The Telework Generation Gap
By Kaylan Billingsley
May 10, 2013 - GovExec.com
As technology has made it easier to remotely connect with others, many
businesses, corporations and federal agencies have made the move to allow
employees to gteleworkh or gtelecommute.h There are various reasons as to
why these employers are implementing telework policies. Many cite morale and
stress reasons, while others claim environmental reasons and cutting costs.
Whatever the reason, teleworking has become more prevalent in work environments,
which has sparked discussion about whether or not it is more or less productive
for employees than traditional office operations.
The federal government has not been immune from this discussion. The
question about the productivity of telework policies is of particular importance
to the federal government, which is already plagued by the reputation for red
tape and ineffectiveness. Now with deep cuts being made to federal agencies,
teleworking is being explored even further in government operations. In a report
published by the US Office of Personnel Management, as of September 2012, of
over two million federal employees, 684,589 were considered eligible for
telework, and 168,558 employees were participating in telework programs. Of
these employees, 46,000 were teleworking three or more times a week. In a Young
Government Leaders survey of 166 young federal employees, 132 were allowed to
telework and 114 of them have indicated that they telework at least on occasion
(86 percent of those eligible).
What does this mean for productivity? Some have criticized Yahoo! CEO
Marissa Mayer for banning telework, citing the unstoppable force of technology
and the benefits that telework provides. In YGLfs survey, 44 percent of
respondents believed that teleworking improved their productivity and 5 percent
believed it decreased their productivity with the rest believing it had no
impact. In responding to what they thought their managerfs perception of
telework was, 25 percent believed their manager thought it increased
productivity and 21 percent thought their manager believed it decreased
productivity. So, while the majority employees believe that it is just as
effective, if not more so, than regular office interactions, there is still some
reservation from management concerning its degree of effectiveness.
This could be due to gaps in age and technological familiarity between
managers and employees, which can be a source of distrust in technology by
managers. Another option is that managers donft communicate their support and
trust with employees who telework. A third scenario is that government
managers have yet to set appropriate and effective ways to measure teleworking
performance. Finally, it may be up to the employee to communicate with their
manager about how their performance has not changed and make a conscious effort
to demonstrate that productivity. The same methods to measure in-office
performance may not be as useful when evaluating employees from home.
Thinking carefully about how one manages and communicates with employees who
telework is critical for this arrangement to benefit the employee and his or her
agency.
By Kaylan Billingsley
May 10, 2013
http://www.govexec.com/excellence/promising-practices/2013/05/telework-generation-gap/62975/