Teleworking refers to the work arrangement whereby employees work from home and do not physically commute to a central work location as is normally the case. This post will aim to highlight the financial aspect of this arrangement to argue why it makes financial sense to use such an arrangement.

First of all it must be understood that just because a company introduces a teleworking program it does not mean that employees who decide to use this option have to decide between always working from the usual workplace or always working from home. In fact a mixture of the two would be the most beneficial in many cases. Certain tasks would require an employee to visit the place of work by their very nature, such as when a face-to-face meeting with a client needs to be held. However a lot of other office work can be done more productively when the employee remains at home.

The Benefits

Improved Productivity

The obvious benefit is the increase in productivity that would result when one does not need to leave the comfort of one’s home to work. Consider commuting time for example. If you consider that on average people in Malta take 30-45mins to commute from home to work and the same time back from work to home that means that on average a person would use up 1-1.5hrs per day just commuting. This means 5-7.5hrs per week. This does not include time used up for parking in both locations and preparation time to go out in the morning. So when you add this all up a person could save easily 20% of his time by working from home and dedicating those hours to his normal 40hr work week.

Less stress due to commuting would result in better productivity as well. It is no secret that stress is the cause of many other psychological and physiological illnesses such as eating disorders, insomnia and depression. By reducing the stress caused from commuting the individual would be able to be more focused on their work and produce better work in less time. Other stress factors related to the work place would also be reduced and would in turn improve productivity.

Reduced Costs

This is another important benefit. From an employer’s point of view, when less employees are physically present in the office less overheads are incurred. For example less electricity is consumed through a lesser use of electronic devices such as PC/laptops, heating/cooling devices and so on. From the point of view of the employee he/she would have higher electricity bills on a personal level since they are using their own space. However there would be the reduced costs in the form of transportation costs for example. Especially if an employee was used to eating out everyday during their lunch break they could easily now eat for less by eating from their own kitchen.

More Flexibility   

This is perhaps my favourite benefit. When one is working at his own pace it is much easier to work flexibly. So if the goal is to work 40hrs in a week or to get x amount of tasks done by this week, the individual can choose when best to work on those tasks. One may have to attend to a personal matter during the day that would occupy him/her between 10am and noon, which he can make up for at a different time. There is no restriction to when one can work on certain tasks. Of course there will be certain daily tasks that might need to be done by a specific time each day. However there will also be overall tasks that one might feel more comfortable working on at 9pm or on a Saturday afternoon.

This feature is perhaps the most beneficial for people with young children who would like to return to their job but cannot commit to the usual working times. Tied to the benefit of reduced costs and better productivity, employees with young children who would have to take leave days without much notice or sick leave due to their children feeling unwell could still work from home in such instances. Thus the employer does not lose a full work day and the employee can still meet his/her targets by working more flexibly.

This flexibility feature could also be used so that both parents could spend more time with their children. It is not only the mothers that could work remotely, but also the fathers could do so. If both parents are working from home there would be more family time and more participation from both parents in their children’s lives. Other setups could be used of course whereby either the parents work on alternative dates from home or just one works from home when the other needs to go to the work place.

More Free Time

From the point of view of the employee, time saved from commuting to work and the added benefit of working more flexibly would free up time for other things. One could use such time to practice a sport, go to the gym at off-peak hours, take up a new hobby or simply spend more quality time with their family at times when they would have otherwise been at the workplace. Another possibility is to pursue other career enhancing initiatives such as pursuing further studies or doing something that would generate additional income.

The Requirements

Of course it must be recognised that not all jobs could be done remotely. For example you would not expect a pilot to try to work remotely or a chef to cook from home. But in today’s age many people have office jobs which could in fact easily be done remotely. Even teachers could easily give lectures remotely with the help of some simple technology – so one should not assume that his/her job could not be done remotely, but should brainstorm on some form of compromise that could work.

Life is not black and white and there will rarely ever be a definitive no or yes response to doing something. Most of the time even office jobs require the employee to meet clients face-to-face so it might be the case that a combination of remote and on the job working could be used. One should not exclude having non-physical meetings with clients such as through conference software such as Skype. This might actually be preferred by certain clients who are also usually quite busy and could appreciate the benefit of not having to leave their workplace.

There are certain requirements that must be put in place in order to have a good teleworking programme:

Use of Technology

One of the first things any entity considering teleworking should consider is the upgrade or better use of its software. The obvious choice here is a form of cloud technology whereby all hardware is setup in a remote data centre. This is good for business continuity and it adds more layers of security by adding additional login barriers that would make it less likely for hackers to access. A secure remote connection setup must be established and all files and virtual spaces that the employee would normally need access to should be made available to them whether they are working from home or from the workplace.

Technology can also be used to address another major concern of employers. The usual complaint when I discuss this subject with managers and employers is that they would not have direct oversight on what their employees are actually doing. First of all it must be pointed out that just because an employee is working a few meters away in the same building does not mean that they are not slacking off. No manager or employer can afford to be checking up on their employees at all time, regardless of where the employee is working from. So in my view, this argument is quite flawed. Secondly, believe it or not one can invest in software that tracks the progress of employees. So whether the employee is working form an office, from the beach or from their own home the software will track their progress on the tasks assigned to them.

Definitive Tasks and Procedures  

In order for the whole operation to work well there should be a definitive course of action set in writing. If it is for daily tasks this process is easy since a simple procedures manual could be drawn up explaining what tasks the employee is responsible for doing. So called “How to” lists also help and these add to business continuity since if an employee needs to be temporarily or permanently replaced their daily tasks would be documented and could more easily be taken over by someone else.

In the case of tasks that are specific to a project, such as an IT software development project, the tasks of each employee need to be clearly marked. The tracking software can then be configured around this plan to keep better track of each employee’s progress. In most cases such detailed plans are already used and thus the basis is already set.

Clear Consequences and Responsibility

Responsibility for ones actions form the point of view of the employees is the key to any successful teleworking setup. Employees need to be knowledgeable, responsible and act fairly in order for such a setup to be possible. Furthermore, failure for one to meet his/her targets should have clearly defined consequences and need to be respected. Besides doing the work, such work also has to be up to standard so the employee must still ensure that they can work from a suitable environment. A home office would be the ideal setup in most cases. Furthermore the employee needs to ensure the security of the data they are accessing so that no unauthorised person can also access it accidentally for instance.

The Bottom Line

I hope this post has highlighted the possibilities that one could apply to their own work situation. Of course the initiative should not only be taken up by employers and managers but also by the employees themselves. One should assess their own situation and consider whether such a setup could work in their own situation. Many a time the solution is not necessarily a straight forward one and a combination of different setups could be the ideal solution.

KD

 

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