Introducing Telework into the Patent Office: Development of a Policy - Coursework Example

Introducing telework into the patent office: development of a policy By Teleworking is also referred to as telecommuting and entails working from home through utilization of sophisticated technology to enable an employee keep in touch with the businesses. The approach allows patent organization to relocate jobs to places that are considered more convenient, cheaper and more attractive to live (Alizadeh and Sipe, 2013). Employees may find it easier to work in an environment that makes them comfortable and the approach may enable them to be more productive and efficient. The technology requires the employee to have an email account and a computer that can be able to access the internet. Teleworkers in some organization can utilize mobile phones; fax machines and video conferencing equipment to enable them stay in touch with other employees and take part in day to day organizational activities without being physical present at the place of work (Ananda, 2004). The paper seeks to identify the various benefits of telecommuting and how an organization can be able to develop a policy that will ensure effective utilization of telecommuting strategy. Benefits of telecommuting Telecommuting approach presents a lot of challenges and various benefits to the organization in question. Some of the advantages of the approach to the employer include reduction of office overheads and running costs. Many employees at the place of work mean more structures and offices being set up. Offices utilizes technology with consumes a lot of electrical energy that is costly to the organization (A practical framework for secure corporate Teleworking, 2004). Reducing the number of employees by allowing telecommuting ensures reduction of such costs. Lowering the number of employees at the place of work is beneficial to the organization since the need for an office space is reduced. Telecommuting approach is able to deal with problems related to travelling and is experienced by the workers (Meyer, 2007). Challenges related to delays in rail and road transport may make it a problem for the employee to arrive at the place of work in time. Working from home therefore cans an option of dealing with the challenges related to the transport. Organizations which subscribe to such kind of an approach may lure better staffs with experience to think of working with them. Telecommuting presents a number of advantages to the employee which includes working in a comfortable environment (Telework: Towards the elusive office, 2004). Comfortable environments may increase the efficiency and motivation to the worker hence impacting positively to the performance of the organization. The approach reduces the amount of money that the employees use to commute or travel to the place of work. Employees spent a lot of time in the organization’s offices and are unable to respond to the needs of the family most often (Mokhtarian and Bagley, 2000). The approach will therefore enable the employee to work and at the same time, able to monitor and take care of the family needs. Despite the various advantages presented by the approach, telecommuting presents a number of limitations to both the employees and the employers. Limitation of telecommuting The approach calls for the employers to be able to trust the employees which cannot be easily done if the employees work from home. The approach results to less human interaction among the employees. The employees are not able to meet new people and share ideas with them. Working from home is a limitation to some employees with families since they may be unable to separate work from personal life (Becker, 2011). Telecommuting presents temptation to the employee such as spending time on activities that are not related to organizational activities. It therefore impact negatively on the achievement of the organizational objectives. It also hinders team work and exchange of ideas that can spur the organization to the next level (Wilton et al, 2011). Technological failure can also be a challenge and may make it difficult for the employees to complete the assigned duties. Use of technology such as video conferencing has a number of limitations toward the performance of the organization and the managers (Markby, 2006). Use of video conferencing may not be so effective compared to the discussion around the table. There are times where employees will have to meet face to face with their supervisors and therefore use of video link may not necessitate these. Confidential documents may not be signed and viewed through use of video conferencing. Despite the number of limitations presented by telecommuting, the benefits outweigh the limitations and therefore it remains one of the most effective and beneficial approach to the organization if well managed. Multinational Corporation may utilize the approach to stay in touch with most of its employees working in other countries (Markey, 2009). According to Manssour (2003), telework entail working from other places apart from the office situated at the place of work. The utilization of communication and information technology enables the employees to be connected to work systems and colleagues. Australia’s government for example aims at making the country a leading digital economy by utilization of Teleworking in most of the organizations in the country (Teleworking, 2013). According to the survey conducted by the Australian business use of information and technology, internet is being utilized by more than thirty percent of micro businesses with an intention of helping the staffs work from home (Nelson et al, 2007). The result however represents an eight percent increase from the previous years. Larger businesses on the other hand have put the facilities in place to enable staffs to work from home. Governmental organization should therefore subscribe to the approach to enable them work more efficiently and faster (Adoption of telecommuting: Modeling the employers and the employees decision processes, 2006). Patent office should be able to utilize the technology to replace the travel related work. The employees can be able to work at home or at a local telework station. Introducing Teleworking in a patent office The application of the Teleworking approach in the patent office has a number of benefits such as improving employee satisfaction and productivity while maintaining high levels of employee performance and customer service. The patent offices have utilized the telecommuting approach to provide the services to the customers. The program has enabled the organization to utilize