To: HR Director
From: Sales Manager
Date: October 21, 2018
Subject: Trial for Telecommuting
Degrading Performance
It is evident that after shifting to the new office six months ago, the sales performance has been following a declining trend. After noticing the decline in performance, I tried to investigate it by interacting with the sales staff. I found that commuting is a serious problem which has not only lowered the morale of the staff, but also caused an increment in tardiness by 20%. It has also led to increased overtime as the staff stays late to complete their work. Overall, overtime work registers have increased by 25%. The company is also facing a 2% increased turnover rate as well. The assessment of the situation has also identified the lack of understanding between the employees and senior management over the issue of introducing telecommuting in the organization. It is a new concept which takes into account the lack of flexibility in the working hours and tries to compensate for it by providing a solution which benefits both, the company and the employees. It benefits both as it offers the convenience of flexible hours to the employees and at the same time facilitates the company in reducing its costs, consequently increasing the productivity of both.
The Effects of Office Relations
It is true that the relocation of the office farther from the city has caused these negative impacts of tardiness, low morale, and high turnovers. It is important to understand the frustration of the employees who get on time to reach the office but get late because of the unpredictability of the traffic and have to not only face the consequences of being late but also have to work late hours as well. Furthermore, it is more difficult for the sales staff as they have to visit several clients and then are asked to report to the office as well. Some staff considers this new location as favorable as well. However, this cannot compensate for the declining performance. The strict rules of the working hours of the company are considered as a cause of the increasing inconvenient commuting rates. Furthermore, the recent implementation of the selling strategy has also increased the workload and employees usually work late hours to engage the clients in the evening as well. This tough schedule along with the lack of understanding between the management and employees has lowered morale, increased frustration consequently declining productivity of the company by 7% (sales performance) in the last six months.
Telecommuting as a Solution
I believe that the solution is quite straightforward. The problem lies in the tough fixed working hours and long distance of the office from the city. It can be solved by introducing telecommuting in the company. It is a very practical approach towards introducing flexibility in the working hours, yielding convenience for the sales staff and reducing costs for the company. The company can try telecommuting for a small-time horizon to assess its impact. For the next six-month period, the company can practice telecommuting. It would require firstly, gathering all data on the available working hours of all employees. Accordingly, working hours for the employees can be designated, and employees would be grouped as per their working hours. One day of the week can be selected as mandatory reporting day. Friday can be selected for reporting by all employees on which day everyone has to report by 10 AM and attend all office meetings and brief on their weekly sales performance.
The Benefits of Telecommuting
With the use of the latest technology, telecommuting has changed the way office work is done. Staff is recruited all around the globe and teams located in remote areas collaborate and coordinate their projects and achieve their targets constantly. It has been found that unscheduled absence costs $1800 per employee per year. An average business is expected to save up to $11,000 per employee annually if the employees telecommute part-time (Green). It has been found that companies lose $1.8 trillion annually due to less productivity due to excessive commuting, absence, high turnover, etc. It is evident that 65% of the employees consider that a remote work schedule would increase their productivity. Another study found that 55% of the people feel stressed because of their commute. Another report showed that 80% of the remote workers had indicated high morale (Loubier). It is the reason that telecommuting can be exercised to help reduce tardiness and low productivity.
The Proposed Implementation Plan
As mentioned above, the proposal can be subject to a trial period of six-month period. A group of individuals can be selected as the active participants of “telecommute trial program.” During this period, the Human Resource staff, and myself would be designated to observe all the effects of the process on employee’s productivity and their motivation level. The assessment would be held on a weekly basis. The assessment would include the measurement of convenience, flexibility in working hours, costs, morale, and productivity. The analysis would include a cost-benefit analysis of the six-month period showing variance with the pre-trial periods. There are no additional costs associated with the trial project. The planning of the telecommuting trial program and its implementation and evaluation would require the designation of 4 human resource staff and me. If deemed acceptable, the plan would be initiated immediately for implementation in the next month.
Work Cited
Green, Lea. “What are the cost savings of telecommuting?” PGI. PGI, 20 March 2013. Web. 21 October 2018. https://www.pgi.com/blog/2013/03/what-are-the-cost-savings-of-telecommuting/.
Loubier, Andrea. “Benefits Of Telecommuting For The Future Of Work.” Forbes. Forbes, 20 July 2017. Web. 21 October 2018. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrealoubier/2017/07/20/benefits-of-telecommuting-for-the-future-of-work/#146a52a516c6.
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