Rise of tele-commuting and the increase in networked and separated workplaces since 1995
Discuss about the Role Of Telecommuting And Remote Intelligence In The Present Era Of Technology.
This assignment is compiled to discuss the role of telecommuting and remote intelligence in the present era of technology. It critically analysis the management functions that are necessary for the development of the skills required by the leaders for managing people in locations that are geographically diverse. The advancements in technology have enabled the organisations to adopt to these practices and people make use of mobile telecommunication and computer systems connected with the internet along with smartphones to work from home or any other place. The results obtained from telecommuting for the organisations and employees helps in creating an environment that fosters productivity and increases the satisfaction for all the members involved (Westfall, 2004).
Telecommuting which is also known as remote working or teleworking is an arrangement adopted by the organisations and their employees which does not require them to commute or travel to work. The advancements in technology have enabled the organisations to adopt to these practices and people make use of mobile telecommunication and computer systems connected with the internet along with smartphones to work from home or any other place. The history of telecommuting goes back to the early 1970s. The term telecommuting was coined by Jack Nilles in the year 1972 when he was working with NASA to develop a communication system. The Interagency Telecommuting Pilot Project was born in the year 1992 and the purpose of this project was to popularize the external telecentres in Washington DC. By 1994 September 20th was named the employee telecommuting day and this concept began gaining popularity. In the year 1995 ESPN laid the foundation of the http based streaming revolution which for the empowered telecommuting for the next few years. By the year 2005 telecommuting had already taken off as a concept and more than 100,000 federal employees in the United States of America were telecommuting. The popularity of telecommuting has grown even further with the passing years as the internet has increased its rich and enabled the people to stay connected anytime from any part of the world and access the information immediately (Bagley, 2000). This popularity is for the expected to increase in the coming years as it offers increased flexibility in work and results in a higher productivity and also reduces the cost of operations for the organisations which is a Win-Win situation for all. The better results obtained from telecommuting for the organisations and employees helps in creating an environment that fosters productivity and increases the satisfaction for all the members involved. The evolution of telecommuting over the years is an interesting case study and helps in better understanding the path followed by this technology (Siha & Monroe, 2006).
Remote intelligence
Remote intelligence refers to the hiring of refers to the hiring of highly trained and skilled workers by enabling them to telecommute. With the increase in the trend of telecommuting and advancement in technology, the organisations have enabled themselves with the special advantage of recruiting people from anywhere across the world without the constraint of geographical location. This has not only lead to the recruitment of a work force that is skilled and equipped as per the needs and Expectations of the company but has also benefited the people by providing them the convenience of working from their preferred location for the organisation that they wish for without having to relocate. Most of the employers have felt that these jobs and the greater degree of freedom that they provide to the employees have led to the enhancement in the productivity of the organisation (ILO, 2016). There is a chance of loss of productivity since there are no quality which can be set up for the remote intelligence jobs. The remote access needs that the telecommuting work was required may lead to the compromise in the security of the confidential data of the organisation. The United States of America is continously experiencing decline in the labour force participation by the people. The main contributor of this is the practice of remote intelligence where the organisations are hiring workforce from varied geographical locations where there is skilled workforce present in abundance and is available at lower cost. With the increase in the capabilities of Technology the organisations are constantly trying to oust their expensive employees and instead hire people possessing diverse skill set at a lower cost. This has only been possible with the practice of remote intelligence (Akkirman, 2005).
Telecommuting has become a part of the total employment landscape all over the world and is growing into a much common practice nowadays. However, remote intelligence and its practice by the organisation cannot generally be termed as telecommuting since it involves many more intricacies and provides a greater power and flexibility to the people as compared to the former. Remote intelligence provides the members of the organisation to the ability to carry out autonomous decision making and decentralized the operations. A higher degree of virtual collaboration is possible with remote intelligence and the environmental impact of the organisations is also reduced as the employees are not commuting which saves them in terms of fuel emissions and productivity which is lost in the time taken by the employees to travel from one place to the other (Pinder, 2018). Remote intelligence is also a far more sophisticated technology as compared to telecommuting and requires a higher degree of expertise and a more expensive set up to be practice. Telecommuting is only a part of the entire practice of remote intelligence and therefore telecommuting alone cannot be considered remote intelligence by the organizations (Zhu, 2013).
Telecommuting not necessarily remote intelligence
The remotely intelligent jobs definitely provide a greater degree of freedom and independence to the Employees. Since the productivity and progress of the employees is only monitored through the task that they have accomplished, it is easier to keep a track on the work assigned to the people when they ask working as a remotely intelligent workforce. Technology today allows the people to easily telecommute and this has led to the breaking down of the traditional mindset regarding the corporate culture. The telecommuting jobs can provide all the parties involved a number of benefits that they can enjoy while working from home (Peters & C Wetzels, 2004). The absence of disruption when telecommuting allows people to concentrate better and they can develop their work station as per their own tastes and preferences. It is extremely easy to set up a job which is remotely intelligence as it requires only a mobile device or a computer system that is connected to the internet. These jobs are generally providing a high degree of autonomy and help in developing a more open line of communication with a transparent schedule. The flexible working hours on the easy environment of working from home or any preferred place has made remote intelligence a preferred option for a number of employers and employees across the world. These dogs are also more sustainable in terms of the reduced carbon emissions because of them (Gajendran & Harrison, 2007).
