The typical image that comes to mind when you mention someone holding a professional job is probably that of a desk job that requires the employee to be present in an office for a specified 8-9 hour time period (if not longer) regardless of if it actually takes the employee that long to produce a fantastic end product or not. The value of the employee is focused on the time that they are forced to be in an office setting, and not that of the actual work that they are being produced. However in recent years this ideal has shifted and telecommuting to your job has become more normal than not. Instead of wasting time and money driving into an office every day the employee works remotely from home. This is one reason that technology blogging has become such a sought after job to have. It’s becoming more and more apparent that telecommuting benefits everyone.
Employees are more satisfied – Avoiding traffic, not having someone hovering over your shoulder (whether they are micro-managing your or not), and having the ability to walk away from a project for a few hours and come back refreshed and ready to complete it equates to employees who are more satisfied with not only their jobs but also the work they are producing.
Appeals to a broader range of people – Some people just aren’t cut out for an office job, no matter how much more qualified for a position they are then their counterpart who doesn’t mind being in an office. Allowing employees to work from home means you have a broader range of people to pick from – and when they’re happy with their work situation they are less likely to leave for another, more appealing work setting. Sometimes a work environment makes all the difference in whether an employee wants to stay with a company or not.
Less expensive all around – By allowing people to telecommute to their jobs the employer or corporation has lower business costs because they aren’t worried about paying to house employees for their work days. The money saved can be put into bettering the company and expanding it instead of making sure that the employee has a desk to sit at all day.
Employees have higher productivity–Sitting in an office all day hampers a lot of employees’ morale and actually has a negative impact on productivity. When employees feel forced to be at the office for the designated 8 hours they in turn only do the bare minimum to get by. However when they are rewarded based on their product and not their time spent at an office they usually respond with higher productivity and a higher quality product.
Helps the environment – By allowing employees to work from home they minimize the amount of driving back and forth that they do, thus minimizing the amount of toxins their cars emit into their air. Cleaner air means a cleaner environment, which is something that benefits everyone.
Telecommuting is the way of the future for jobs. It has positive impacts for not only the employee, but also the employer and the environment, making it an overall win-win situation.
Author Bio
Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to hire a nanny by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.
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Telecommuting is great – and while managers are still wary, I also find that productivity is higher. It’s NOT for everyone, though, and I know many people who’ve tried it and have said, “It doesn’t work for me.” Surprisingly, they’ve come back to the office on their own; most often cited reasons are a feeling of isolation, being “out of the loop,” and being “out of sight, out of mind” when it comes to getting choice assignments or promotions. All of these are very legitimate concerns, I think. One way to successfully compromise is to work from home, but come into the office for “face time” at least one or two days a week, if at all possible. Or use video teleconferencing often. I also know many people who STRONGLY prefer telephone and face-to-face over email.
Holly Jahangiri recently posted…I @#$%ing Hate This Road!
Holly – Nice to see you back here and your thoughts are really valid in this context.
I agree that once in a while, we should visit the office and mix-up with people around. That prevents you from becoming obsolete and even maybe redundant compared to others. Hope this picks up and every employer understands the importance of telecommuting.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.