The pros and cons of working from home
More than a third of managers feel that, if allowed to work from home, staff would use working hours for personal activities, such as taking a longer lunch. And 30 per cent believe employees will use the time to arrange their social life.
Psychologist and employee productivity expert Dr David Lewis said: ‘Managers must understand that every individual has a different style of working. So, by allowing your staff to work how they feel best able to achieve results can only benefit their wellbeing and, most importantly, increase their productivity and ultimately customer service. It comes down to a matter of trust. If you trust and respect your employees to get the job done, they will trust and respect you in return and do the best they possibly can, regardless of whether they are in the office or not.’
I agree with what Dr Lewis says about trust. But trust is earned, especially in business. Just this week I was dealing with a candidate who wanted to only work from home. This is normal practice at Strive because we are a virtual organisation. But the thing to remember is I have known and worked with each of our senior consultants for seven years or more. I trust them, and that is why it works so well. It takes time to build a good working relationship and that just can’t be rushed; so said candidate didn’t get a look in. Click here to read more of this Isle of Man Examiner Tech Talk column.
BTW…I’m now splitting my time between the home office and our new ‘traditional office; in the Hills Meadow industrial estate in Douglas. Recruitment activities continue apace and I’m sure that I’ll eventually be spending a lot more time away from my home office. Am I doing this the right way round?
Filed under: public relations
Subscribe to our feed
Subscribe by Email
I advise anyone “working from home” to actually say they are “working from their home office”. It reminds their bosses that they are committed to getting things done not skiving.
What people forget is that it’s often possible to work more efficiently – and enjoy the long lunch, country walk, trip to the beach – from home.
How is this possible? By saving the two or three hours a day wasted in commuting to and from offices in crowded conurbations. Factor in the idle chatting, the overheads, the personal use of phone and email and offices begin to look inefficient.
Charles Handy had a vision that home working would become the norm and offices used for occasional catch-up meetings and hot-desking – this was two decades ago. Shame we’re not there yet.
I find my at home days are longer and much more productive. I can start as early as 5.30 and finish up at 20.30 and work uninterrupted. But working at my office allows me to coach and guide the junior members of the team to help them work more efficiently. Swings and round abouts I think.
I am amazed that there are so many managers out there who cringe at the thought of employees working at home. I should not be surprised really I am sure that many of them only trust their employees as far they can see them. It is definitely the future though.