Codestone

Category: Workforce Mobility

Staff working from home using remote access technology should be evaluated based on their productivity, rather than the hours they visibly spend working.

This is the advice of Shirley Borrett, development director at the Telework Association, who said many managers are struggling to accept the idea that home-based employees can operate effectively without supervision.

She noted that these employers are concerned that home workers will be prone to distraction, but stated that there is an equally large risk of this among those in the office.

As a result, Ms Borrett stated that staff using home working should have their performance judged simply on whether or not they meet targets in terms of what they are expected to produce within certain timescales.

"The fact that they can't see them is not a key thing in supervising then," she explained.

Last week, the Telework Research Network published data from a survey showing that wider take-up of home working could help UK firms to become more productive, while minimising operational costs.

Posted by Jack Gilbert