Introduction
The working climate is one of the critical factors impacting the performance of employees, their motivation, and the ability to achieve success. The positive atmosphere and the absence of serious stressors can contribute to the improved results and specialists’ ability to solve complex issues or engage in challenging processes. For this reason, modern management devotes much attention to the ways how to improve this aspect and make workers feel more comfortable when doing their job at the workplace. There are such traditional approaches, such as improved relations with the members of the collective, flexible schedules, and rewards.
At the same time, because of the appearance of technologies and their positive impact on performance, modern companies also use such tools as telecommuting to provide workers with an opportunity to work at home. The model presupposing that any employee can work at home one day per week is a useful measure in building a positive climate, achieving goals and one that we should consider implementing.
Background
Telecommuting can be considered one of the trends of contemporary business. It can be defined as a specific working arrangement offering a chance to work outside the office, or at home (Torten, Reaiche, & Caraballo, 2016). It can be organized by using the Internet, notebook, or other devices that are required to remain in touch and perform traditional tasks. The popularity of this method is explained by the existence of multiple advantages.
First of all, it helps to reduce the level of stress caused by the traditional working environment and communication with colleagues. Staying at home, a person does not have to follow a dress code, or observe specific behavioral patterns (Torten et al., 2016). On the contrary, he/she can perform some routine tasks, communicate with the family, and, at the same time, remain useful for an employer and discuss projects or take part in decision-making processes. This increased level of convenience is appreciated both by workers and by managers as it guarantees that decreased level of stress.
Statistical Evidence
Multiple factors prove the positive impact of telecommuting on the mood, motivation, and performance levels of workers. First of all, statistics demonstrate the growth in the number of individuals who use this approach: 54% of workers work at home at least once per month, 48% once per week, and 30% work remotely full-time (Bernazzani, 2019). The given number evidences the growing popularity of this method, which comes from its positive impact on all stakeholders.
Workers acquire the desired rest, and managers can enjoy the same level of performance and positive outcomes. Additionally, the latest research shows that 75% of employees working outside the office earn about $65.000 per year (Bernazzani, 2019). In such a way, telecommuting becomes one of the essential elements of the work of many companies around the globe, and it should be accepted by organizations that want to remain innovative and create a positive working culture.
Moreover, there is a significant shift in the work of global corporations and their attitude to this comparatively new mode of cooperation. The bigger part of the most successful corporations (75%) provides their workers with a chance to work at home if they have all equipment and opportunities to accomplish their tasks and demonstrate the desired results. In such a way, statistically, remote work becomes an integral element of the modern business world and should be accepted by all firms as a practical and sufficient way to provide their specialists with the desired level of convenience, flexibility, and satisfaction (Butler, Aasheim, & Williams, 2007). Employing these methods, the top management will be able to avoid burnout, decreased motivation, or high stress levels, which is essential for the functioning and development of any long-term project.
Benefits and Personal Attitudes
Analyzing the theme from another perspective, telecommuting can be described as a mode that provides workers with multiple advantages and benefits highly appreciated by this category. One of the most frequent employees’ complaints is related to the necessity to go to work every day and meet the same people (Golden & Gajendran, 2019). It contributes to the accumulation of high levels of stress and tiredness. The inability to change the environment and the necessity to spend a significant part of the life in dull or serious atmosphere scare employees and contribute to their decreased motivation to work and demonstrate high performance levels (Narayanan, Menon, Plaisent, & Bernard, 2017).
Under these conditions, telecommuting can be considered an effective solution to this problem. The provision of an additional day that can be spent at home, in a comfortable and familiar atmosphere, impacts the mood of workers by fostering positive change in their attitudes to work and their readiness to devote all their resources to the accomplishment of specific tasks.
As for the employers, they can also benefit from adherence to this practice. The lack of motivation among workers and their tiredness is one of the problems that should be solved to guarantee the further development of the company and its ability to compete with rivals. Under these conditions, the prohibition of telecommuting and the emphasis on the necessity to visit the office every day can contribute to the achievement of undesired results and failure of a business (Torten et al., 2016). That is why top management and owners of firms should be interested in the creation of conditions beneficial for the introduction of telecommuting.
Recent Research
Finally, there are multiple reliable and credible research works proving the positive influence of this model on the mood of workers and companies’ results. The 2019 State of Remote Work report says that 34% of U.S. workers are ready to take a pay cut up to 5% to work remotely, which demonstrates their interest in this technology and desire to use it (Bernazzani, 2019). Moreover, the recent investigation in the given sphere shows that 35% of respondents agree that remote work provides more opportunities for quality improvement, and they are ready to engage in additional training to become more effective workers (Bernazzani, 2019).
Finally, world-leading corporations such as Google and Apple also provide their specialists with an opportunity to work at home when it is possible and demonstrate outstanding results proven by their powerful positions at the international markets.
Unfortunately, a significant part of organizations still does not recognize the benefits of technologies and how they can be used to attain better outcomes. About 44% of all global companies do not allow remote work and insist on traditional approaches that are a part of their working culture (Bernazzani, 2019). It contributes to the appearance of multiple barriers in the further evolution of telecommuting, and its becoming a global way of cooperation and partnership.
It also slows down the speed of the generation of data related to this method and the creation of specific training for workers to avoid problems with devices or equipment when working at home (Narayanan et al., 2017). Considering the multiple benefits mentioned above, it can be recommended to accept telecommuting as an effective means of cooperation that creates the basis for the future progress and improvement in the quality, which is one of the most important tasks of modern companies.
Conclusion
Altogether, telecommuting is nowadays one of the beneficial approaches to performing various tasks that is utilized by employees to work remotely and enjoy the positive environment of their homes or other places. The statistics and positive attitude of workers prove the beneficial impact of this mode on outcomes of companies and demonstrate workers’ readiness to improve their skills to be able to function regarding this paradigm. I belive that based on the current trends and supporting evidence we would realize measurable improvements in productivitity and overall company morale if we implement a telecomuting option.
References
Bernazzani, S. (2019). 45 key remote work & telecommuting statistics for 2020. OWL Labs. Web.
Butler, E. S., Aasheim, C., & Williams, S. (2007). Does telecommuting improve productivity? Communications of the ACM, 50(4), 101–103. Web.
Golden, T. D., & Gajendran, R. S. (2019). Unpacking the role of a telecommuter’s job in their performance: Examining job complexity, problem solving, interdependence, and social support. Journal of Business & Psychology, 34(1), 55–69. Web.
Narayanan, L., Menon, S., Plaisent, M., & Bernard, P. (2017). Telecommuting: The work anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Organization in the 21st Century. Journal of Marketing & Management, 8(2), 47–54. Web.
Torten, R., Reaiche, C., & Caraballo, E. L. (2016). Teleworking in the New Milleneum. Journal of Developing Areas, 50(5), 319–326. Web.