In-Office Employees Less Satisfied than Telecommuters

February 14th, 2008 • Related • Filed Under

Anyone my age (and any good manager who’s not my age) understands the value my generation has placed on flexibility, and as the following points out, “Workin’ 9 to 5 is so early ’90s.”

What I’d not given much thought to is how an increase in the acceptance of flexibile work schedules could translate to those left behind…

the nine to fivers who have to be nine to fivers..not every job lends itself to telecommuting. The following from Iconculture provides an interesting tidbit. If I was left behind at the office, I’m not sure their in-office benefit suggestions would really make it more palatable, but hey at least it’s something to enjoy until I could dig, crawl or scratch my way out.

OBSERVATION
Hey, no fair! In-office employees are less satisfied than telecommuters

WHAT’S HAPPENING

Workin’ 9 to 5 is so early-’90s. More than a third of U.S. companies offer flexible work schedules these days. And a new study reveals that as telecommuting rises, those left behind in the office feel like they’re being cheated (ArsTechnica.com 1.13.08).
Conducted by a management professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the study of a medium-size company found that job dissatisfaction for in-office workers grew as telecommuting increased.
Home alone versus office alone? In-office workers grew increasingly disappointed in working relationships and felt fewer obligations to the company, the study says.

WHAT THIS MEANS TO BUSINESS

As work and family life become increasingly demanding and often at odds, employers offering virtual-work benefits stand to gain from employee commitment and satisfaction. Given autonomy, workers feel increasingly important and in control.
What about those left behind? The rise in virtual offices means the real office needs to be a source of enjoyment. Offering in-office incentives and benefits — such as unique meeting spots, gifts, snacks, interactive break rooms and team-building — will increase worker gratification and eliminate resentment.

Source: Iconculture.com: Consumer Research Service; Published February 12, 2008

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Comment by Chuck Wilsker on 14 February 2008:

Validity of Conclusions in Research Findings Questioned by Telework Coalition

After reviewing the Study “Telecommuting May Harm Workers Left Behind in the Office” conducted by Timothy Golden, associate professor in the Lally School of Management & Technology at Rensselaer, we question the validity of his research and quite frankly are surprised that it was released. Drawing conclusions on a study based on “a couple hundred people from a single company”, may say more about that company’s policies and procedures, or lack thereof, than teleworking. How can anyone perform a study with his only source of data being one medium size company and imply that his conclusions are valid for any other organization?

In 2006 we, The Telework Coalition, conducted a Telework Benchmarking study of 13 large organizations with mature telework programs. In it we asked about the attitudes of those employees who did not telework. Both our study and two previously conducted studies by other organizations in which there were multiple participants showed that the non teleworking coworkers were both enthusiastically supportive and felt teleworking was good for the organization, or at the least, the situation was a non issue.

In Mr. Golden’s study none of the distributed work program’s many benefits are measured, compared, or contrasted with the grumblings from ‘those left behind’. We have seen more employers concerned with transit strikes, the possibility of a bird flu pandemic, terrorism, recruiting and retention issues, rising gas prices, faltering transportation infrastructures, the environment, etc. than the negatives alluded to by Mr. Golden.

Were there no positives in this company’s telework program? Was there top-level support, written policies and procedures, and processes, selection criteria based on the employee and job, a communication plan (so everyone is the “loop”), training, and program evaluation (to identify/resolve any start up issues). Did this company follow these steps?

So many questions, and yet so few answers from Dr. Golden’s research.

The Telework Coalition
Washington, DC
http://www.TelCoa.org
Info@TelCoa.org
Comment by Chessia on 19 February 2008:

I tend to agree with your latter statements that communication is the key to happy employees. By using new VOIP technologies, it is now easier for employees to ‘brainstorm’ together from different locations, chat and get to know one another, and generally maintain healthy communication. If memory serves me right, many of the employee’s in Golden’s study were paranoid that the telecommuters weren’t doing as much work as they, and communication could alleviate that fear.

I have been working with a free video messaging service called ooVoo that has great telecommuter communication capabilities-like 6 person video conference calls using low bandwidth coupled with texting, IMing, audio chat, sending video emails ect. ect. It seems that many employees are already IMing from across the office so it won’t be a large shock to the system to begin virtual communication and collaboration.

oh, and ooVoo has free calling to landlines and cell phones for the rest of the month….http://www.oovoo.com
Comment by Chessia on 19 February 2008:

I tend to agree with your latter statements that communication is the key to happy employees. By using new VOIP technologies, it is now easier for employees to ‘brainstorm’ together from different locations, chat and get to know one another, and generally maintain healthy communication. If memory serves me right, many of the employee’s in Golden’s study were paranoid that the telecommuters weren’t doing as much work as they, and communication could alleviate that fear.

I have been working with a free video messaging service called ooVoo that has great telecommuter communication capabilities-like 6 person video conference calls using low bandwidth coupled with texting, IMing, audio chat, sending video emails ect. ect. It seems that many employees are already IMing from across the office so it won’t be a large shock to the system to begin virtual communication and collaboration.

oh, and ooVoo has free calling to landlines and cell phones for the rest of the month….http://www.oovoo.com
Comment by Doug on 19 February 2008:

I view telework as a benefit to those who chose the education and career paths that are compatible with telework. Secretaries, custodians or data entry keyboard jockeys may never be able to work from home, but it doesn’t mean that other positions should be excluded from telecommuting.

It would free up physical office space for larger workspaces for those who have to come into an office and free up space on the highways. An added benefit would be productivity - most workers with Internet access spend at least 30 minutes killing the clock.