Telecommuting Suggestions for Organizations

The purpose of this brief is to determine wether to establish work-at-home policy for selected employees at the Q-tel Pty Ltd. Information and communication technologies (ICT) make it possible for employees to work at home and deliver their work output to the firm by those ICT. This work arrangement is called telecommuting (Sarbu, 2015).

Recently there has been a growing request for options to telework/telecommute in various departments within the company. I recommend the Human Resource department adopt a policy that will include procedures for selection criteria, approval of planned schedule, work, or project, and managerial oversight. To meet the needs of our employees we recognize having more flexibility in work schedules will alleviate work and family conflict by adopting a policy around telecommuting (Pynes, 2014, pg 265). Having a formal policy in place will minimize any misuse of this perceived benefit and will ensure all requests are considered fairly.

When researching telework I will need to review the Organization – are the employees reliable and trustworthy, how can the employer intervene if problems arise, can the organization afford the upfront costs to support telework, is it practical to allow employees to work from home, and which employees should be allowed to work from home.

One does not need face to face contact or interaction with employees or their manager. Telus is a supporter of telecommuting while other countries are eliminating it. Yahoo in 2011 banned employees working from home and ordered them back in their offices. Reasons cited where difficulties it made for people to communicate effectively with one another. Working in a team based environment made it more difficult for people to pick up on simple gestures such as body language. Another important issue cited by other corporations was that they wanted their employees to dress by their terms. Dress code is very important and employees cannot simply dress anyhow or in a way to express themselves

Telecommuting should be the new normal because of the benefits such as autonomy, increased productivity, and savings in time and expenses it affords the employee/individual. A major aspect of telecommuting is that it provides individuals with autonomy or independence over their craft. The absence of a person of authority directly monitoring an employee gives the employee the sense of control. With this sense of autonomy placed on an individual, they are expected to discipline themselves and dictate their work schedule at home in the

One must consider if telecommuting is the right alternative to working on-site as it requires significant discipline along with the motivation to manage job responsibilities. Telecommuting can have its advantages and disadvantages depending on your position on the job. By all means weigh your options and make sure telecommuting is right for

(Recommendations are based on analysis of different situations and problems. Solutions were then formulated to best suit decisions needing to be made in the best interest of the company’s)

Purpose: To persuade the audience how telecommuting is beneficial to them and try to convince them to consider it for their jobs.

Federal and government agencies have taken a particular interest in telecommuting if for nothing but its benefits. Some of the areas in which the Federal Government will benefit include recruiting, managing long commutes, reducing traffic congestion and saving taxpayers’ dollars. Federal and Government agencies aim to recruit and retain the best possible workforce, predominantly with newer employees who have high expectations of a technologically forward-thinking workplace and for new workers who value a work and life balance. The Government has programs that will help employees manage long commutes and other work and life issues that, if not dealt with, can have a negative impact on their effectiveness or lead to

In addition to telecommuting from home more and more employees are using programs like the company Unilever to work remotely. In her article, “Your Next Office: At Home?” Rachel Emma Silverman describes how “84% of workers who worked remotely…did so at least once a week, up from 72% in 2008” (Silverman 2012). She writes of how this trend has truly grown and even expanded into new fields of work. The same advantages and disadvantages that our textbook writes of are included in this article. But, she doesn’t name employees needing “face time” and taking heed to some advice to make some changes on their end. Silverman instead states that management not the virtual working employees should be the ones leading better outcomes (Silverman 2012).

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

The objective for this researched based report is to provide the company with the key understanding on the process of a telecommuting policy, go over the advantages and disadvantages, and how it is commonly used. It will also go into ideas and the information on how the company will utilize telecommuting to meet goals within the company.

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.

“For instance, more people are now concerned about their quality of work life and the amount of time available for leisure activities. The increased need among employees for autonomy and control over one’s working time leads more and more organizations to consider teleworking as a flexible work alternative” (Teo, Lim, & Wai, 1998).

An employee out of sight might seem to be out of supervision, out of productivity, and out of work. This shift from the traditional in-office work to the out of sight work seemed to greatly frighten many managers who felt the urge to change their management styles into a more trusting and effectively communicative ones. Thus, came the high needto shed the light on both advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting for both sides of the coin: the employee and employer.