Castle Sixth Form Centre
A study into the
effects of an
increasingly
teleworking society.
Is the home a suitable workplace?
998 Words.
Alex Saint
Introduction
Teleworking can be defined as working at home, or at a telecentre near to home, for some of or all
of the time. It nearly always involves work that has to be done with a computer. Teleworking is
becoming increasingly popular for many organisations, especially businesses heavily based around
the use of computers, who can easily allow employees to work remotely.
Examples of different types of teleworking:
Home/flexible working - whereby work hours are adjustable and/or working from home is
encouraged a few days a week
Remote working - working in an office base that is not the employees usual work location
Virtual meetings - using modern technology to conduct a meeting instead of travelling to be
face-to-face (e.g. audio or video conferencing)
The advantages of teleworking
Teleworking is an attractive opportunity for employers and employees alike, as it has many benefits
affecting a wide range of teleworkers and businesses.
Benefits for Employers
Reduced Costs
The main savings are in office overheads and labour. Companies adopting telework methods achieve
significant reductions in total office occupancy. In some circumstances recruitment costs can also be
reduced, as can the costs associated with high staff turnover rates. If a company adopts a total
"flexible working" strategy, all costs associated with relocation of staff can be eliminated.
Productivity Gains
Productivity increases are a known benefit of teleworking, even across large-scale programmes.
Teleworkers avoid travel time and the interruptions of a office environment. Both teleworkers and
their managers consistently achieve significant productivity gains.
Improved Motivation
When utilised correctly, employees will respond well to the gesture of trust and confidence
indicated by the employer.
A more flexible business
Teams representing the best skills and experience for a particular project can be created, regardless
of geography and time zones and with a minimal need for extra travel.
Benefits for Employees.
Time Efficiency
Much time is wasted when employees are stuck in transit to and from work. This is an obvious
motivation for workers.
Reduced Costs
Cutting the costs of transit would be huge saving in many workers' eyes. This would also help
motivate workers more.
Flexible Life/Work
Employees will find it greatly motivating to be able to fit their private lives around their work much
more easily.
Less Time Wasted
Time saved will not only increase help workers devote more of their time to work, as mentioned
above, but they will also have more time for the private lives.
Flexible Hours
Many workers are more efficient at certain times in the day, and the flexible hours associated with
teleworking can help utilise this.
The disadvantages of teleworking
Some employers find holes in the idea of teleworking, but ultimately this is usually because they do
not trust their own employees to work unsupervised. The genuine disadvantages of teleworking are
far and few between, and they affect employers and employees alike.
Inequality
Some colleagues can be jealous of other employees who are allowed to work from home, especially
if they are refused the chance to telework. This can create an atmosphere of discontent in the
workplace.
Reduced Social Interaction
Many employers believe that teleworking can result in social and professional isolation, which can
be especially troublesome when these employees are occasionally required to meet customers face-
to-face, which can result in awkward relations.
Lack of Supervision
Monitoring performance can be tricky for teleworking employers, so they have to trust workers to
motivate themselves and work as if they were in the regular workplace. If employees abuse this, it
can be difficult to identify, and if found employers will begin to have doubts in their entire
teleworking employee base.
Diminished Access to Office Resources
Not all resources can be smoothly relayed to workers remotely, and having to store them digitally
and then forward them on to remote workers can waste time. As well as this, employees will no
longer have the same level of IT support they may have had in their regular workplace. This too can
result in wasted time and inefficiency.
Social and Economic Benefits
Reduced Traffic Congestion
In areas like central London, even a small decrease in the amount of regular commuters can have a
profound effect on the level of traffic, and can also decrease CO2 emissions .
Wider Employment
Potentially, telework can enable people in an area of high unemployment to have access to work
opportunities that arise anywhere worldwide.
Access to Work for People with Specific Difficulties
Telework can also enable access to work, training and social interaction for people who have specific
problems - for example those with disabilities that make it difficult to travel to work or to do a
normal nine-to-five working day; single parents who need to be at home for the children; carers with
responsibility for an elderly or sick relative. Again, special measures may be needed to make such
access possible.
Summary
Telecommuting covers a wide range of working concepts with emphasis being placed on flexibility.
In general the arrangements for telecommuting are formalised between employers and employees
and are often part of a programme incorporating changes in a company’s organisation.
Telecommuting has the potential to reduce overall vehicle miles, particularly during the peak
commuting hours, and so lead to improvements in environmental and accident impacts. There are
also potentially other, non-transport, benefits associated with telecommuting:
1. Increased productivity of labour and increase in motivation of employees;
2. Reduced facility space and expenses for employers;
3. Access to a wide labour pool, recruitment and retention of valued labour for employers; and,
4. Proximity to family and community and improved quality of life for employees.
Whether telecommuting can fulfil its potential to in these areas is dependent upon personal life
styles and travel patterns. Current evidence appears to support the principle that telecommuting
tends to work well for most businesses, and genuinely increases workforce motivation and
organisation flexibility.