Want to make your workers more productive? Tell them to stay home.
Teleworking is a rapidly growing benefit in the information-driven society in which we live.
“Productivity is higher in businesses that employ it than those that don’t,” says Jim Miller, general manager of extended workplace solutions for U.S. West. “Employees using telework options are significantly more happy, and because they are happy, they are 15 to 30 percent more productive in the work that they do.”
Many types of workers, including architects, writers and others who need creative thinking time, prefer to work where they are most comfortable and be uninterrupted. On average, it takes a person 20 to 30 minutes to transition into deep, critical and creative thought; the average American worker is interrupted eight times an hour. Not only are employees struggling to get into the creative zone, they are also losing precious time because they are repeating steps to retrace to where they left off.
A working environment with a high level of distractions increases stress and can result in errors and, ultimately, customer dissatisfaction. Sometimes it seems the interruptions never stop until the worker leaves the office. Being “plugged in” without completely checking out can make a critical difference in both the quantity and quality of work a person with a creative or critical thinking job can accomplish.
“Offering telework options also increases a company’s ability to attract and retain employees,” says Miller. “Telework is being viewed as a necessary ingredient in the overall benefits mix.”
Companies also benefit because they’re leveraging prior investments in technology and databases by making them available from remote locations — where they are accessed by employees who are now more productive with the same information. Real estate savings can also be achieved if enough people participate in the telework program.
Smaller companies have an easier time implementing a telework program, because there are fewer layers of decision-makers to go through and it’s typically easier to introduce change.
“The key for a small business is to have a technology partner, because they can’t do it all themselves,” says Miller. “One of the biggest concerns is the cost of establishing a program. This is one area they should outsource some of the work and work with someone that has a fundamental belief in the program.”
A lot of people get too caught up in the high-speed technology race, pushing for broadband Internet access from home when in reality, the user may only need a regular 56k dial-up modem.
“You need to question whether everyone needs a Ferrari in their garage,” says Miller. “You need to size your transport requirements to the work that needs to be done. Otherwise there will be a lot of waste.”
Todd Shryock ([email protected]) is SBN’s special reports editor.
