Certaincompanies,especiallysomesmall-scalebusinesses,starttoencouragetheirstafftoworkfromhomeorusehomeas£tworkingbaseforatleastpartoftheweeknowadays.Someoffersomeformofremoteworkingsupporttotheirwork-forces,suchasequippingthemwithlaptopsandinstallingbroadband,andotherspayforthetelephonebillsfortheseworkers.
Thisworkpatternispopularbecauseit’sclearthatthereareanumberofbenefitsforthesecompanies.First,ithelpsretainemployees,especiallyhighly-qualifiedworkingparentswithchildcareresponsibilities.Second,itbringshigherproductivitybecausetheemployeeshavefewerinterruptionsandlesscommunicatingtime.Lastbutnotleastitofferssavingsonpremisesandotherfacilities.
However,therearesomepotentialdrawbacks.Foronething,thereisdifficultyofmanaginghomeworkersandmonitoringtheirperformanceanddifficultyofmaintainingstaffdevelopmentandupgradingskills.Foranother,itmaycreateasenseofisolationamonghomeworkersanditcanbehardertomaintainteamspirit.Therefore,enterprisesshouldweightheprosandconsbeforepermittingtheiremployeestoworkathome.