The ability to telecommute is a great gift to both workers and employers. Transportation to work, even if it is only takes a half hour in the morning and evening, means that employees spend one hour of time trying to get to work. That is a lost hour of work and it is uncompensated. When workers telecommute that lost hour is gained back. Employees who telecommute have to pay for gas and parking or bus/subway fares; telecommuting saves this cost. Employees who telecommute do not need to spend money on large clothing or dry cleaning budgets, which also saves them money. Employers who allow employees to telecommute benefit from reduced office space costs. The best improvement employers who allow employees to telecommute see, however, is in the work done and in the amount of work completed. Telecommuters’ work and concentration is often better than that of office employees because telecommuters are not tempted into socializing with co-workers nor do they take long coffee breaks.
I would love to telecommute to my next job. I detest getting up early. It seems silly that I would have to rise at 6:30 AM so that I can leave home at 8:00AM to be ready for a 9:00 AM start time. That means that I would have spent nearly 2.5 hours just trying to get to work. That time is uncompensated for me and entirely unproductive for an employer. It would be far better if I had to be at work 8:00 AM, but I could work at home. I would get more sleep and my employer would have me at work a full hour earlier. I also prefer to work and complete my work quickly. Employees in an office setting are routinely interrupted by co-workers, telephones, and simple walks around the office, trips to the bathroom, calls to check on family, personal calls to schedule personal items, and many other things. When one is at home many of those interruptions are no longer necessary. In fact, studies have shown that telecommuters are more productive than office employees (Lorek).
In fact, while many employers at first thought telecommuting would be terrible for business they have been proven wrong. Employers at first said telecommuters would not work, they would ignore deadlines, they would just pretend to work and would do their work in poor form. This has been proven to be entirely false (Lorek; Emery). Telecommuters are more productive then employees at the office (Lorek). In fact, the biggest problem faced with telecommuting employees is that they tend to over work (Emery). Whether they feel they need to overcome any stigma to being a telecommuter, they feel the need to prove they deserve to telecommute, or whether it is just to easy to work at all hours of the day if you can do it at home, telecommuters work more and work better than their office counterparts (Emery).
There is, however, one major problem that both employers and employees have identified with telecommuting that does remain a problem. Telecommuters are “outside the loop” when it comes to the office. There is a camaraderie that co-workers develop and which helps them work together for their employer to achieve employer goals. Telecommuters are often not part of that team and it can hurt both the employer and the telecommuter. In fact, that is the most significant issue telecommuters face. It is a very quick move from “out of sight” to “out of mind.” This is one problem that both employers and employees have to work through to assure that neither one is harmed by this reality. Open communications and weekly meetings between all employees, via telephone and computer visuals can help strengthen the bond between office and telecommuting employees.
Telecommuting is a great benefit to employers and employees and should be available to many employees. The fears that telecommuters will work less have been proven wrong. Employers, in fact, normally benefit from telecommuters. Not every job or employee is suited for telecommuting of course. Jobs where employees need to have interaction with consumers, such as medical personnel, librarians, service staff, and other workers who need to do their jobs “hands on” and face to face with consumers. For those jobs where telecommuting is possible, however, telecommuting is a great way to work.
References
Emery, G.R. (2000). Study: Flextime Workers Are More Productive: But Telecommuters Prone to Overwork. Washington Technology, Vol. 15 No. 17. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from
Lorek, L.A. (2002). Companies find Benefits from Telecommuting: Employees are Happier, more Productive. The San Francisco Chronicle, November 29, 2002. Retrieved August 31, 2008, from