IMPLICATIONS OF WORKING FROM HOME Work From Home: Myth Or Reality? Prof. Karun Sabbarwal (Dean, IIPM-Noida) finds out the pros and cons of working from home and provides a simple checklist for understanding its implications |
 My friend Ruchi Taneja (name changed) has been working with IBM as Instructional Designer for the past 2 years. In these 2 years, she has visited the office for a total of only about 6 months. For the remaining 18 months, she worked from home. Stunned? So was I. I could not resist from asking her if this practice helped her in her profession and lifestyle. And her reply was, yes! With her eyes sparkling and her cheeks blushing, she said, “No office politics; no fixed working hours; no waste of time commuting to office; and best of all, [she said this with a smirk], I do not look 37 at the age of 27 - something that happens with the stress of going to office everyday. I eat healthy, sleep healthy and I enjoy every day. For me, all days of the week are the same. I work during the day or night, as and when I want. I deliver projects before my deadlines and I get appreciated by my seniors too.”Now, the second question that came to my mind was this: does IBM benefit from such a practice? Replies Senior Manager-HR at IBM, “Yes we do - in case of task-oriented employees. We give only them the opportunity to work from home. Since the department head is based out of the country, most communication takes place either on the phone or on email. Therefore, it is acceptable for us to have employees working from home. As an organisation, we save money on infrastructure, space, food, travel and most importantly, energy. There are very few chances of these employees attriting as they are constantly motivated by the fact that they have chosen their own environment to work in. The quality of work they deliver can be pegged as that of a high standard and they deliver within the desired deadline.” So, is work-from-home a myth or is it reality? Does it always help? Let us find out! I conducted a mini survey amongst employees of various industries, including top management executives and those who are self-employed, in order to understand their opinion about an opportunity to work from home. Here, I will present some of the views that my friends expressed on the topic. Given the current generation, which is more process-driven and career oriented, working from home will be the ideal way of working. It would help a lot of working couples in times of emergency, while ensuring that the employees feel more trusted and free. “This is also one of the reasons I have been able to retain some of my wonderful teammates in these difficult times of attrition amongst the excellent talent,” says Sindhu R., consultant at Aardra. For a manufacturing company, allowing employees to work from home would not be feasible as one cannot see what is happening in the factory sitting at home. It is critical to have face-to-face interactions with workers. As an employee of a manufacturing unit, it is important to liaison with various departments. “I will not allow anyone to work from home, except in situations such as sick kids. Working from home is simply no way to build a good work team,” explains Josh Chernin, General Manager at Web Industries. |
The opportunity to work from home, therefore, depends purely on the nature of work and the organisational policy. If given an opportunity to work remotely, a major benefit for the employee will be in terms of higher productivity due to negligible waste of time plying between home and office. An individual will not have to waste time in front of the mirror till the last minute, deciding what to wear to office. One can kick-start the day in pajamas! In case of a working couple, it becomes easy for either one to manage the house and run errands. One can concentrate on work better if growing kids or old parents are around, unlike working from office wherein one is constantly worrying about their well-being. One can save money by spending less on gas, as visits to office are occasional. It is not just about money; this also contributes in keeping the environment green. With office politics and gossip at bay, one can deliver work of a high standard. Some of the benefits that organisations enjoy in this regard are similar to those enjoyed by employees. With employees working from home, the organisation can be sure that employees are not indulging in office gossip. It can save energy by not cooling or heating the office for the employees to work. As an organisation, less money goes into occupying space and maintaining it. By allowing employees to work from home, organisations can create a relationship of trust, freedom, belongingness and ownership with the employees. The biggest advantage for the organisation would be the ability to retain talent and skills. Just like a coin has two sides, there are unfavourable downsides to working from home. This practice, in spite of today’s collaborative technological advancements, will never have the living potential of traditional in-office work. Let me share with you some more about this. The sense of belonging and interpersonal participation tends to get lost when live and quality interactions with other related and not-so-related professionals in the office are replaced by sparse and fragmented interactions with co-workers. This condition could get even worse if you work many hours more per month than any of your co-workers. It is true that the home environment is the best place for living, sharing quality time with your family, having lunch in peace and for certain other amenities. A remote worker must be emotionally strong, disciplined and mature to overcome systematically typical home distractions and become a productive and focused professional. The more time you work remotely, the harder it is for you to acquire the social and professional behaviours that are typical to the enterprise’s culture. A growing feeling of loneliness can become an emotional handicap and can prevent you from feeling self-confident in typical day-to-day corporate social interactions. Simple facts of corporate life, like sharing a coffee break with co-workers, or being part of a spontaneous business meeting, cannot be emulated through video conferences. In spite of flexible schedules that remote working could bring, a sense of guilt could arise if you, say, fall asleep after lunch, when you are supposed to be working like others at the office. Similarly, your family could demand attention from you at a time when you are trying to recover lost time by working on Sunday morning. |
