The option
to work from home is one of the growing trends of the modern professional life
around the world but a new UK study warns it may not be as productive in all
cases. The study said the benefits of working from home disappeared over time
for employees and companies if it was a full-time arrangement. This study
provides a glimpse into a future where flexible working could become business
as usual. Whereas once people saw it as a favour and felt the need to
reciprocate and give back more to the organization, in this future they will
not.
This research discovered that too
much home-working means that employees become just as unproductive as those in
the office, with staff growing disgruntled about having to pay for extra for
bills and missing out on office gossip. As employees stop regarding working
from home as a discretionary benefit or privilege, they start behaving
accordingly and revert to “bad habits”. The study showed that some home working
employees feel resentful that employers don’t pay utility bills or cover
stationery costs, for example.
Some managers feel home workers
take advantage of the situation. If the company expects home workers to be a
lot more productive or workers expect employers to give them a lot of
flexibility and not have to reciprocate in kind, one or both are likely to be
disappointed. Those at home every day also become “socially and professionally
isolated”, increasingly feeling out of touch, losing confidence in their skills
and no longer able to “accurately interpret and use information”. Emails can be
misinterpreted, whereas the signals are usually clear in a face-to-face
meeting.
