TELEWORK Nicholas M. Curry
University Maryland University College
Executive Summary
Purpose and Method of this Report
Providing possibilities for the everyday workforce to accomplish in the best way possible is a necessity today. With the great strides in the Information Technology environment work is not limited by the building your offices reside. Work is what you do, not where you do it. The use of telework should be incorporated into this business to better address the corporate needs of the company. Telework will be beneficial in productivity locally and worldly. - Employees will better be able to manage their work and home lives - Implementation will reduce cost incurred by the company - As well as
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The basics of telecommuting 5
a. Definitions of telecommuting 5
b. Variations of telecommuting 6
III. Aspects that influence the implementation and utilization of telecommuting 7
a. Positive influences 7
b. Negative influences 9
IV. Is telecommuting right for your business 10
a. Benefits 10
b. Disadvantages
V. Conclusion 11
INTRODUCTION
Telecommuting first increased notoriety around the late 20th century with the introduction of home computers and sophisticated telecommunications technologies. Detailed research on the arrays and practices of telecommuting first showed evidence around the 1970’s when Jack Nilles came up with the terms “telecommuting” and “teleworking” and engaged the first telework demo experiment with partial backing from the National Science Foundation (NSF). Around the 1980’s carried the beginning of experimental telework programs in the United States and near the 1990’s a lot of states, local government agencies, and private sector businesses had applied telework programs. Around 1990s the federal government presented a national telecommuting initiative with the goal of swelling both the number of federal teleworkers as well as the number of teleworkers in other sectors.
For the federal and state governments, the primary drivers of the telework movement were environmental considerations, minimizing traffic congestion, and compliance with the Clean Air Act of 1990.
Working in the ITS field, we have been asked to research the plausibility of allowing our 600+ employees the ability to telework. Currently half of our managers have the ability to work from home. With this ability we have security concerns, but we also have the expectation to be available to work no matter what the time of day is or how the weather is outside. When the credit union is closed for snow day’s managers with the ability to
Employers allow telecommuting for many reasons, including the ability to recruit better talent, decrease overhead expenses, increase productivity, expand the employee base to include those with disabilities (Anderson, Bricout & West, 2001; Lipin, 2010; Myungjung & So Hee, 2017), and to support
Convenience of the employer test. Other issues that warrant consideration when applying the “focal point test” include the federal government’s promotion of telecommuting under The Telework Enhancement Act of 2010 (Myungjung & So Hee, 2017), the ability to provide gainful employment to taxpayers suffering from disabilities that may otherwise be unable to work (Anderson, Bricout & West, 2001), as well as the positive impact to the environment. Given these other motives both employers and employees have for engaging in
Different nations have come up with different work programs and policies that support alternative work programs. In the United States, there is the Tele-work enhancement Act of 2010 passed in to law by President Barrack. The act provides a blueprint on how to improve technology that will enable incorporation and assimilation of alternating work programs. The main objective of this program is retaining the high qualified persons, retaining valuable, and employees with great talents (Sukal, 2010). Through the Tele-work act, entails well formulated and implemented Tele-work programs that permits the federal agencies to achieve their objectives and also enables employees to improve their work and social life. In particular, this Act allows improvement
REDUCE WORK SCHEDULE: AND telework – without complicating things, it’s being taken slow and there is some push back. The idea still in discussion regarding reduced work hours. Janet asks about why SEO3s would be allowed to telework. Janet points out how SEO3s are getting paid extra money to answer for SEO2s, and they should be present in the office, rather than to call and e-mail them. Robin states that it depends on business needs and the supervisor will decide. As an example: There are two states Michigan and Minnesota that implemented teleworking and they have been doing this for a while. At this point one of the offices teleworks at least 50 % of the time M,W,F and then Tue, Wed, Thu. Equal coverage is important wen people at the office. Currently we’re testing things out and if it’s not working then
The main advantage I recall from teleworking is that you get to arrange your schedule as you prefer, and that gives you a lot of flexibility in case you have children or elderly people at home you have to take care of. But, everything has a downside and this is not an exception, so, I think that the said flexibility may originate a decrease in the production or achievements per worker.
Telework would have to ensure the protection of confidential data. However, Technology barriers are fast disappearing as more Americans are gaining access to broadband and high-speed Internet access, remote desktop software and virtual private networks (VPN) are becoming more prevalent, and a mobile economy is forcing companies to secure their connections for reasons other than telecommuting (Cambridge Systematics, Inc. 2007).
