Another reason that mobile work arrangements may fail is that the people selected to work remotely and those who end up supervising the remote workers are just the wrong people!
The reasons a person has been allowed to work remotely vary greatly and in companies with no set policy or guidelines on how remote workers are selected, it may often be a result of favouritism instead of the best person for the task.
A person that is chosen to work remotely must be one that has the right qualities for mobile work; which will help ensure their success in this role. Picking a person just because you like them is usually the quickest way for things to backfire. When this happens, the person that is least suited usually ends up not carrying their own weight, but is covered by the supervisor. This results in bad feelings with both the in office staff and other mobile workers.
The same is true of supervisors. They must have the right qualities that will enable them to succeed and help the people they are responsible for supervising succeed. There are some people who just can not cope or handle not having personnel not immediately accessible and onsite. A supervisor that constantly calls or emails an employee just to check up will become a huge annoyance very quickly and will also waste time that could be better spent on other pursuits.
Company's must examine their supervisors and determine who has the skills and personality to work in with remote workers. It may mean a reorganization to allow someone who is not well skilled in this area to be responsible for only onsite personnel and another supervisor to be responsible for all mobile workers.
From a Supervisor's perspective here are some of the biggest problems they've faced elsewhere or fear having to handle with remote workers.
- Not putting in enough hours - starting late and ending early
Some people felt that since they no longer had a time clock to deal with or there was no one watching when they arrived and left that they were free to make up their own schedules and if they shorted the company time it was not a problem. - Abusing company resources - phone with friends, PC to surf the 'net not for work, etc. Using the tools that your employer has provided for other purposes is not a good idea at all. Some companies provide cellular phones and just because the company is paying for it does not mean you can make all the long distance calls you want. By the same token if you have a phone line that the company is paying for you do not make all your long distance calls on it. The company gets the bills and will notice the charges. Don't be surprised if you are expected to pay this back.
- Stationary and supplies are another area that can be abused. You are not required to provide pens and paper for your spouse, children or other's from the Company's Supply Room. This constitutes theft and isn't the best thing to have on your record. It could make getting another job very difficult.
Solutions to these problems are:
- Many companies now have the ability to monitor the time an employee spends logged into their system and also require detailed time sheets to account for any work that is done not using the system. Handwriting memos, reading company materials and culling files are just some examples of those duties.
- Internet access tracking software may be used as well as telephone logging programs to track usage and numbers called.