The results of what is perhaps the largest study into
teleworking undertaken in Australia and New Zealand have just been released.
Its findings on the benefits of teleworking for both employees and employers
are pretty positive.
Only 22 percent of respondents said they had formal written
agreements around teleworking, 27 percent had verbal agreements, 47 percent
said: “The organisation and/or my manager is aware that I telework but nothing
is formally agreed,” and the remaining three percent were teleworking on the
sly: “I telework without the knowledge of the organisation and/or my manager.”
Formal polices are clearly desirable to ensure that everyone
knows were they stand on teleworking issues, but the lack of these has wider
ramifications that impact the effectiveness of teleworking.
The survey report said: “Training specifically related to
telework was not provided to either managers or employees in the majority of
organisations studied. The exceptions tend to be where specific roles or an
entire team are classified as teleworkers and training is provided to all
personnel involved prior to commencement of the new arrangements.”
Several survey respondents quoted suggested that such
training was unnecessary but their comments focussed purely on the practicalities
of teleworking.
“People know enough of the work they are doing, so it’s just
another place with a similar looking look and feel,” and: “We are all OK with
that [training] if you remotely access our services, you use the same software
programs that everybody uses, so the standard training is enough.”
However the report noted that others had identified a wider
management issue: “Some concern was raised in public sector organisations about
managers being rather traditional and conservative, lacking skills specific to
managing workers who are not office based.”
It quoted one respondent saying: “Older managers don't seem
as comfortable with managing in a flexible environment, but HR spends a lot of
time empowering managers to work effectively in a telework environment. We
should provide some induction across the board for managers and employees, but
at the moment all we provide is some training material on the web regarding
telework, but I'm not sure how many people actually access it. Best practice
means that we should ensure that everyone has exposure to this training and
preparation for teleworking."
Contrast this with Cisco, which sponsored the study. What
could be called “extreme teleworking” is widespread in Cisco. According to Tim
Fawcett, general manager, government affairs & policy with Cisco Australia,
52 percent of Cisco employees globally work in a location different from that
of their manager - which means they might not meet face-to-face for months on
end. “You need to be able to work remotely and to manage staff remotely to be
part of the company,” he said.
When I asked him what was done to ensure managers had the
required skills he replied: “It is quite sophisticated. It is part of the
culture, you are expected to do it, and there is a whole bunch of support
services, mostly online. There is also a specific course designed for managers
that are managing remote workers.”
The Labor Government was a big supporter of teleworking - it
initiated the National Telework week in 2012 - which will be held again from 18November. It promises to do
something to address this lack of training. “This year the Telework Partners
and Telework team will be bringing you a Telework training kit to help employees
and employers join in the anywhere working world.”
Labor had a much-publicised goal that “By 2020, Australia
will have doubled its level of telework to at least 12 per cent of Australian
employees.” The Coalition, in its pre-election Policy for E-Government and the
Digital Economy, dismissed this goal as “misleading and irrelevant,” but failed
to make any specific statements about what it would do to replace it.
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