the services of its many employees located on various parts of the country (Caillier, 2013). The telework program enables the organization to retain and recruit highly skilled labor force, maintain pendency metric at a limit that is acceptable and aligning examination capacity with an incoming capacity (Weijers et al, 2014). The approach enable the organization achieve most of the set goals such as knowledge enhancement, education and domestic outreach and capacity building activities. The reason for utilization of a Teleworking in an organization is based on the need to reduce office space by allowing people to work from their homes (Jaakson and Kallaste, 2010). The approach also allows the employees to balance between work and life. The approach has been linked to increased efficiency among the employees with most of them working towards achievement of the organizational goals. Developing a telework policy in a patent office The patent office workers can become flexible resulting to increased productivity. Application of Teleworking saves on both space and costs that are related to running of an office at the place of work. The application of the approach in organization enables them to become employees’ choice (European Patent Office, 2008). Before the approach is put into action, the employees and the stakeholders of the organization including the customer should be educated on how telecommuting works including its application in environment, production, transit subsidies and employee attrition. Development and implementation of Teleworking require commitment and collaborative working (Telework: The human implications, 2008). A patent office that wishes to apply the technology should start with small sections or department of the organization before moving on to cover other departments in the organization. The programmers should be able to conduct pilot programmes in a number of departments and collect information regarding the approach from the employer, the employees and other stakeholders (Forgacs, 2010). The information may be collected through survey, questionnaires and interviews. The performance of those departments utilizing the approach can also shade light on the importance of applying such an approach. If the managers and the employers are convinced about the efficiency of the approach the organization can begin investing on the technology (Policy Developments: Policy Studies Organization Proceedings, 2008). The employees ought to be equipped with technological tools such as phones, internet enabled computers and video conferencing technology to help keep the employees in touch with the activities of the organization. The employees can also be trained on how to utilize and set up the technology. Both the managers and the employees are to be taken through a series of training and how to utilize the technology in performance of the activities related to the performance of the organization (Dissanayake and Morikawa, 2008). The policies and procedures in the organization should remain intact during the set up and running of the technology. Employees should be aware of the management principles associated with the organization and should always report to the supervisors or communicate to the colleagues as they go through the work related activities. Most employees subscribe to labor unions of their choice. The labor union has a mandate of ensuring the employees are safe and their rights are of concern in the organization. Telecommuting approach should not be utilized by the organization to infringe the workers’ rights. The organization ought to develop a policy that will ensure the workers are able to complete their work in time and how the workers can be supervised by using the telecommuting approach (Cole, 2007). Organization that subscribe to Teleworking approach should provide their employees with a better technology to prevent excuses that may end up emerging. The United States patent office for example provided all of its employees with state-of-the-art computers with high stability increased processing speed and power. The laptops allow the telework to be seamless for both stakeholders and the employees. A patent office should create an enterprise wide telework policy that involves the background, the scope, definitions and authorities that will guide the workers in performance of their duties. Individual departments in the organization should be able to develop their own agreements and guidelines that are in line with the labor union laws (Huws, 2007). Guidelines entail information targeting the eligibility of the employees and program requirements for application and participation. Departmental telework agreements entail information on eligibility and selection, participating employee’s responsibilities and rights together with guidelines pertaining to the administration of the program. Supervision in the telecommuting approach can be made a reality by keeping the employees engaged. Employees can be engaged through continuous communication which can be utilizing collaborative tools such as video conferencing, online meetings, document sharing and instant messaging. The managers in the office may utilize WebEx for scheduled meetings with employees (Vosko and Johnson, 2008). The patent office can also promote employee engagement through publishing of online magazines which highlight the activities of the employees and by keeping non Teleworkers and Teleworkers abreast about the happenings in the organization (Guthrie, 2009). The managers can promote engagement through provision of lunches and coffee breaks by utilizing virtual technology. Engagement of the Teleworking employees promote team inclusion in the activities of the organization and serves to keep the employees updated and informed. The policy developed should entail the responsibilities of the managers. Supervisors and managers are to be trained on how to manage the telecommuting employees. The training approach should be based on provision of reward and recognition, coaching for success and growth, building of an effective team and management of challenges pertaining to effective team building consisting of remote and onsite workers (Pirdavan et al, 2014). Effective management of the employees will ensure they remain focus and productive (First national Telework Week promises less commuter pollution, 2008). The success of the program in a patent organization can be measured through utilization of tools such as employees’ performance, employees and customer satisfaction, employee attrition, effects on transit subsidy and annual or sick leave. The organization utilizing telecommuting approach should be able