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).<\/p>\n
\u201cTelecommuting employees are less engaged and often feel quite alienated from the organisation. Research shows that on average a maximum of 20% of working time should be flexible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Bosch said one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the manager\u2019s fear that s\/he cannot manage employees if s\/he cannot see them.<\/p>\n
\u201cMonitoring 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prof Bosch said the nature of the job is central to whether flexible scheduling can occur.<\/p>\n
\u201cPertinent 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\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The\u00a0professor said that 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.<\/p>\n
She said 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cPerhaps 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,” Bosch said.<\/p>\n
Gathering data regarding the design of jobs throughout the organisation is crucial before communicating intentions. She said perceptions of fairness should be managed by explicating the criteria for the participation in flexible work practices.<\/p>\n