Telecommuting
I found this article to be of great interest to myself because my work and life has revolved around telecommuting for the past several years. As the article indicates, “a telecommuter is anyone who works at least part of the time at home, in their cars, from clients’ offices, and/or in hotel rooms and telephone booths.” Although the article is somewhat dated (1995 to be exact), I feel that what Robert Moskowitz wrote about telecommuting back in 1995 still applies today. When I chose to go to work for ADP-Automatic Data Processing several years ago, I already had some previous work experience as a telecommuter.
Telecommuting
Telecommuting has positives and negatives psychologically. Some positives include staying home with children; more free time, and making your own schedule, etc. Some say that looks very inviting. Many people, employees and managers, don't look at the negatives (no set times, difficulty communicating, being looked upon as a slacker, no face to face contact and so on) before they volunteer for their chance at freedom.
Remote Employees Work from Home Challenges and Issues
The workplace today goes beyond just the walls and ceilings that surround an office environment or office building. According to the International Telework Association and Council, 44.4 million Americans worked from home at least part of the time in 2004, up 7.5% from just on year earlier (Earthweb, 2005). Though it may be very convenient to work from home, the choice can bring its own set of problems.
One of the main driving factors for any company is economics and how will telecommuting allow the corporation to be profitable. The primary saving for companies embarking upon the telecommuting concept is the reduction in the amount of office space required to conduct business. Telecommuting benefits the employer because they have an expanded pool of employees. The skills of employees with commuting difficulties, childcare conflict, disabilities, geographical barriers are made available to a telecommuting employer. Companies are now starting to expanding oversees where the labor price is cheaper for telecommuting. This however can be looked at as both an advantage to the employer, and as a disadvantage to the employee.
Working from home has become very popular in recent years. Technology has again advanced into allowing many people to choose to work and live in the same place. With the further advancement of technology and specifically the automation of many jobs, it can be assumed that telecommuting will continue to increase in popularity, leading to more opportunities for spending time with
There are two stages of method that used in this study. Firstly, academic research and journalist were used to present key issues and challenges of supporting telecommuters. A method that was used in this stage based on review of the scientific literature. Secondly, the discussion bet...
Teamwork has become increasingly important as workers no longer focus on just getting their own tasks or the specific tasks of their department done but with working together with their teammates and other departments in achieving corporate goals. As the textbook states, while interactions occur between a manager and their subordinate, interactions occur between a manager and other teams and groups (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 502). Telecommuting is a way to offer a work-life balance while keeping key people. However, the leader is challenged with keeping track of these employees in regard to monitoring what they are doing and communicating with them (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 502). Telecommuting is difficult as the manager has difficulty building a relationship with these employees as well as balancing how to keep them engaged in what is going on in the company. They should be in the office periodically in order to keep grounded with the company. Temporary workers are a way of filling a void when additional resources are needed. Temporary resources are used when a company has fluctuating production needs. The challenge is that they may not have the same level of commitment to or have the same values as employees that are full time (Landy & Conte, 2013, p. 504).
Paid Employment in the Home
In her book The Second Shift, Arlie Hochschild describes how two-job married couples in the United States deal with the structural problem of the domestic work shift, i.e., that when both members of a marriage work outside of the home, the domestic work becomes an added burden to one or both of the members in addition to their outside jobs. Modern society has increased the work load of the family, thereby increasing tension in marriages and taking away time for leisure and recreation for both spouses. Hochschild calls this a "stalled revolution" (12) because women's entrance into the full-time workforce has yet to bring about the necessary structural change in American family life. Assuming that this state of "stalled revolution" is temporary and that the problems associated with it will demand a change, it is interesting to explore possibilities for future structural changes in the realm of work and family interaction.
What is telecommuting, and why would anyone want to either be employed by or employ others to work from their home? The telecommuting employees are “Salaried employees of an organization replace or modify the commute by working at home or a location closer to home than the regular workplace, generally using ICT to support productivity and communication with the supervisor, co-workers, clients, and other colleagues.” (Hoang, Nickerson, Beckman, & Eng, 2008) and according to studies 47 percent of telecommuting workers report that they are more productive while working from home due to a lessening of stress and increased satisfaction in their career - while their employers glean the benefit of saving 63 percent of the cost of absenteeism and save thousands of dollars annually over traditionally employed workers. (Potter, 2003) While some may say that in order to function properly in a workplace you have to be in the workplace, with minor adjustments in technology on both the employer’s and employee’s part telecommuting has become a proven, viable way for businesses to function profitably while their workforce remains able to reduce the stress of commuting on their personal and family lives.
The author outlines telepharmacy benefits and objectives and details the usage of telepharmacy in Kansas, Washington, North Dakota, Idaho, Illinois, California, Connecticut and Nevada. He discusses the legal side of telepharmacy and outlines different policies and laws present in different sates and the effect that this has on the use, method and spectrum of telepharmacy. He also includes state initiatives to implement more widespread use of such programs in order to benefit rural communities.