March 13, 2013

Imagine walking into your favorite coffee shop, ordering your favorite cup of coffee, finding a comfortable seat, then opening up your laptop to begin working. This scenario is played out thousands of times a day throughout the country and is how some people “go” to work every day. Being able to work from home, hotel, or anywhere you can think of, is telecommuting or teleworking. Decades ago you might not have imagined anyone outside the sales staff being able to work from anywhere but the office building. However, with the advances made in technology, specifically that of the internet, people can potentially work from almost anywhere they might wish. The idea of working from home may be viewed as being fundamentally instinctive. William R. Mattox Jr., the vice president of the Family Research Council said, “technologies such as computers and fiber optics could create a ‘neo-agrarian technical revolution’ that would put workers back in their homes, as they were before the 19th century Industrial Revolution lured them away from their farms (Clark).” In essence, telecommuting can be viewed as a natural process by which we have functioned historically and are now in the process of reverting back to our natural ways.
Advances in technology have closed the gaps between homes, offices, towns, cities, and continents by building electronic bridges using the information super highway to catapult society into the Information Age. The transition from office to home must be transparent to the customer (Business Plugs into Telecommuting: Bringing Work to People rather than People to Work) and can be completed by ensuring the individual has all the amenities of the corporate office, which include printer, scanner, laptop, high-speed modems, and flat-rate long distance service for this to be effective and productive. These devices would ensure access to all centralized corporate resources and ensure there is no disconnection between business activities and any client's needs. The Internet has allowed the world to embrace an evolving digital age, which allows a tech-savvy society to exchange information instantaneously, to include interweaving the corporate environment into the homes of the workforce, wherever they may be.
Just like the evolution of technology, the evolution of telecommunicating has become an intrinsic part of our daily lives. It wasn’t until the early 1970’s that a survey of women who were working part time as computer programmers from home did we realize that this soon would become the platform for what is now known as telecommuting (Pratt). Jack Nilles originally coined the term telecommuting, as the practice to allow employees with computers to work from home (Clark). Not only was this a new outlook of how the workforce should operate, but it was also viewed as a positive means to effectively impact the environment by reducing the amount of toxins released into the air due to the high volume of people commuting to work.
Telecommuting holds a variety of both advantages and disadvantages for employers and employees. On one hand telecommuting can lower both operating costs and employee turnover while simultaneously increasing employee satisfaction and productivity. On the other hand however, social aspects of the office become strained. Benefits of telecommuting are highly variable and dependent on the task at hand. “It works best on jobs that require concentration, have well-defined beginning and end points, are easily portable, call for minimal amounts of special equipment, and can be done with little supervision” (Greenberg, P. 15).
Currently, “telework most commonly is adopted by knowledge-based industries, such as consulting, information technology, administration, and publishing” ("What are some of the Current Best Practices” 1). Nevertheless, teleworking is a growing trend in today’s work force and “The Families and Work Institute's 2012 National Study of Employers showed that 63 percent of employers now allow at least some of their employees to work part of their regularly paid hours at home on an occasional basis, up from 34 percent in 2005” (Hall). In addition, studies have shown that “more than one-third of Americans would prefer the opportunity to do it over a pay raise” (Snyder 11). As a result, managers can use telecommuting as a way to motivate their workforce.
There are many forms of telecommuting. For example, “employees might work entirely outside the office, or alternate days between the office and their off-site work area” ("What are some of the Current Best Practices” 1). In the current economic state, companies are becoming more open to using different forms of telework as a form of a nonfinancial incentive for employees and as a way of helping the company save money. For example, after Wells Fargo purchased Wachovia in the middle of the Great Recession, employees were given the option to start working from home one day out of the week. This compromise of giving employees more flexibility was Wells Fargo’s way of keeping its workforce happy in a time where financial rewards are hard to give. Another way telecommuting proves beneficial is in its attractive nature to potential employees. Companies who have adapted their management styles to allow employees to telecommute are more enticing and hold an edge over those who do not.
Not only are organizations able to get higher quality employees, but firms who allow workers to telecommute have been shown to have reduced turnover. “At Ryan, where all professional employees have had the opportunity to telecommute or make other flexible work arrangements since 2008, turnover has plummeted from nearly 20% in 2007 to less than 7% in 2010” (Smith, P. 3). As evidenced by the reduced turnover ratio, employees who work from home are generally happier as well as more productive. Given increased morale and satisfaction employees are able to give their all in working for the organization. As a result, of the employees’ dedication to working, organizations register increased production (Jackson, 67-80).
Decreased absenteeism is at the forefront of the impacts of technology and its use in regards to telecommuting. The Internet has allowed the world to embrace a digital age, which allows a tech-savvy society to exchange information instantaneously, to include interweaving the corporate environment into the homes of the workforce, wherever they may be. The aspect of dissatisfaction or perceived poor corporate policies are not as significant in the home, as employees are now in the comfort of their own environment free from the stress of commuting, the everyday existence of unsympathetic supervisors, or any social hassles/distractions that may occur in the workplace.
The probability to decrease the size of facilities gives organizations the ability to save company money that would have gone to utilities set up, not to mention acquiring the square footage needed to facilitate a larger workforce (Cary). Exercising the power of telecommuting can prove to be very advantageous to the bottom line of a company. Operating cost can be greatly reduced. “Businesses can reduce operating costs by more than $6,500 per year for every employee who telecommutes just one day a week, say telework advocates” (Smith, P.3). One reason for this savings is the savings in cost for office space. A company with 100 employees who work from home could potentially have the same size office as one that employs five people who work on site. “...The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently estimated that the IRS could save more than $111 million over the next five years by having teleworkers share workstations more often” (Smith, P.3).