The rise in the technological advancement and Outsourcing of the jobs was generally not perfect to be a threat for the workforce however with the decline in the employment rates it is emerging as an area of concern since these jobs do not provide a high degree of sustainability to the employees. The automation of a lot of jobs has led to the decline in the number of opportunities that are provided to the skilled and trained workforce. There are numerous potential drawbacks of these practices that need to be considered by the employers. There is a chance of loss of productivity since there are no quality which can be set up for the remote intelligence jobs. The remote access needs that the telecommuting work was required may lead to the compromise in the security of the confidential data of the organization (Iscan & Naktiyok, 2005). The training of the employees in these cases may also become a challenge for the company is the training provided remotely are not found to be as beneficial as the ones provided in a classroom environment. The workforce across the world also believe that these jobs may act as a hindrance to the career advancement for them since it reduces the line of communication and does not generally provide an opportunity for the employees to enhance the skill set for prove themselves with added responsibilities or duties as in the case of a regular office setup (Yen & Mahmassani, 1994).
Nature of remote intelligence
Remote intelligence also raises numerous questions with regards to ethics and social responsibility of the employees. The nature of work performed by the employees is the single most important criteria for the success when working in these jobs. These jobs should not involve the members physically or require them to handle any material or equipment when coming to the offices. Remote intelligence job is likely to be more successful if the measure of the overall performance of the employees is carried out by analysing the results obtained by them and not by observing them. The personality characteristics of the employees and the employers are specifically important when working in jobs with remote intelligence. It is extremely important that the employee is disciplined and has the ability to work independently with complete honesty (Ahmadi, 2000). They must be equipped with the required skill sets to carry out the designated responsibilities and since there is less contact when working for these jobs, the supervisors and the employers need to maintain the communication continuously through the various electronic mediums. The employee should act responsibly asking questions when needed with regards to security, intellectual property or other business issues. Business systems which include telecommuters should be managed with ethical approaches and mutual responsibility. The employer as well as the individual telecommuter need to address issues openly and take advantage of opportunities fairly. Concern for the environment, concern for the wellbeing of the individual and commitment to delivering a good work environment and responsible level of productivity contribute to success (Paez & Scott, 2007).
There are numerous advantages and disadvantages that remote Intelligence and telecommuting jobs offers for both the employees and the employers. Most of the employers have felt that these jobs and the greater degree of freedom that they provide to the employees have led to the enhancement in the productivity of the organisation. There is a chance of loss of productivity since there are no quality which can be set up for the remote intelligence jobs. The remote access needs that the telecommuting work was required may lead to the compromise in the security of the confidential data of the organisation. The training of the employees in these cases may also become a challenge for the company is the training provided remotely are not found to be as beneficial as the ones provided in a classroom environment (Corporation, 2015).
The less interruptions in this work style which are a result of less meetings, break time and fun events in the offices make people priorities work over everything else. The work hour flexibility with no particular rescheduled timings of the job in directly benefits the employer since it leads to less wastage of time in the office environment and more task oriented performance of the employees. The employees report a greater satisfaction level since they get more time to spend with their family and spouse. Remote intelligence also provides an increased Independence to the people since they can complete the work without constant reminders or watch of their bosses which most of the people enjoy. (Chepken, 2012).
Threat to sustainability of workforces
Remote intelligence also indicates an increase in savings for the employer and employees. The employers benefit by cutting down the cost of maintenance of the office find the workplace and providing the basic utilities to their work force. The people are also able to save more since there is no need for professional clothing and the money spent in transit passes or fuel for commuting is also saved. The remote intelligence jobs provide a greater degree of flexibility and people can choose their schedule as per their convenience. The people also enjoy independence in terms of carrying out the household chores and adjust the work schedule according to their own preferences. It helps in saving energy and money which in turn increases the revenues for the company. For the employees this helps in saving them the cost of commuting and there is more responsibility taken by them for the job along with getting added freedom to pay attention to their personal life as well (Hershatter & Epstein, 2010). The employees also report a greater satisfaction level since they get more time to spend with their family and spouse. Remote intelligence also provides an increased Independence to the people since they can complete the work without constant reminders for watch of their bosses which most of the people enjoy. Some of the disadvantages of remote intelligence or that it leads to reduced interaction among the employees which further reduces the chances of socializing. The employees may feel missed out and cannot Bond with their coworkers as in the case of regular jobs. The Technical difficulties faced by the members also need to be tackled by them alone without any support which may be another challenge for them (NBDC, 2015).
The leadership skills required for the management of a workforce with remote intelligence is very different from the traditional leadership skills. Although most of the skills required to lead a work force depend upon the type of job, the organisation and the manager, there are a few skills that a leader needs to develop in order to effectively lead a word for that is not physically present in front of them. The leader should be extremely focused towards the work and have the ability to develop and maintain a high degree of Trust among their work force. Trust is an essential element when working with remote intelligence as the managers are not able to physically monitor the movement all the hard work of the employees and their work is only measured in terms of productivity and the tasks accomplished by them. Therefore, it is necessary that they carry out routine checks with their employees to ensure that they completely understand the requirements and there is an open line of communication maintained between them. Meetings are an essential component to ensure communication and discuss the goals and accomplishments for the company. Facilitating virtual meeting with the employees working with remote intelligence and living rooms for follow ups for anyone missing out on the meeting will help in building the team and allowing the employees to interact with each other (Safirova & Walls, 2004).
The leaders should be able to maintain reasonable work life balance for all their employees and should evenly distribute the responsibility among the members. They must keep a track of the contact information and the time zones where each of the team members is working to make it easier to consult and set the times for the meetings that are convenient for everyone.
References
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Zhu, P., 2013. Telecommuting, Household Commute and Location Choice. Urban Studies journal, 50(12).
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