Potential benefits Telecommuting

1 potential benefits

1.1 environmental benefits
1.2 job attitudes
1.3 productivity , employee benefits
1.4 turnover intention
1.5 advantages , disadvantages meta-analysis

potential benefits

in general, telecommuting benefits society in economic, environmental, , personal ways. wide application of icts provides increasing benefits employees, ones physical disabilities. leads more energy-saving society without adversely impacting economic growth. telecommuting offers benefits communities, employers, , employees. communities, telecommuting may offer fuller employment (by increasing employability of circumstantially marginalized groups such work @ home parents , caregivers, disabled, retirees, , people living in remote areas), reducing traffic congestion , traffic accidents, relieving pressure on transportation infrastructure, reducing greenhouse gases, reducing energy use, , improving disaster preparedness.

for companies, telecommuting expands talent pool, reduces spread of illness, reduces costs including real-estate footprint, increases productivity, reduces carbon footprint , energy usage, offers means of complying americans disabilities act of 1990 (ada) , possibly earning tax credit, if re american, reduces turnover , absenteeism, improves employee morale, enhances continuity-of-operations strategies, improves ability handle business across multiple time zones, , augments cultural adaptability. estimates suggest full-time telework can save companies approximately $20,000 per employee.

telecommuting individuals, or more in work home arrangements, may find improves work-life balance, reduces carbon footprint , fuel usage, frees equivalent of 15 25 workdays year (time have otherwise spent commuting), , saves thousands of dollars per year in travel , work-related costs. half-time telecommuting compatible jobs (40%) , desire (79%) save companies, communities, , employees on $650 billion year; result of increased productivity, reduced office expense, lower absenteeism , turnover, reduced travel, less road repairs, less gas consumption, , other savings.

environmental benefits

telecommuting gained ground in united states in 1996 after clean air act amendments adopted expectation of reducing carbon dioxide , ground-level ozone levels 25 percent. act required companies on 100 employees encourage car pools, public transportation, shortened work weeks, , telecommuting. in 2004, appropriations bill enacted congress encourage telecommuting federal agencies. bill threatened withhold money agencies failed provide telecommuting options eligible employees.

if 40% of u.s. population holds telework-compatible jobs , wants work home did half of time:

the nation save 280,000,000 barrels (45,000,000 m) of oil (37% of gulf oil imports).
the environment saved equivalent of taking 9 million cars permanently off road.
the energy potential fuel savings total more twice u.s. produces renewable energy sources combined.

in uk, has been estimated increasing numbers of employees working home save on 3 million tonnes of carbon pollution each year, in addition economic benefits of cutting costs gbp 3 billion year uk employers , employees.

job attitudes

according job characteristic theory, relationship between characteristics of job , job satisfaction moderately strong. of 5 task characteristics, autonomy has strong relationship job satisfaction such greater autonomy leads greater job satisfaction. teleworkers may have increased satisfaction due flexibility , autonomy jobs provide. teleworkers found have higher satisfaction office based workers. found autonomy increased teleworkers satisfaction reducing work-family conflicts, when workers allowed work outside traditional work hours , more flexible family purposes. additionally, autonomy explained increase in employee engagement when amount of time spent teleworking increased. furthermore, study flexjobs surveyed on 3000 people found 81 percent of respondents said more loyal employers if had flexible work options.

productivity , employee benefits

telecommuting has long been promoted way substantially increase employee productivity. working-from-home-related experiment conducted using 242 employees of large chinese travel agency professors @ stanford , beijing university found employees randomly assigned work @ home 9 months increased output 13.5% versus office-based control group. improvement in output arose working 9% more hours saved commuting time , 3.5% improved efficiency quieter working conditions. study found home-workers reported higher job-satisfaction scores , quit rates fell 50%. however, home workers promotion rates dropped half due apparent performance declines, indicating potential career cost of home-working.

telework flexibility desirable prerequisite employees. 2008 robert half international financial hiring index, survey of 1,400 cfos recruitment firm robert half international, indicated 13% consider telework best recruiting incentive today accounting professionals. in earlier surveys, 33% considered telework best recruiting incentive, , half considered second best.

since work hours less regulated in telework, employee effort , dedication far more measured purely in terms of output or results. fewer, if any, traces of non-productive work activities (research, self-training, dealing technical problems or equipment failures) , time lost on unsuccessful attempts (early drafts, fruitless endeavors, abortive innovations) visible employers. piece rate, commissions, or other performance-based compensation become more telecommuters. furthermore, major chunks of per-employee expenses absorbed telecommuter himself - simple coffee, water, electricity, , telecommunications services, huge capital expenses office equipment or software licenses. thus, hours spent on job tend underestimated , expenses under-reported, creating overly optimistic figures of productivity gains , savings, or of in fact coming out of telecommuter s time , pocket.

international evidence , experience shows telework can deliver broad range of benefits individuals, employers , society whole. telework shift in way business accomplished can make difference overtime. example, recent australian study revealed telework enabled national broadband network expected add $8.3 billion gross domestic product 2020, creating equivalent of additional 25,000 full-time jobs. around 10,000 of these jobs in regional australia. when comes environment, has been estimated if 10 per cent of australian employees telework 50 percent of time, save 120 million litres of fuel , 320,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. rate of telework deliver productivity benefit of between $1.4 billion , $1.9 billion year.

turnover intention

turnover intention, or desire leave organization, lower teleworkers. teleworkers experienced greater professional isolation had lower turnover intent. 1 study found increasing feedback , task identity through clear communication of goals, objectives, , expectations, turnover intent decreased in teleworkers , quality of work output increased.

advantages , disadvantages meta-analysis

a meta-analysis of 46 studies of telecommuting involving 12,833 employees conducted ravi gajendran , david a. harrison in journal of applied psychology, published american psychological association (apa), found telecommuting has largely positive consequences employees , employers. in meta-analytic study, gajendran , harrison found telecommuting had modest beneficial effects on employees job satisfaction, perceived autonomy, stress levels, manager-rated job performance, , (lower) work-family conflict. telecommuting reduces turnover intent, or intention quit one’s job. increased job satisfaction, decreased turnover intent , role stress related telecommuting partly because of decrease in work-family conflict. additionally, increase in autonomy teleworking in turn increases job satisfaction. although number of scholars , managers had expressed fears employee careers might suffer , workplace relationships might damaged because of telecommuting, meta-analysis found there no detrimental effects on quality of workplace relationships , career outcomes. telecommuting found positively affect employee-supervisor relations , relationship between job satisfaction , turnover intent in part due supervisor relationship quality. high-intensity telecommuting (where employees work home more 2.5 days week) harmed employee relationships co-workers, though did reduce work-family conflict.