Working from home, why not?<\/p>\n
By Maya Kartika<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): It's 6 a.m. in Depok, a growing suburb 25
\nkilometers south of Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Pipit, an employee in the busy central business district of
\nthe capital, begins her routine: driving to her office in the
\nheavy morning traffic.<\/p>\n
She has to face the same tiring, but unavoidable episode later
\nin the afternoon on her way back home, together with the
\nthousands of commuters and people working in the capital.<\/p>\n
On average, Pipit spends three and a half hours on the road to
\nreach her office every day.<\/p>\n
She usually arrives home at 9 p.m. And, she is already too
\ntired to play with her one-and-a-half-year-old son. Worst still,
\nat this time, her husband is still not back from work yet.<\/p>\n
For many IT savvy, Pipit's rather bleak episode shouldn't
\noccur if her company had embraced the concept of telecommuting.<\/p>\n
Traditionally, work links us to a physical location.<\/p>\n
But rapid advances in information technology and
\ntelecommunications now enable work to be independent of location.<\/p>\n
The concept of a single assigned place to work is, for the
\nmajority of office workers, obsolete. It is costly, ineffective,
\nand no longer matches the needs and desires of today's workforce.<\/p>\n
The office becomes so central to people's lives that most of
\nus are ready to dedicate all our quality time to it. In light of
\nthe increasing awareness of a balanced lifestyle, is it really
\nnecessary for workers to spend so much time commuting to and
\nbeing in the office?<\/p>\n
It is in this context that the telecommuting concept has
\nemerged as an alternative working arrangement.<\/p>\n
In this regard, telecommuting has become an important part of
\nthe way 21st century employers get their work done, meet customer
\ndemands, and attract and retain top-quality workers.<\/p>\n
Is it a panacea that works for everyone, everywhere? Of course
\nnot.<\/p>\n
It's a work option that is being used by savvy employers who
\nwant to take advantage of today's technology to bring out the
\nbest in today's workforce, and who want to escape the costs and
\nburdens of yesterday's office infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Telecommuting has also gained popularity because it better
\nmeets both business and employee needs, attracts and retains a
\ndiverse and talented workforce, improves productivity for certain
\njobs or persons, and reduces real estate cost.<\/p>\n
But don't be bought into this idea blindly, because while
\ntelecommuting offers broad benefits, not all employers will have
\nthe kind of business problems for which telecommuting is an
\nappropriate solution.<\/p>\n
Here, we should remember that telecommuting isn't appropriate
\nfor every job. Some job activities don't lend themselves to
\ntelecommuting.<\/p>\n
Organizations need to analyze the job activity, not the job
\ntitle to determine suitability to telecommuting.<\/p>\n
The key is to find jobs with at least a portion of the work
\nthat can be done away from the office -- taking advantage of
\ntechnology to get away from the distractions and interruptions in
\nthe typical office.<\/p>\n
Even hands-on jobs such as firefighting can benefit from
\ntelecommuting.<\/p>\n
For example, a fire chief in Fairfax County, Virginia,
\nidentified report writing as one of his main activities, clearly
\na task that doesn't have to be done at the firehouse. When he
\nbegan telecommuting from his home to office, he could increase
\nhis productivity by more than 20 percent and produce more
\naccurate reports.<\/p>\n
To start the telecommuting program, a company needs to at
\nleast take these two key steps.<\/p>\n
First, conducting a telecommuting pilot, and second, selecting
\nthe right telecommuters. There are two schools of thought on a
\ntelecommuting pilot. One, is to prove or disprove that
\ntelecommuting is a viable work option. The other, to do a trial
\nrun to see if the current telecommuting policy and guidelines are
\nadequate to support a rollout to a larger number of
\ntelecommuters.<\/p>\n
Telecommuting may not be a viable work option for some
\nemployees. A pilot telecommuting program should facilitate two-
\nway, ongoing communication about policy and guidelines.<\/p>\n
It should also learn from the small-scale implementation what
\nto avoid in a large-scale telecommuting roll-out. Some individual
\ntelecommuters may not be the right employees for the program.
\nThis learning should then be incorporated into the large-scale
\nrollout strategy.<\/p>\n
The second step is to choose the right telecommuters.<\/p>\n
Here, many organizations struggle with, \"Who is the right
\ncandidate for telecommuting?\"<\/p>\n
It is usually at this point that an elaborate set of criteria
\nis developed and the flexibility of telecommuting is immediately
\nin danger. Gathering a task force to brainstorm on critical
\nquestions potential telecommuters need to answer may be a more
\nflexible approach.<\/p>\n
The telecommuters should have a list of questions to answer,
\nto justify why he\/she is the candidate of choice. The employee
\nwill come up with the answers as a base and then managers can
\nbegin negotiations with the telecommuting candidates of choice.<\/p>\n
Everyone can answer the questions, but only the best
\ncandidates get the telecommuting positions, based on the
\nquestions answered.<\/p>\n
For some companies in Indonesia, telecommuting might be a
\nnovel concept but one that is still very distant to be applied.<\/p>\n
Yet, advancement in technology may propel the rapid adoption
\nof telecommuting. More importantly, telecommuting has proven to
\nbe a potential factor in improving productivity, reducing real
\nestate costs and diminishing transportation burdens.<\/p>\n
The last reason is particularly compelling as the adoption of
\ntelecommuting by a great number of employers may significantly
\nreduce transportation problems, thereby minimizing traffic jams
\nand contributing to the effort of creating blue skies for
\nJakarta .<\/p>\n
And yes, Pipit does not need to be stuck in the middle of a
\ntraffic jam again and again.<\/p>\n
The writer is a manager at Arthur Andersen.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/working-from-home-why-not-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }