SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--Employees who telework one to three days per week – so-called ‘hybrid teleworkers' ‑ are more productive than workers who do little or no telework, according to a new study jointly undertaken by the University of Melbourne's Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society and AUT University's NZ Work Research Institute, and commissioned by Cisco Systems. The research, which surveyed more than 1,800 employees and almost 100 managers in 50 businesses and organisations across New Zealand and Australia, found that teleworkers believe their flexible work arrangements allow them to be more productive and to perform better at work, while managers found teleworkers to deliver better work outcomes and suffer less from absenteeism.
The key statistics include:
Teleworkers are more productive and satisfied with their job
71 percent of employees agree that teleworking has a favourable influence on their overall attitude toward the job, suggesting that telework opportunities are important for retaining employees.
Productivity was rated significantly higher on a range of measures by hybrid teleworkers, with ratings up to 12 percent higher for teleworkers, suggesting a meaningful difference in output.
73 percent say using teleworking technologies fits well with the way they like to work.
Only 4 percent agree teleworking makes it difficult to communicate and collaborate with colleagues.
Teleworking is now mainstream, with ‘hybrid teleworking' the most popular model
89 percent report teleworking one or more hours per week, with the mean number of telework hours standing at 13 hours per an average work week.
The majority of employees are either low-intensity teleworkers (less than eight hours per week teleworking: 35 percent) or ‘hybrid teleworkers' (one to three days per week: 38 percent). Just 16 percent telework more than three days per week.
85 percent of employees telework from home, with 77 percent having an office or permanent workstation available at their employer's workplace.
The key enablers of successful telework are trust, good management and the right technology support, but organisations could provide teleworkers with more support and structure
70 percent agree that their manager trusts them to be productive and focused on work outcomes while teleworking.
Nearly half of teleworkers (47 percent) say their employer or manager is aware that they telework, but there is no formal telework policy or agreement in place.
Fewer than 50 percent have received telework-related training across areas such as management of teleworkers, providing a safe and healthy work environment in alignment with the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OH&S), and the effective use of technology to stay connected with colleagues and work systems with the appropriate levels of security.
The majority of managers indicated they would like more training to help them manage remote employees and to help teleworkers successfully set up their home office.
"The benefits of telework and flexible work practices have been recognised informally for a long time, but for the first time, we now have a substantial piece of Trans-Tasman research to quantify the benefits and opportunities telework presents," says Professor Tim Bentley, Director of AUT University's NZ Work Research Institute.
"While the research has shown us that productivity among teleworkers is rated significantly higher on a range of measures by ‘hybrid teleworkers', we have also found that organisations could benefit even further by undertaking more cost-benefit analysis of their teleworking arrangements, as most are not currently measuring the positive benefits of these work arrangements either culturally or in terms of the real estate savings," concludes Professor Bentley.
Dr Rachelle Bosua of the University of Melbourne and the Institute of a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES) says: "Work patterns and places of work are changing dramatically as a result of the increased adoption of digital technologies. This poses unique challenges to successfully manage a new era of flexible workers and measure productivity. Our study confirms that flexible work is a way for managers to invest in the wellbeing of their workers, increasing productivity, job satisfaction, and retaining talented workers."
"We have for a long time understood the rewards of flexible work arrangements that empower employees with the freedom to work from home or away from the office. However, this Trans-Tasman Telework research confirms that small, medium and large businesses and public sector organisations can gain a measurable and significant productivity benefit by offering flexible work arrangements. Governments in Australia and New Zealand that want to improve the productive output of their economies should focus on policies that support and encourage the trend toward mobile working. Employers should ensure supportive manager attitudes, peer support and technological support, as well as formal training and policies," said Tim Fawcett, general manager of government affairs & policy for Cisco Australia and New Zealand.
For a copy of the report, please visit www.workresearch.aut.ac.nz.