However, just as teleworking has been shown to have many benefits it also creates many challenges. For example, even though telecommuting can increase productivity, levels of productivity are highly variable among employees and complicate matters when workers are not on site. Telecommuting requires the development of new methods of evaluation to ensure employees continue to produce when they are in the freedom of their own homes. As evidence that it is critical that all organizations using telework adapt their management styles for a growing virtual work culture, is “that [when] President Obama signed the 2010 Telework Enhancement Act, [it] requires agencies to create a teleworking strategy” (Snyder 11).
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Furthermore, while having employees who telecommute may save money in the way of operating cost, it comes at the expense of efficiencies gained through teamwork. For those accustomed to working in the presence of other work mates, they suffer since telecommuting results in impersonal interactions. Telecommuting eliminates the ability of the workers to recognize other employees’ facial expressions and verbal cues (Jackson, 67-100). This is one of several factors which motivated Intel to begin to limit the amount of employees allowed to telecommute in 2006. “The company found that projects were completed much more efficiently when all the IT workers were at one site rather than spread out over two or more sites — or in remote locations” (Harbert, P.4).
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In recent news, Yahoo, a Silicon Valley tech company and “an Internet giant, whose success depends on seizing the future of the Web, [ironically] has told its employees they can no longer work remotely from their home computers” (McGregor). Yahoo’s CEO Marissa Mayer has decided that all the benefits of teleworking did not outweigh the negative consequences it was creating for Yahoo’s future success. For Mayer face to face interaction is a more important and productive dynamic than any other job characteristic or benefit that telecommuting could have. This was her strategic move to help correct the negative work behaviors telecommuting was creating for Yahoo. Many argue that this extreme move will damage Yahoo and that in the long run Mayer’s decision will lead to more failures within the Internet giant. It will be interesting to see the results and consequences of Mayer’s drastic work culture change at Yahoo and how this might affect other companies.
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To handle challenges, organizations must create plans to deal with the negatives of telecommuting and must set standards so that the benefits of telecommuting outweigh the cons. Not only does telecommuting affect the levels of team collaboration, but it also has an effect on those employees who are not given the same freedom. A study was conducted measuring levels of job satisfaction among employees who are stuck in the office while others telecommute. “The study found that the more people in the organization who teleworked, the less satisfied the office bound employees were” (Habert, P.5). Because telecommuting can cause good and bad consequences, there are social issues which need to be examined closely before any action can be taken. What is good for one company, or even industry, may not be for a different company or industry. It is interesting though to see the implications that advancing technologies has on business and the way it is run.
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Employees are passing up promotions in exchange for the savings in gas, stress reduction and the hassle of commuting. In addition, environmental concerns, air pollution, traffic congestion, the amount of time to commute all go hand in hand in contributing to the development and promotion of telecommuting. “By 1972, energy shortages focused attention on the feasibility of ‘telecommuting’ to save on gasoline consumption” (Pratt). In addition to employees actively seeking to benefit from telecommuting, so too is the government. “Telecommuting has been encouraged by local governments in heavily polluted areas such as Southern California” (Clark). This correlates with the Clean Air Act of 1990, which “requires corporations to consider telecommuting and whose focal point of business complains and an impetus for the use of telecommuting” (Prystash). With legislation in place, the evolution and continual development of telecommuting will continue to advance as it becomes entrenched in society.
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Marcia Kelly, president of Electronic Services Unlimited says that, “it becomes old-fashioned to have to go to the office every day. The fact now is that our work can be done from anywhere” (Groves). There are an increasing number of jobs that can be performed remotely, however that does not mean that large businesses, which are built upon control and management, will step aside. Bernadette Gray of Home Computing Magazine states, “I would call telecommuting a failure in corporate America, even though everyone is talking about it, hardly anyone is doing it” (Prystash). This is evidenced in what Marissa Mayer, Yahoo’s CEO, has decided to do in completely eliminating the option to telecommute to work, while they re-evaluate their organizational structure, even if they are based online.
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We can work from anywhere in the world at any given time due to technological advancements over the past 40 years. There was a time when we used to bring our work home, now home is where we work. In theory it sounds great, but realistically, despite all of the technology at our disposal, telecommuting continues to represent a growing, yet small percentage of workers. We must remember that change will occur when we allow it to, not when it is pressed upon us. This sentiment is that of corporate businesses, “although substantial numbers of white collar workers will eventually work in their homes, the trend is evolutionary, not revolutionary… Institutional resistance to change can be monumental” (Pratt).
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Telecommuting is dramatically changing organizations and the way people work within these organizations. Moreover, technology is changing every day and this is adding both benefits and dangers to the telecommuting trend. Each organization and its managers have many positive and negative impacts to analyze. As organizations develop innovative and adapted management practices to help cultivate a new virtual work place this will have effects on its workforce. As technology grows, as organizations adjust their management practices, and as people adjust, telecommuting will continue to transform and alter the future of the modern workplace.
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There are several elements with which technology must be integrated to ensure telecommuting is working for and not against the organization. The implementation of a virtual interface through videoconferencing, e.g. Skype, is crucial to ensure each individual is seen, heard, and maybe most importantly, given the opportunity to contribute within an interactive session to establish a cohesive working environment (Cary). This will also help contribute to eliminating any feelings of isolation within the "office" and allow for interaction and support from within the organization (Hawkins). The pitfalls of videoconferencing are for the most part purely technical. Deficiencies in bandwidth with regards to the Internet connections can make videoconferencing choppy and inaudible, while incompatible software may pose a problem, this attribute is rather easy to overcome. The integration of the technical components into an employee's home may be easy, especially with a tech savvy employee, but finding the proper way to satisfy, motivate, and ensure productivity proves to be the more critical component to creating a productive outcome.
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