Although workers see telecommuting as a valuable perk, they can’t totally escape the office, finds a research paper recently published online in Personnel Psychology.
Indeed, ties to co-workers and bosses back at the office play a key role in the success of these remote work arrangements.
Telecommuting has grown increasingly popular. A 2013 survey by the non-profit research association, WorldatWork, found that 88 percent of some 800 businesses large and small offered telecommute options.
Still, managers and co-workers back in the office won’t view remote workers’ performance positively unless they aim to counteract some long-held negative perceptions, notes Ravi Gajendran, a University of Illinois business professor and co-author of the study.
Gajendran’s research provides evidence against some of those negative views, and offers insight on how remote workers can improve the perceptions of their performance. The findings can also bolster an employee’s argument that he should be allowed to telecommute:
• In spite of employers’ worry that productivity will slip without the monitoring that face time affords, data on 323 workers and 143 matched supervisors finds that job performance of telecommuters is actually slightly better than performance of office workers. A key reason, speculates Gajendran, is that remote workers are motivated to do more because they appreciate their arrangement.
• Office workers often resent remote employees, “because there are unanticipated tasks that can creep up and the at-home worker isn’t there to help,” says Gajendran. He recommends that telecommuters “be sensitive to what is happening at the office,” and suggest that they are available to help out.
• Remote work must really be somewhat remote. Explains Gajendran: “If managers use excessive controls, like constantly monitoring when a telecommuter logs on and off his computer, workers perceive the lack of trust, and their performance can suffer.”
http://www.nwitimes.com/business/jobs-and-employment/remote-control-teleworking-does-not-replace-office-culture/article_7d28e781-37a9-5a6b-a17b-a490fde68a2c.html
No comments:
Post a Comment