Johannesburg - Suggesting flexible working hours to
alleviate traffic congestion as suggested by City Officials could have a
serious impact on employees and company productivity says Professor Anita
Bosch, associate professor at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB).
“Telecommuting employees are less engaged and often feel
quite alienated from the organisation. Research shows that on average a maximum
of 20 percent of working time should be flexible.”
Bosch says one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the
manager’s fear that s/he cannot manage employees if s/he cannot see them.
“Monitoring of performance becomes a key requirement of a
manager of virtual workers. Yet, many South African managers are not so well
attuned to output and performance targets and the out-of-sight-out-of-mind
mantra sadly become all too evident come performance appraisal time.”
Bosch says the nature of the job is central to whether
flexible scheduling can occur.
“Pertinent questions to consider are whether the position
is client facing, if clients visit the office or the option of employees
delivering the service off-site, the hours within clients expect service and
the hour’s clients become accustomed to and whether the job relates to a
specific process or outcome which is attached to specific hours and a place of
work.”
Bosch says companies should be well aware of the
mechanisms they ought to have in place to ensure that productivity does not
decline and that work remains at the same level of performance, or even better,
that performance increases in comparison to when people are working from the
office.
She says companies considering flexible work arrangements
are at liberty to request that employees can guarantee that they can deliver
work at the same standard to which they would had they been at the office.
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“Once jobs have been identified as having potential for
flexi hours those positions not suitable to such an arrangement should also be
examined. However the introduction of flexible work hours to some but not all
employees is hardly an easy sell.
“Perhaps work hour flexibility may not be possible for
certain positions but working from a remote location might be an option.
Virtual working has been heralded as the panacea to many employment
frustrations such as wasting time in rush-hour traffic.”
Gather data
Gathering data regarding the design of jobs throughout
the organisation is crucial before communicating intentions. She says
perceptions of fairness should be managed by explicating the criteria for the
participation in flexible work practices.
Bosch says the introduction of workplace policies to
improve traffic congestion may be a collective approach to destigmatise the use
of family friendly policies.
“Employees that take up flexitime or utilise
telecommuting arrangements are often regarded as less committed to their jobs
and as such may experience career penalties.
undefined“If these policies are associated with positive
collective outcomes such as the creation of a greener city through the
reduction of carbon emissions, a better quality of life for citizens of a
metropolitan area, or associated with better financial outcomes based on living
in affordable areas that may be far from the place of work, then alleviating
traffic congestion may very well be the elixir to the adoption of policies
aimed at balance in the work context.”
BUSINESS REPORT
ONLINE
Adapted from a
press release