Types of Budgets in Public Administration
The public budgets are different from other forms of budgets in many ways; here the voters delegate the power of spending their money to the politicians or the elected representatives. Now having understood the concept of budget in the last article, let us understand the different kinds of budget that are there in the public […]
Importance of Workplace Ethics
Workplace ethics ensures positive ambience at the workplace. Workplace ethics leads to happy and satisfied employees who enjoy coming to work rather than treating it as a mere source of burden. Employees also develop a feeling of loyalty and attachment towards the organization. Organizations need to have fool-proof systems to measure the performances of individuals. […]
Equity Theory of Motivation
The core of the equity theory is the principle of balance or equity. As per this motivation theory, an individual’s motivation level is correlated to his perception of equity, fairness and justice practiced by the management. Higher is individual’s perception of fairness, greater is the motivation level and vice versa. While evaluating fairness, employee compares […]
How to make a Great Presentation?
Here are few tips to ensure a great presentation… State the Objectives: A presenter must ensure that he/she understands the purpose of the presentation. Sometimes a good presentation fails to make an impact because the audience is not clear what the presentation is about. A good way to start a presentation is to clearly state/mention/include […]
Relationship Between Organizational Structure, Design & Change
Relationship Between Organizational Structure and Culture Organizational structure determines the organizational behavior and influences the organizational culture. In addition, design of the organizational structure often determines how flexible or adaptable it is to change. The linkages between the design of the organizational structure and its resistance or acceptance to change are indeed deep. For instance, […]
A typical challenge for working professionals, especially women, is to maintain work life balance with regards to ensuring that neither their family life nor their career suffers because of the other.
In this context, a trend that has been noticeable in the last decade or so has been the aspect of working from home wherein professionals connect through remote access and by using virtual teams by working from home. This gives them the time to devote to their families and take care of kids and other familial matters.
Research has shown that employees are more productive when they work from home as the relative peace with which they work ensures that they devote their best efforts to work. Further, as there are no disturbances in the form of workplace buzz, professionals can focus on work when needed and spend the rest of the time attending to their families.
However, many organizations are yet to evolve a coherent and cohesive working from home policy, which is surprising given the rather obvious benefits of the practice. Apart from that, in recent months, the internet giant Yahoo! has sent out a clear policy that working from home would not be tolerated. Not all these developments augur well for the future of professionals as they seek to maintain the work life balance and ensure that they give their best to their organizations.
Many organizations point to the fact that employees when they work from home miss important meetings and appointments with other employees as well as other employees being unable to contact them for assistance and help. The point that employers make is that when working in teams, physical presence is as important as employment and hence, the organizations cannot take chances on this front.
Further, many HR professionals point to the fact that when employees work from home, it imposes additional costs on the organizations in terms of home connectivity and other infrastructural aspects, which the organizations have to pay for the employees.
Apart from this, many managers also point to the fact that when employees work from home, there is a knock on effect wherein other employees want to follow suit and this creates a situation that is undesirable from the organizations’ perspective. Finally, many employers also point to the fact that there is no way to keep tabs on the employees’ working hours when they work from home and hence, there is no way of knowing whether the employee is being extra productive or merely postponing work to be done once they return to the workplace.
Given these advantages and disadvantages, it would be worthwhile to note that it is high time the organizations came up with set policies regarding this practice and ensure that it is a win-win situation for all parties. For instance, employers can permit women to work from home in case of legitimate reasons and at the same time, it can permit all employees to work from home for certain duration every month.
By coordinating the times when the physical presence of employees is not needed at the workplace and letting them work from home during those times, employers can make everyone’s life a lot easier. On their part, employees must understand that by working from home, they are compensating and making up for the lack of physical presence at the workplace by attending all calls (conference calls, virtual meetings, and bridge calls) and by also being available for assistance and help to other employees.
In this respect, newer technologies offer a way out for the dilemma being faced by employers as the concept of virtual teams and the technologies used to actualize it can work to the benefit of all parties. Finally, both employees and employers have to realize that the employment contract that they are bound to is not violated in any way when the employees work from home.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *
