Call it a telecommuting, E-commuting or virtual working, all these mean a work arrangement where an employee can work even when away from office and where there is convenience of time and location.
The evolution of mobile telecommunication technology has enabled a worker to work from any location irrespective of the distance gaps. The increasing prospects of telecommuting has compelled many organizations today to adopt this technique which is beneficial both to the employee as well as the organization in toto.
But, merely espousing telecommuting does not work, the scope of telecommuting needs to be viewed from a management perspective and its effective implementation requires a strategic approach.
The present scope of telecommuting is limited to certain areas of work, for example the work of consulting, telerecuitment, or at the most IT related jobs. It for sure requires a major boost since can be beneficial to the organizations in a much broader aspect. Especially women who are housewives or are otherwise unable to manage home and office together can reap the advantage of telecommuting and at the same time be helpful to the organizations too.
While many organizations still prefer to get the work done in an elementary style, they prefer to have their employees each day in office. With the tools like virtual private networks, videoconferencing and voice over IP used in telecommuting, an employee can have an access to the office intranet.
So, what are the benefits associated to telecommuting:
•Cost-benefit: Companies who have less office space will obviously be benefited by allowing employees to telecommute. Also there is significant cost-saving due to the decreased spending on overhead costs.The employees too save due to the savings on fuel, vehicle maintenance and costs related to repair.
During the period when petrol price is hiked, the organizations should initiate such a kind of work arrangement in order to increase their savings.
•Time saving: The employees can also save their precious time which otherwise would get wasted in commuting from home to the work-place.
•Work-life balance: The employees can have an improved quality of life by balancing their family life with their office work and hence can look forward to a better health too. In this way, the employees can give in their best to the work assigned.
•Enhanced productivity: The employees who have an access to this facility obviously can lend greater productivity since they balance their work-life. And also due to the time-saving the organizations do not lose on their productive hours.
•Decrease in the employee turnover: Such a kind of work arrangement provides flexibility to an employee and so there are fairer chances of increased employee retention.
Apart from all these benefits, there is also an energy conservation and protection of the ecosystem due to the reduced overall traffic congestion and controlled pollution.
There may be certain disadvantages too of telecommuting. For example, an employee may not be too responsible and motivated to take up the work on his own while sitting at home. Certain employees need proper guidelines to show up at work. They may also miss the benefits associated to team-work and organizational culture. At times, an employee is overlooked by an organization during the time of increment or promotion if he does not show up in the office for long.
In spite of such demerits linked to telecommuting, it is a good option to be considered by the employees as well as the organizations.