadvantages to telework, at least in the beginning.
Workers commonly worry that they are not in the boss's view and this may
harm their job prospects. They miss office camaraderie. They may feel
lonely and out-of-touch.
Yet a three-year study of 200 US and Australian teleworkers showed that
over 70 percent of the subjects wanted to continue to work away from the
office indefinitely.
Dr Neville Myers from the Queensland University of Technology carried
out the study.
Personality was a key factor in successful teleworking.
'If they were volunteer telecommuters and they had high motivation and
high need for autonomy then telecommuting was a very positive experience
- providing the organizational support was there' he told Inside QUT.
'My study pinpointed the strong interaction between personal motivation
and organizational support - neither one can exist without the other.'
'The need for control, self-regulatory behavior and setting reasonable
goals are all major determinants for successful telecommuting.'
'If your organization won't give adequate technical support or believes
you are not career-motivated because you are telecommuting, then
obviously there will be problems.'
There are also possible legal risks to teleworking. For example,
employers need to be aware of their Occupational Health and Safety
obligations towards employees working at home.
And employees need to be on the lookout for unscrupulous employers who
could use telecommuting as a way to erode their worker entitlements.
Useful websites include:
www.telework.org.uk
www.jfpresources.com
www.ivc.ca
telecommuting.about.com
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