Companies are still apprehensive about letting their staff work from home.
Work is something you do, not somewhere you go to, but that does not seem to resonate in corporate South Africa where companies are still apprehensive about letting their staff work from home. Despite the fact that there are many internationally-identified benefits, like improved productivity, increased job satisfaction and organisational loyalty, decreased stress and improved work-life balance, teleworking, as it is called, has rarely been implemented in South Africa.
There is not much research to either support or reject it as a viable solution to the country’s traffic and productivity problems but University of Johannesburg Professor Adele Thomas, who co-authored a research article on the benefits and challenges of teleworking in South Africa, says local companies tend to place high importance on employee visibility instead of output.
“I think that companies should be focusing on how best to improve productivity by identifying the jobs that can be done from home and, more importantly, earmarking the people they think would flourish in a teleworking role,” says Thomas, adding that technology has made it possible for many more jobs to be done without a need to come into the office.
Giving employees free reign to manage their own time can put managers in panic, not least because it is still considered unknown territory in the local context. Teleworking can also pose challenges for staff members who may well end up having increased working hours while having fewer training opportunities. Meanwhile, chances of being promoted can be significantly stifled by one's absence from the office.
Says Thomas: “It’s a case of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, so It may not be a good idea for employees with ambitions to work their way up the corporate ladder. So it’s for everybody. It’s up to the company to identify what kinds of people are best suited to those roles. Some people are extrinsically motivated, meaning they need an outside source in order to focus so they need to come to work. Some people are very motivated by the social climate in a work environment. Others are intrinsically motivated and do not need any supervision or external environment at all in order to do their work”
