Pros and cons of telecommuting programs
June 23, 2009 by Bill MeltzerPosted in: Incentives, Latest News & Views, Management
Identifying some of the risks of telecommuting programs can help your company avoid them.
Key risks you should address:
- Employees’ potential lack of availability during business hours
- Telecommuters’ inability to participate in office meetings
- Maintaining data security
- Disability risks (e.g., lack of ergonomic standards for home-based workers)
- Avoiding distractions at home
- Ensuring accountability
Of course, if the potential risks outweigh the advantages, telecommuting isn’t right for your company. But many companies that thought telecommuting couldn’t work have found that it’s well worth the time and effort to address the aforementioned concerns.
Companies with telecommuting programs often discover the following advantages:
- The company can cut overhead expenses from office space and administrative expenses.
- Employees who work from home often have greater salary satisfaction because they don’t incur commuting-related expenses such as gas or public-transit transpasses.
- Allowing employees to telecommute can develop a renewed loyalty to the company and encourage high performance.
- Telecommuting can reduce employee stress, fatigue and absenteeism.
- Employees may exhibit increased efficiency because they are able to work at their most productive times.
Tags: telecommuting, work-life programs
Are the Benefits of Automatic Enrollment Worth the Cost?
June 25th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
I would be interested in communicating with someone who has been invloved with telecommuting…I think it would be a great idea to try and incorporate this.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Hi. I’m an HR consultant who works on the Telecommute CT project team, here in Connecticut. I’ve developed policies, procedures, self-nomination forms, agreements, and all sorts of tools to help managers and teleworkers manage this work arrangement as a win/win. Happy to help if you’re interested.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Hi Jim, we have allowed telecommuting for certain positions within our facility for three years now and have found that the pros outway the cons. We are a mid-sized multi-speciality medical facility. In order to be considered for a telecommuting position you have to meet certain performance markers and have deomonstated that you are able to keep on task and on track without immedicate supervison. Currently, I have two medical billers and one insurance verification representative that are on a telecommuting program. These employee’s work from home two days a week and are in the facility three days a week. Recently, in order to maximize office space I moved to the same telecommuting schedule. The benefits to everyone have been outstanding. In order to not have people miss meetings we have changed meeting dates to assure that all employee’s that are needed are present. Not all employee’s can work from home, however if you have positions that will allow for secure remote access and the staff that are able to be disciplined enough to stay on task you will see excellent results.
June 25th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I TOO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TELECOMMUTING WORKS SUCESSFULLY. ALSO, HOW DO YOU KNOW THE EMPLOYEE IS DOING THE WORK YOU ARE PAYING THEM FOR? IS THERE A COMPUTER PROGRAM THAT THEY LOG ONTO AND YOU CAN SEE THEM WORKING?
June 25th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I have worked for companies that allow telcommuting and my husband has telecommuted for years. I am HUGE support of the practice for the pros listed above. From an employee standpoint it can be a negative because although it sounds great to work from home you are never away from work. I can tell you from experience that when you are working from home it is real easy to work until 7pm or later because you do not have that commute to get home to the family. it does require discipline on the individuals part though. As for measuring productivity, that is easy. They either produce or you let them go – it will be evident by the goals being met.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Layla, I work for a medical billing company as well and am interested in learning more about your telecommuting policies and measurements for assessing productivity.
June 29th, 2009 at 11:56 am
The biggest problem to overcome is your organization’s mindset that if they do not see the employee in his desk the work is not happening. It changes the way your management team has to manage employees. They now need to focus on the results of the position, not attendance, not cooperation. It is a great tool for companies, and worklife balance. It is a way to keep employees engaged and retain your talent.
August 20th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
If you work for a medical billing company one of the most significant elements of infrastructure required to support remote workers is a paperless work environment. Without this the logistics of managing remote workers (in terms of getting them the work they need) and the risk of a HIPAA violation are too significant to justify remote workers.