Certain companies, especially some small-scale businesses, start to encourage their staff to work from home or use home as ￡t working base for at least part of the week nowadays. Some offer some form of remote working support to their work-forces, such as equipping them with laptops and installing broadband, and others pay for the telephone bills for these workers.
This work pattern is popular because it’s clear that there are a number of benefits for these companies. First, it helps retain employees, especially highly- qualified working parents with childcare responsibilities. Second, it brings higher productivity because the employees have fewer interruptions and less communicating time. Last but not least it offers savings on premises and other facilities.
However, there are some potential drawbacks. For one thing, there is difficulty of managing home workers and monitoring their performance and difficulty of maintaining staff development and upgrading skills. For another, it may create a sense of isolation among home workers and it can be harder to maintain team spirit. Therefore, enterprises should weigh the pros and cons before permitting their employees to work at home.