to create an intranet site that is centrally placed to house the business unit guidelines, telework policy, frequently asked questions, asset management , media coverage about telework, telework case studies, contact for telework issues and agency IT points of contact (European teleworking receives a boost, 2003). The program should be monitored continuously and changes initiated in places that require them. Despite the various benefits associated with the implementations of telework solutions, many organizations are still finding it a challenge using it due to doubts about management of the program. According to Hilbrecht et al (2008), telecommuting barriers are not related to technology but emerges from cultural implications. Managers still believe that the absence of the employees in their work stations will strip them of their powers and responsibilities. Managers in patent organizations have a feeling that working from home will make employees unproductive and of reduced performance (Ruth and Chaudhry, 2008). One of the challenges associated with the program is majorly associated with ineffective management of telework program and absence of resources aimed at promoting an environment that is productive (Mosier, 2008). Most managers have doubts of initiating the program in their organization. The management of patent organization can ensure effective management of the program by putting effective policies in order that will target all the stakeholders in the organization (Policy World: Policy Studies Organization Proceedings, 2008). Managers should be able to select the right telework tools, break down barriers that are culturally related, develop a telework program and determine the employees who are supposed to be teleworked. Creation of a telework policy is a vital element towards the success of the program. The employees should be aware of all the expectations and guidelines associated with the program. The policy should entail documentation forms including agreement and contract. A telework plan should include general policy statement and the definition of the program (Mokhtarian and Sato, 2000). Program objectives and goals should also be created and should be able to guide the organization during the implementation of the program throughout the organization (Greer and Payne, 2014). The program participation should be well detailed in the program. Managers should be able to supervise Teleworkers in an appropriate manner. The manger should be able to poses a sense of control even with absence of the employees at their place of work. Managers are to create increased trust levels as a purposeful tool and utilize technology in order to stay in touch with the Teleworkers (Patent information services from the U.K. patent office, 2002). The manager has a mandate of redesigning and rethinking the way certain jobs are conducted. He may be able to organize for a meeting through utilization of tools such as video conferencing to help keeping the employees abreast. The objectives should be based on achievement of short term goals (Kamerade, 2004). The policy should focus on responsibilities of the employees and the management committee should come up criteria for measuring performance of the workers. Developing a telecommuting agreement or policy is effective for every organizational situation. The agreement should be able to take into considerations inputs from risk, legal and human resource department in the patent organization. A sound telecommuting policy should consider a number of factors (Nissen, 2008). When developing a policy targeting the implementation of the programme, the planning committee should be able to identify the jobs or department that will be appropriate for telecommuting. Unlike individuals with direct contact responsibilities, computer programmers can effectively work from home (Major and Joice, 2008). Employees working for long term goals with low overhead requirement are suitable for telecommuting. The planning and the management committee should be able to focus on the employees who are able to work effectively in the unique requirement. The personal qualification for telecommuters has high levels of job skills, highly productive, are able to work under pressure, have problem solving capability with excellent communication skills and can work effectively with minimal or without supervision (Mitomo and Jitsuzumi, 2004). Such employees are well organized, keep management updated and achieve dateline in time. The telecommuting policy should be able to set criteria that are clear for the employees who are to telecommunicate and those who cannot. Working from home should not be considered a substitute for elder or child care. Patent organizations should come up with policies that give clear guidelines on the need for the employees to have dependent care. The policies should entail provision of equipments that are more efficient and the employee should be well trained in using it (Handy and Mokhtarian, 2010). Policy development should incorporate a statement that indicates what the company is providing pertaining to the equipment used. The policy should also indicate the level of the safety measures of the employer towards the employees who are working from home. The policy should indicate the person responsible for ensuring the safety of the employees working at home. The patent organization should have a right of inspecting the employees working environment since the information acquired is vital in terms of compensations (Kova, 2005). Conclusion Securing the information of an organization is vital whether the person is working from home or in organizational premises. The policy should not only focus on the employees but also the people who may visit the employees at home. Working from home puts the company information at a greater danger and the policy should be able to guide and show the employee how the company information is vital to the people. Another security concern that should be considered in setting of the policy is how the organization will be able to retrieve its information in cases where their relationship with the employer vanishes (Mahler, 2012). The patent organization should be able to ensure the employees working at home are able to take care of the company equipment and should give clear guideline on who should be responsible in cases where the equipment is damaged. The policy should include ways of monitoring performance and the organizational expectations. Communication issue should be well brought out in the policy. The workers should be aware of who to consult in case of any issue. 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