The Benefits and Risks of Telecommuting - Essay Example

The Benefits and Risks of Telecommuting In the age of communicational and technological advancement, there have been great improvements in the working sphere. Today due to technological advancement people can sit at home and work. This is called telecommuting, where the employees work from home and this allows them to have a more flexible working hours that helps them in arranging their life in a manner which is more suitable to their life styles. Working from home is also called e-commuting, e-working, work at home or WAH, telework, etc. the term telework and telecommuting were first used by Jack Nilles. Telecommuting does not have to be done at home but it can also be done by many at various places by people who travel a lot, like nomads, etc. and this helps them to work without the hindrance of distances coming in their way. A successful telecommuting work relation requires that the focus is on the end result and not on the close analysis of the employees by the employer. Telecommuting has it roots in the technological development that took place during the 1970s when technology where there was the linking of the main offices with the downtown offices through telephones and it helped in reducing cost and increased efficiency in the offices. Later, the process shifted from these downtown offices to homes and by the 1980s they were able to connect to the mainframe offices through the internet and the use of personal computers. The process has been growing ever since and today is one of the most sought after as it takes away from work the problem of commuting. Telecommuting also had an important effect on the human resource management program and it helps the employer to form a better link with the employee without him encroaching in their space and has helped them increase their efficiency by providing them with a more flexible work schedule. The flexibility that is supplied by telecommuting makes it very popular. In a hiring index (Robert Half International Financial Hiring Index), almost 13% said that they believed that it was a great initiative for them, and an earlier survey had shown it 33% saying that telecommuting was their first preference while 50% said that it was next best choice especially for professionals such as accountants and engineers. Another addition that has taken place to the telecommuters is the people who do distributive work. This is not just confined to the house of the employees, but these go outside the offices into public places like restaurants and official sites where they can meet and negotiate with the customers. Telecommuting has been getting increasing support in the United States of America, and although there is still the majority of people traveling in cars, buses, trains, etc to reach their place of work the idea of working from home have been receiving increasing support especially considering that the method takes into consideration environmental problems, relocation of family values etc. Thus, there has been a growing sense of awareness that has led to promotion of telecommuting in the working sphere. Telecommuting helps in energy conservation. A lot of people travel to work using buses, cars, taxies, trains, cabs, etc. If there was an increase in the number of people telecommuting then there would be conservation of energy in the form of saving energy in car transport, resources required to maintain vehicles and roads, office resource materials etc. (Clark 2008). A lot of energy is used in manufacturing vehicles of transportation, their maintenance and in keeping them supplied with fuels. Telecommuting would save not only on the resources required for these but also help in fuel conservation. It would also help utilize the already existing buildings for maximum usage and help reduce the growing pressure on land for more building space for roads, buildings, highways, etc. telecommuting also helps in environmental conservation. Automobiles and the fuel emissions are a major cause for pollution and with growing telecommuting, there would be less usage of automobiles which would help reduce emissions and the parking lots used for parking can be converted back to parks, and there would be less pressure on land also for there would be a reduce in demand for roads, etc which would help in resource conservation. This would also help in ensuring less congestion of the roads and this would help reduce the incidents of accidents, as the rise in accidents has taken place due to rush and people being in a hurry to either reach work or leave for home. Rush hour accidents could be reduced and avoided all together. Telecommuting is also looked upon as a way of reducing stress in the lives of individuals. Today with the pressure of professional and personal life there is not enough time for people to focus on both, and this causes stress due to dissatisfaction. Telecommuting helps the individuals by allowing them access to more time as they do not have to travel, which leads to them having more time to spend with their families. (Johnson 1994) Also it opens up job opportunities to those who are unable to leave home due to other obligations, and allows employment to reach those who live in remote areas and do not have access to jobs. Many people also leave their home towns in search of jobs, but telecommuting helps solve this problem as well. Telecommuting also is helpful as it helps increase productivity of the employees. It helps reduce time taken to travel which leaves one with more time to work, also one can work anywhere, airports, while traveling, hotels, etc which helps give them more time to improve their working skills. (Heibel 2007) Also the employees can find an environment where they are comfortable and this helps them increase their productivity. It also allows people with physical handicaps to work in an environment that is suited to their requirements which helps them perform better. For example, in Atlanta Regional Commission the reports show that there has been an increase in productivity by almost 17% while around 90% of the managers reported an increase in the moral of the employees. Telecommuting also helps organizations in cutting their cost and cost reduction. It allows companies to save money on real estate and other facilities which reduces the over all cost. The companies can employ more people and grow without any additional expenditure. Also there are savings on fuel expenditure and infrastructural facilities. Telecommuting helps the companies to draw their employees from a larger pool, as there are no geographical restrictions and people can be employed from across the globe. Also it allows easy restructuring and reorganization of the employees without there being any disruption in the working process. (Teleworking) Teams can be put together on projects based on skill