There are upsides and downsides to teleworking. But what you should really be asking is: what do your employees think about it?
‘Hybrid-teleworking’ – which refers to teleworking one to three days per week – is catching on with employees and managers across New Zealand, a new report from Cisco Systems has revealed.
Undertaken by AUT University’s NZ Work Research Institute and the University of Melbourne’s Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society, the study surveyed over 1,800 employees and almost 100 managers in 50 organisations across New Zealand and Australia.
Seventy-one per cent of employees stated that teleworking favourably impacted their attitude to their work, and suggested that it would help with retention. Teleworking technologies were found to fit in with the way 73% worked, with productivity rating 12% higher for those who teleworked than those who didn’t.
A minority (four percent) felt teleworking made it difficult to collaborate.
HRM Online has previously reported on the growing acceptance of teleworking in New Zealand, but this is the first piece of substantial research that indicates how pervasive hybrid-teleworking has become.
It shows that the hybrid-teleworking workforce is growing, with 89% of employees surveyed stating they telework one or more hours a week, with many working either less than eight hours per week (35%) or one-to-three days per week (38%). Sixteen per cent stated they telework more than three days a week.
“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,” Professor Tim Bentley, director of AUT University’s NZ Work Research Institute, said.
What do you think of ‘hybrid-teleworking’? Is it the best of both worlds, or are there other complications the study isn’t addressing?
