Telecommuting:

Now-a-days more and more companies are understanding just how important it is to retain their top employees and keep them happy, content and engaged. While it is not feasible to provide 100 percent extrinsic rewards to appreciate the employee’s efforts, companies are tailoring creative ideas to keep employees satisfied without offering direct tangible rewards. Increasingly, companies are tailoring programs to strike work-life balance which leads to higher productivity and greater job satisfaction among the employees.
In order to increase the profitability and keep the operating expenses minimum, companies significantly invest in their employees to increase their productivity and reduce employee turnover rate, resulting into lower cost per hire. The few programs that companies commonly offer to promote work life balance and keep employees motivated are telecommuting, flexible scheduling, onsite gym, incentives for regular medical checkups, paid paternity leave and company arranged daycare. Now let us understand two programs in detail.

1) Telecommuting:
More and more companies are opting for telecommuting, asserting that telecommuting enhances work-life balance and reduces conflict such that it enables employers to better manage work demands in order to more readily accommodate family needs. Studies have suggested that telecommuting provides individuals with the opportunity to cope with the time and psychological strains that they get from increasing demands of work and family domains, thereby reducing conflict. For example:

Advantages:
a) Increases productivity: Surveys indicate that more than two-thirds of the employers report increased productivity as much as 35 percent among the employees who telecommute. In big cities, such as New York and Chicago, people spend as much as two hours two hours to commute to and from work due to heavy traffic and/or unfavorable transportation. The saving of time and energy from telecommuting can be directed to work which results in increased productivity.
b) Fewer telecommuters call off: Surveys indicate that 78 percent of employees who do not telecommute and call in sick are not really sick. The reasons vary from family issues and daily stress to personal needs and medical issues. However, telecommuters typically continue to work even when they are sick.
c) Increased availability for work: Telecommuters do run personal errands and occasionally deviate from their work assignments but their overall work hours far exceeds their typical required work hours. In other words, telecommuters tend to work far more number of hours than their peers who work in office because of the extra work ethics responsibility they assume. Also, most telecommuters don’t keep a log for number of hours worked.
d) Job satisfaction: Just so one can work in pajamas and don’t have to travel to work every-day, employees see telecommuting as a perk. A poll of 1,500 technology professionals revealed that over 37 percent would take a pay cut of 10 percent if they could work from home and 80 percent of 1500 professionals consider telework a job perk. A study by Cisco in 2008 revealed that 91 percent of 2000 respondents felt telecommuting was significant and that it directly enhances their job satisfaction.
e) Cost efficient: Telecommuters saves on expenses originating from driving (fuel), break- fasts and lunches, morning coffee and toll charges. Moreover, employers save approximately $11,000 annually per employee for not creating and maintaining office and parking space.

In contrast, some studies suggest that the drawbacks of telecommuting far outweighs the benefits. For example it gives rise to greater conflict because of additional family demands resulting from greater proximity and accessibility. Now let us review the drawbacks of telecommuting.

Disadvantages:
a) Becoming isolated: Isolation is the number one disadvantage of telecommuting. Telecommuters miss on current company’s news, updates from colleagues, socialization, networking and more. Physical human interaction is key to healthy cognitive functions.
b) Career stagnation: It is difficult for managers to monitor the increased performance or development of new skills sets. Generally telecommuters are technical people and high level of performance is assumed. Managers take notice when clients or customers complain due to inadequate level of performance.
c) Diminished productivity: Some people are unable to be productive at home when family obligations start to creep in the normal work hours. Family members take you as granted and demand more because you are always around. Such distractions take a big toll on productivity.

While the drawbacks of telecommuting are significant and can’t be ignored, the resolution to the drawbacks is possible. For example: The issues of isolation, career stagnation and diminished productivity can be resolved by limiting the telecommuting to one to three days a week. This way employees can stay in contact with their colleagues and management and can reinstate their physical presence in the office. Secondly, managers can visually see the performance increase of the partial telecommuters and keep track of their progresses. Face to face interactions can revive socialization aspect and networking opportunities. Lastly, diminished productivity issue can be alternatively resolved by working from a satellite office location which is closer from the residence.
In short, telecommuting provides a plethora of benefits such as increased productivity, cost efficiency, stronger work ethics, fewer call-offs and, best of all, employee job satisfaction. There are always two sides of a coin, but companies must assess if the programs are mutually beneficial and are economically sustainable to the company.

2) Flexible Scheduling:
A