The paradigm of fixed work hours in a static place within traditional centralized and highly hierarchical structures proper of the times of industrial revolution has been changing towards a more flexible scheme due to the nature of current business: the knowledge-based organization. There is a higher need for autonomous work in times of nomadic (flexible time arrangements, multi-skilled work teams, multiple employment relationships and lifestyle preferences, diversity of locations, higher and more stable connectivity).
The implementation of teleworking is a challenge, not only for employers but also for employees. Both have to be aware that traditional working practices and behaviors have to change, and better communications have to take place. Mutual trust and respect should also be part of the commitment; and it certainly needs to be supported with a measurement system or scale that allows productivity to be objectively analyzed, giving a clear perception about how efficient and effective work is done.
Organizations like the National Institute of Standards and Technology has conducted researches on the field of telework like the Guide to Enterprise Telework and Remote Access Security (2009), and has defined some standard recommendations and technology to be used. Some other valuable researches conducted by the Canadian government (Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety 2008), describes how employees are more engaged or how great saving can be achieved; and also how positive the environmental impacts are.
Despite academic and governmental researches, development of mobile technologies and conception of organizational policies, still there is resistance to implement teleworking in organizations. There are two main reasons why this still happens: First, because employers do not (or can not) trust their employees in most cases, since there is no defined and transparent method to evaluate and monitor their productivity and economic impact. In addition to that, employees fear of being under-managed or 'out of sight, out of mind'. Second, according to the computer security division of the U.S. Department of commerce (2009), teleworking places organizations at higher risk than similar technologies only accessed from inside the organization, as well as increasing the risk to the internal resources made available to teleworkers through remote access.
The implementation of teleworking practices may indeed even increase productivity, as it demands managers to define clearly organizational goals, priorities, working procedures, time plans and introduce tools for online collaboration which are normally not implemented when jobs are done in local offices. The lack of employees’ presence forces the management to have a clear structure not only organizational but also technological to work in a reliable way.
Implementing teleworking practices should not only be seen as a trend to increase employee’s satisfaction, optimize the availability of resources or reduce carbon footprint. It also embraces a productivity value for the organization and this must be measurable. In addition, measuring factors do not only make the organization more structured, but also more understandable with a set of tools and procedures that may optimize the overall performance and productivity.
Teleworking (also known in US as telecommuting) is a category measured by Fortune Magazine, when developing its annual „Best 100 companies to work for“ list. It indeed represents a step forward in managing employees. However, the overall organizational improvement may perform better if the productivity of each individual can be measured.
The growth of teleworking is rooted in market competitiveness as a result of globalization, increasing importance of the service sector, the development of communications technologies, the decreasing cost of personal computers and other office equipment, the higher speed and reliability of internet connections, the change of business culture (flatter hierarchies, internal flexibility and managed by objectives) and its need to cope with the challenges of work and personal life-balance; and the government’s favorable attitude towards the adoption of a work-at-home policy. Schadler (2009) advises that “Fueled by broadband adoption, better collaboration tools, and growing management experience, the US telecommuting ranks will swell to 63 million by 2016”.
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