without worrying about their location or time zone. Telecommuting also addresses the serious problems that most companies face- retaining of employees. Most employees leave their jobs and relocate as they are dissatisfied with the place they are staying and need to relocate to a different place which meets their requirements. In such an event most people have to loose their jobs and find new ones. But with telecommuting, there would be better job retentions as one can still relocate while continuing to hold on to their jobs. This ensures better continuity of work without disruption and greater job securities to individuals. For example, Merrill Lynch surveyed a 6% turn over of employees while there was an increase in productivity by 15% in the year 2001. There is less disruption of work due to natural disasters like earth quakes, floods, terrorist attacks and work can continue without disruption. It also allows for work hours extending without any extra payment which helps keep the company cost effective and helps extend customer services beyond working hours. This helps increase the output of the company and the employees without adding to the burden of the employees and the staff. Telework and teletrade are essential for economic regeneration of areas that have degenerated due to various reasons, like breakage of transportation, decrease in fundings, etc. It helps in developing areas that are isolated and removed from the main stream economy and helps produce employment opportunities for smaller towns that are now finding it difficult to sustain themselves, due to lack of resources and migration problems. With jobs being generated in these areas there would be growth in the local economies and this would help boost up the standard of living without any extra infrastructural cost, which would lead to regeneration of economies and lead to sustainable development and growth. Thus. Telecommuting provides an environmental friendly process for development that would be cost effective, keep in mind the requirements of the people and of all sections of society while helping in rejuvenating failing economies and create mare and better job opportunities. Although the benefits of telecommuting cannot be ignored many people have refuted against its usage and there have been raised eye-brows about the technology. In the 1990s, telecommuting was receiving more and more support, but the risks involved in setting up a dial up business cannot b e ignored. The biggest threat in telecommuting is the threat of security of information from hackers, shoulder surfers, and others who use technology to illegally enter others sites and either steal the information available or make themselves privy to private corporate policies. Also, there is the risk of the interception of the corporate policies eroute in the transitional phase and modification of such information which may cause misbalance in the organization. In addition to causing trouble there can be also the problem of hackers trying to steal corporate information and then of selling this information, which may lead to anarchy, chaos and loss of business. There is also the problem that there is the risk of loss of information due to lack of security and a common place for it to be processed and saved. Allowing employees to work from home does open up the risk involved in the production process and the government as well as the corporate organizations have not taken enough steps to ensure security of the information, nor have the employees working at home been secured. One of the ways that the security can be enhanced is through firewalls and security gateways that help protect the information transfer from hackers. A firewall or a secure gateway provides for a secure passage of information between a private and a public forum. This allows the employer to decide what information the telecommuter can have access to and ensure safety against hackers. If possible the information that would be required by the telecommuters should be placed outside the gate so as to ensure greater security, but this can only be done if there is no need for the employees to draw from the companies’ database for information. The gateway can be used also to divide between the high risk users from the low risk users, also it could provide for email setups which send certain section of the database, which might be required by the telecommuters, to them via emails. This allows access without the threat of technological theft. But some telecommuters need direct access to the data pool, in which case the database could be divided and protected separately, so that no one can access the whole database, which increases its security. They can thus use set ups like the LAN (local area network), TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol.), etc. Another method which ensures security is Robust Authentication, which helps increase security. In such a setup one may be given tokens, with personalized identification number, PINs which help ensure greater security. This allows the telecommuters the security of a token and PINs which provides better protection than just the pass words. Also the tokens can have the system of one-time-passwords which allows the telecommuter to change his or her password every time he or she accesses their accounts which ensures security against shoulder surfers, hackers, etc. Another threat is that of eavesdropping in on conversations, this is especially true in the case of conferences, where there is access to a wire or a cable. This would allow the eavesdropper to not only hear the conversation; he can even duplicate any information which he might find useful. (Johnson, Tolly 1995) Software and hardware encryption provides security against this but this is an expensive mode of security. The organization should provide the workers with a dos and don’ts list which can be used to ensure maximum security of the information. But the home systems may be used by all members of the household which increases the risk factor. The company can follow the policy of holding the employee responsible but this is not the best method. There can be the use of hard disk for storage which would help reduce the risk of viruses and other risks. There can also be data encryption which allows the data to be encrypted onto a hard disk and this helps to protect its confidility and helps see who accesses the file. All these help in securing the telecommuters files and helps in ensuring greater protection for data transferring and access. But although there is an increase in the awareness in the risks involved in telecommuting a recent survey done of 73 organizations show that most of them do not have any formal security policies in place and also the telecommuters lack training in security and protection of data. (Messmer 2008) Only half of the companies surveyed had any policies on security and there was a general failure on their parts to recognize the risks involved in telecommuting. The reaction to OSHA’s advice that the companies’ responsibility in security and workplace safety is still applicable to the telecommuters got opposition from many organizations. They do no say that they have no responsibilities but believe that if one is rational the security of their employees would be easy to ensure. There is no lack of suggestion as to how the security issues can be dealt with. A telecommunication training company came up with ‘101 Tips for Telecommuters.’ But even though there ate plentiful suggestions there seems to be a lack to practical practice in the companies. A survey conducted by American Management Association of the American companies that are telecommuting revealed that only 7% were formally trained to work outside the offices that less than 50% had been provided with the equipment to work outside their offices while ever a lesser percentage had technical infrastructural facilities for their work. The risk of working from home may be less than of that working in an office, or construction sites, etc, but there are still many hazards that need to be taken care of, like that of fire and lack of smoke detectors, and fire extinguishers increase the risk of damage. (Appelbaum 2002) There have been growing concerns and since 1973 OSHA has worked to ensure improvement of security, and of provision of better facilities, so as to ensure decreased risk of injury, illness, etc. Gillespie is of the belief that telecommunication has more risks than benefits. Many have pointed out that although it helps reduce infrastructural costs and reduces the office space required there are still the chances of an increasing cost of production while the productivity of the workers may be reduced. "Just because I get to wear flips-flops at my desk, call into all meetings and avoid rush-hour traffic jams five days a week, I still have to work twice as hard as those people who leave their houses before dawn just to show you, the boss, that I can do my job from my kitchen counter/guest bedroom/living room/cellar/bathroom/RV with my cell phone/laptop/desktop/Blackberry/secret decoder ring." (Gillespie 2005) This statement of an employee shows the growing dissatisfaction among the telecommuters which has negatively impacted their productivity. The management of employees is becoming increasingly difficult with the growth of the numbers of telecommuters and even if an organization has policies there are no hard and fast rules setups to ensure that these would be followed and this has lead to an increase in the security risk of telecommuting. There is also an increasing rise in the cost of production due to the increasing demand for data security measures like the firewall, etc. There has to regular security updating of the systems and there are also increasing telephonic charges due to the need to be in touch with the employees. Thus, instead of being cost effective telecommuting is adding to the burden of cost of production while always running the risk of security breaches. Also with telecommuting there can be monitoring of the working environment of the employees. It may allow them freedom and motivation to work but there may be distractions which may only increase with time. The managers are unable to monitor them and are thus unable to help and encourage the employees. This may lead to stagnation and lack of growth of not only the employees but also the company and productivity. The manger is unable to make suggestions, read body language or help train and upgrade their working skills. This may cause degradation of the output and productivity of the unit. One may also be shrinking from one’s work but there is no method of monitoring the capability and performance of the employees. There is isolation of the employees from each other and from their seniors. This leads to dissatisfaction and it is difficult to co-ordinate between the team members. The practice also reduces the chances of promotion and development which might lead to job dissatisfaction and fall in productivity of the employees. Thus, we see that although telecommuting helps in social, economic and environmental conservation and progression, with the changing times new problems have emerged like that of internet hacking, security risks, shrinking from work, increasing cost of productivity, etc. Although there have been savings made in certain areas like infrastructural cost, real estate cost, fall in maintaince cost, etc there has been an increasing demand for data security devices and there has been increasing expenditure in ensuring connectivity with all the employees and ensuring security to all the remote areas. But the advantages of telecommuting cannot be ignored. It helps create job opportunities, helps in environmental conservation and has given ruse to a more sustainable method of production, led to a decrease in the pressure on resources, increased job turn-over. All these benefits weigh out the risks, which can be worked around and solved with a little more effort. Telecommuting is fast becoming a popular mode of production and is becoming an important contributor to the global economy. References: Appelbaum. E 2002: Taking the Risk of Telecommuting Seriously-viewpoint, Chicago Tribune, pub April 3, 2002 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/webfeatures_viewpoints_telecommute/. Clark. T 2008: Working Green: Bottom-line Benefits of Telecommuting and Secure Remote Access, pub: February 1, 2008 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1209401927_670.html Gillespie. M.H 2005: Telecommuting risks remote but real; The Savvy Manager, August 15, 2005 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.boston.com/jobs/savvy_manager/081505.shtml. Heibel. C 2007: Benefits of Telecommuting; December 10, 2007 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://smart-data-centers.tmcnet.com/topics/benefits/articles/16146-benefits-telecommuting.htm Johnson. R.P 1994: Ten Advantages of Telecommuting: In the Areas of Conserving Energy, Protecting the Environment, Promoting Family Values, and Enhancing Worker Safety; September 1994 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.gilgordon.com/telecommutesafe/telebenefits.html Johnson. J.T. and Tolly. K 1995, The Safety Catch, Data Communications Magazine, May 1995 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.itl.nist.gov/lab/bulletns/archives/telecomm.htm. Messmer. E 2008: Telecommuting poses security, privacy risks- Network World; July 29 2008 accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/072908-telecommuting-security-privacy risks.html. Teleworking (telecommuting): The Benefits- and some issues! Accessed on Thursday, July 09, 2009 at http://www.eto.org.uk/faq/faq03.htm Read More