Teleworking has become increasingly popular since it first became utilized in the 1970s. It first developed as a means of increasing worker flexibility and female employment (Rassmussen, Corbett, 1990), it has now become a mainstream method of employment, particularly in the United States. Workers are more autonomous, and research suggests that they are more productive when teleworking for every dollar spent one receives two dollars in productivity (Di Martino, Wirth, 1990 and Rassmussen, Corbett, 1990). Although there is still a great deal of dissension concerning whether it is a useful practice, its enduring popularity testifies to its relevance. This paper discusses the benefits and drawbacks of teleworking, with particular attention paid to worker productivity, cost-efficiency, and overall, whether teleworking is a benefit for management.
Recently, there has been a growing request for options to telework/telecommute within various departments at the St. Anthony Foundation. I recommend the Human Resource department adopt a policy that will include processes for eligibility, task reporting, and managerial oversight for telecommuting employees. The organization recognizes having more flexibility in work schedules will alleviate some work and family conflict, and hopes telecommuting will be a benefit for the employees (Pynes, 2014). Having a formal policy on teleworking/telecommuting will minimize any misuse of this benefit and will ensure all requests are fairly considered.
Given the escalating costs of managing facilities, increase in fuel costs, and high cost of recruiting the specific types of professionals to work in a given geographic area, telecommuting has become a viable alternative for any organization today. No longer having to invest heavily in a large corporate facility, be forced to recruit only from a given geographic region, or incur the very high fuel costs of many regional offices, organizations are opting for telecommuting work strategies. This approach to organizing a work force is considered by thought leaders in human resources to be the single greatest factor affecting the long-term nature of organizational structure and job satisfaction (Smith, 2005). The U.S. Office of Personnel Management has defined telecommuting as the use of telecommunications technology to enable global workforces to collaborate and communicate, forcing a change in the policies, organizational structures and strategic resource planning of enterprise globally (U.S. Office of Personnel Management, 1997). This approach to organizing a workforce is resonating with high-growth companies who need to gain access to expertise far outside the geographic boundaries of their companies. There is ample enthusiasm on the part of workers in these and many companies for this concept, as it is seen as liberating and fertile with freedom for workers to pursue the best
Before recommending a course of action, it is useful to identify an underlying principle that is of unequivocal importance to the success of this organization. A massive portion of the organization’s value lies within its members, or employees. Decisions regarding how this organization should continue forward, regarding their policies on telework, will have a major impact on many of the employees. Thus, it is crucial that whatever decision is made, the employees must feel like they have been treated fairly. If the employees perceive that their employer is treating them unfairly, they will likely engage in unproductive or even destructive, behaviors.
Telecommuting is a very interesting and complex subject. The pros and cons of this concept are numerous and both sides have excellent arguments. This report will help introduce you to the telecommuting basics; it will help you sort out the benefits and pitfalls so you can decide whether it will work for you; it will help develop and implement a program that meets your individual needs.
Telecommunication may already be a reality in some companies but there are many that are backtracking, bringing all employees back to the traditional office setting. The business problem that needs to be solved is how to effectively balance telecommuting with green computing and keeping productivity and morale high as well as costs of overhead and expenses low.
According to the human resource terms, 2017 (mba skool.com) working online from home is a concept where the employee can do his or her job from home with recent advance technology, including the Web, email, internet, modems, Cheaper fax machine and voice mail. The word telecommuting first appeared in 1972. Since the growth of the World Wide Web and the internet had been developed, by 2009 telecommuting had become incredibly popular (Alex Novkov, 2016). Based on the statistics given by The Online Labour Index, US (2016) based employers dominate the market, currently representing approximately 52% of all projects/tasks posted. After the United States, there is a group of countries with a smaller market share, consisting of the United Kingdom
Telecommuting, remote work,[1] or telework is a work arrangement in which employees do not commute to a central place of work. A person who telecommutes is known as a "telecommuter", "teleworker", and sometimes as a "home-sourced," or "work-at-home" employee. Many telecommuters work from home, while others, sometimes called "nomad workers", use mobile telecommunications technology to work from coffee shops or other locations. According to a Reuters poll, approximately "one in five workers around the globe, particularly employees in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, telecommute frequently and nearly 10 percent work from home every day".[2] Today, as annual leave or vacation is today seen as absence from the workplace rather than ceasing work, telecommuting is used by office employees to work while on vacation.