Clocking In At Work

With all the dreadful effects and impediments Covid has brought around the world, there have been some positives that came about on account of Covid, such as less pollution and home offices.

The Statistics

Working from home, according to estimates, can result in savings upwards of $11,000 yearly per employee depending upon where in the world you are based. Another significant aspect is that according to many studies over the last year, productivity increased sharply by around 47 to 50 percent while working from home. A good part of this was linked to time not being wasted in meetings.

An employee who attends office for 8 hours each working day spends just 2 hours and 53 minutes on actual work. The rest of the time is spent attending meetings, having coffee breaks or just chit chatting with colleagues. The reason for productivity going up will eventually show up as employees working more hours when they work from home.

As for advantages for employees, they have experienced savings in travel costs and the time they would otherwise spend on commuting which is certainly not inconsequential.

Many larger conglomerates have acknowledged the benefits and have gone ahead and implemented the policy of work-from-home irrespective of the rules related to confinement. Some of these are the technology giants, investment companies and banks.

Viability

So is the ritual of clocking in and out approaching its demise? It doesn’t look like it yet. While a large percentage of employers trust their employees, and establish mutual good faith, there is still a minority that keeps close tabs on their workers. There are several IT companies who make it possible for employers to keep a close watch on the workers by installing specialty software that tracks the various activities of the workforce while they are working on their computers, mainly out of home.

Thankfully, a much greater number of those who hire people to work for them recognize the fact that just clocking in and occupying that seat for those prescribed number of hours has very little to do with actual productivity.  

Results are measured by these “progressives” based on what has been accomplished and not by the number of keystrokes of the computer or the amount of time spent warming up that chair. No one likes the supervisor or the employer breathing down his/her neck. It actually has quite a negative consequence on the quality and richness of what an individual is otherwise capable of achieving.

Positives

Many business analysts are in agreement that work-from-home has resulted in more employee satisfaction, greater production, lesser absenteeism, lesser health issues for employees and other benefits. 

While not all work can be done from home, most deskjobs can. Add to that the facilities provided by technology for video conferencing, emailing, chatting and so on there is a great deal of savings here including travel costs.

We are in the digital age after all and the way we work is changing rapidly without having to clock in and out. More importantly, a skillful employer is the one who gets other people to do the work competently he would otherwise have to do himself.

Picture: Shutterstock / ID: 1902592408

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