Telecommuting and Flexwork

Telecommuting and Flexwork

Robyn L. Fowler

MGMT 5309

Wayland Baptist University

Abstract

Telecommuting and flexible work have been around for a few years, however, both are concepts that are growing in popularity. Recently telecommuting has gotten some negative press, especially after the highly publicized banning of it by Yahoo! President and CEO, Marissa Mayer.

With society and technology changing so quickly, many studies show it will continue to grow not only in popularity, but also geographically. Telecommuting and flexible work both has positives and negatives, and in both cases is not suitable for all companies, jobs, positions, or people. Great care needs to be taken in determining not only what jobs or positions are a good fit for telecommuting and flexible work, but also in determining the right employee that will prove to be successful in this type of work environment.

Human Resource departments need to be prepared for the future of the way we work. There are things that can be done to assist in this preparation. The better preparation done up front the better the programs will work for both the company and the employee.

Telecommuting and Flexible Work

Introduction

Telecommuting and flex-work are not your conventional way of going to work, but the concepts are becoming more popular by both the employees and the employers, although there are some companies that have moved away from the programs. What are the positives and negatives of these programs? What effect do these programs have on the Human Resources departments? Do they help the employer or employee? Why are these programs so popular? We will cover those questions and more through the course of this paper.

Telecommuting

Telecommuting is working from somewhere other than the normal office or cubicle anywhere from one to five or more days per week, depending on the arrangements made with the employer. Most work from home, but some work from...