Trouble for teleworkers?

Homeworking, teleworking or telecommuting – various terms are used to describe the phenomenon of working away from the traditional office. It’s a great Business Studies discussion point, because there’s so much you can consider in terms of business organisation, leadership, management and motivation. It’s probably fair to say that the idea has (so far) failed to reach the level of acceptance that boosters promised twenty years ago.

The first stumbling point is tackling the question ‘Is working from home a skive’? Broadly speaking, that means opinion is split right from the start between a view that teleworkers are slouched on the sofa watching daytime soaps, pausing occasionally to check their BlackBerrys: alternatively, others believe that teleworkers do real work, undistracted by meetings and tedious chattering colleagues. Call it Theory X and Theory Y if you like.

The Economist reports the findings of a report that sends a troubling message to potential teleworkers, many of whom fret that time away from the office means missing out on promotion opportunities.

Apparently, the report by the London Business School finds that companies still reward ‘presenteeism’; telecommuters are less likely to be promoted becasue they aren't present in the office. In one experiment subjects were asked to judge scenarios in which the only difference was whether the employee was at his office desk or at home. Managers rated those at the office to be more dependable and industrious, regardless of the quality of their work. Visibility creates the illusion of value. Being the last to leave the office impresses bosses, even if you are actually larking around on Facebook. Oddly, this holds true at firms that explicitly encourage staff to work from home.

Remote workers understand this, and the situation is especially bad for women. Many teleworkers barrage their bosses with progress reports to prove they are on the job. A fifth of the workers in the study admitted to leaving a canny e-mail or voicemail early or late in the day. Still, many are not as smart as they think. Some choose a Monday or Friday to work at home. That may make others think they are keen to extend the weekend. Many women (and some men) work from home to allow themselves the flexibility to pick up kids from school. That need not mean they produce less; only that they do it at a time and a place of their own choosing.

Troublesome findings that might mean the full potential of working from home is to be postponed for a while yet.