Telecommuting is where an employee works from outside the office doing the same tasks they otherwise would have done if they were in the office. Earlier this year Harvard Business Review published results from a study done at a Chinese travel agency, Ctrip. They found that employees who worked from home either performed the same or better and were more satisfied with their jobs.
Global Workplace Analytics (GWA) compiled the results of many studies, and they found that two thirds of people want to work from home. More importantly 36% of people would choose working from home over a pay raise, and 80% of employees who can telecommute say it is a job perk. GWA says 95% of employers say telework has a high impact on employee retention and when it comes to commuting 92% of employees are concerned about the cost of fuel, 80% are concerned about the cost of commuting, and 73% feel their employers should help reduce those costs. Telecommuting can help make all of these employees become much more satisfied with their job without cost to the company.
Obviously telecommuting is not for everyone, sometimes people need to be physically present for their jobs. Research Advisors created an article that points out the different characteristics of a telecommuter.
Work functions that can be done from home:
- Reading
- Research
- Writing
- Conference Calls
- Data Entry
- Programming
All of these job functions and others than can be done independently with just a computer are possible jobs that can be done from home.
Work functions that require the employee to be at work:
- Activities that require physical contact
- Jobs that require public presence
- Activities that involve the transmission and usage of sensitive data where security is critical
Many employers and employees work out a schedule where an employee may only come into the office two or three days a week and telecommute for the remainder of the days. By allowing employees to telecommute, companies such as Best Buy, British Telecom, Dow Chemical, and American Express are seeing those employees be 35-43% more productive than workers who remain in the office. Nearly six out of then employers reported cost savings as a significant benefit to telecommuting. Telecommuting does effectively boosts productivity, saves money, and raises employees’ satisfaction.
Biel’s can make it easier for businesses to allow telecommuting by incorporating paperless document solutions and cloud based storage to provide employees with secure access to relevant documents they may need to retrieve. The combined benefits of paperless document solutions and telecommuting will make your employees more productive, better organized, and save the company money.