I wrote this story five years ago about allowing people to work from home. It resonates more strongly now. As a resume writer and employment expert, working form home is a no-brainer. Expect more of it.
Around 700,000 Australians are in a formal teleworking arrangement with their employer. Many are women, sole traders and Boomers, and as the NBN comes fully on line, there will be many more. The notion that work takes place between the four walls of an office rather than between our ears, is false.
A 2013 Melbourne University study, found that teleworkers got more done and had less distractions than office workers. Companies with teleworkers experienced lower staff turnover. Even so, in Adelaide’s antique HR set, there’s an enduring assumption that being present equals commitment. Commitment and attendance are two different things.
Geographically distant online teams are the norm for many corporations in Europe and US.
The great bonus for self-directed staff working from home, is focus. This is what the best employers want – the ability of staff to draw upon their deepest capabilities to solve complex problems and produce high order work.
Another benefit is traffic reduction. More than 200,000 vehicles enter and leave Adelaide every day. An Australian Infrastructure Audit said that without new investment in infrastructure, “car travel times are expected to increase by at least 20 per cent in the most congested corridors”.
Instead of the state and federal governments spending billions of dollars on SA roads over the next 20 years, that money could be spent on long-term job creation. We’ll need it SA has mass unemployment.
So why don’t more Australian companies allow? One blocker has been HR. They are worried about being sued for workers compensation if a worker hurts themselves at home. This has proven to be a rarity during the Coronavirus meltdown.
About one quarter of Medibank Private’s 4000 staff are teleworkers. Around 90 per cent of Cisco’s 75,000 global workforce telework at least one day a week, with 40 per cent classified as mobile workers.
After the Coronavirus passes, workplaces will have little to do with HR blockers. We need new ways of behaving and implementing work strategies that are in both the employer and employee’s best interests.