Can A Work-At-Home Policy Hurt Morale [PDF]

Zitiervorschau

Running head: CAN A WORK-AT-HOME POLICY HURT MORALE?

Can a Work-At-Home Policy Hurt Morale? Student’s Name Course Instructor Institution Date

1

CAN A WORK-AT-HOME POLICY HURT MORALE?

2

Can a Work-At-Home Policy Hurt Morale? Introduction The case is a masterpiece of literature that adequately explores the most contentious issues surrounding the existing “work-at-home policy” at Noida, which is a Global Knowledge Process Outsourcing Company, commonly known by the acronym KPO. Although this lucrative initiative by the company to create a two-tier system by letting more and more employees to execute their working responsibilities from home has proved profitable, the employees left to work in the office are increasingly becoming demoralized. As a result, they also want to work from home too. Therefore, the company faces a dilemma situation in which it is puzzled whether to scrap out the new initiative or keep it up. In this regard, this paper seeks to establish a critical analysis of whether the work-at-home policy can hurt employee’s morale. The effect of the work-at-home program on voluntary turnover at the company An employee’s commitment and voluntary turnover primarily depends on three main drivers namely; fairness, concern, and trust. In this case, if an organization intends to build commitment on its employees, its management should establish an environment that promotes fairness, care, concern, and trust. Although the work-at-home program enhances productivity in the company, it is apparent that it adversely affects voluntary turnover at the company. In review, the program makes those working in offices to feel that they are not being treated fairly, and that their work is not being appreciated by the leadership of the organization. It is also obvious that, working from the comfort of your home is more appealing than working in the office. Hence, those working in the office often feel that they are being regarded as second class citizens who can’t ever reach the work-from-home goal. In the long run, the ever increasing

CAN A WORK-AT-HOME POLICY HURT MORALE?

3

dissatisfaction by those working in the office negatively affects voluntary turnover at the company resulting to decreased productivity. Reasons why employees who work from home are more productive Employees who work from home often have an active attachment with their families back at home, something that enhances their work-life balance. As a result, the motivation they get from the work-from-home program facilitates their motivation to work thus increasing efficiency as well as productivity. Most importantly, employees who work from home have flexible schedules that enable them to undertake their daily working obligations in a relaxed and stress free manner that fosters performance. Besides, these employees have adequate time to carry on with their job responsibilities since they don’t need to spend any time moving from their place of residence to their designated places of work in the office. Beyond doubt, the flexible and dynamic nature of their working conditions at home aids employee’s performance and productivity in the long run. Argument on whether employees working in the office will be less motivated because of the work-at-home policy I agree with Matt’s argument that the employees working in the office will be more motivated because of the policy. Much as change is inevitable, individuals, societies, organizations, as well as, great states usually find it hard to accept and adopt to change at some point in the initial stages of change initiation. However, after ascertaining that the proposed initiative enhances performance and productivity, then employees gradually start adapting to the change initiative. Owing to the above alluded facts, it is apparent that soon the resistant employees will buy into the idea of advocating for the work-from-home policy. In review, it is

CAN A WORK-AT-HOME POLICY HURT MORALE?

4

evident that for employees to be adopted into the work-from-home program, they must show commitment in their work through increased performance along with productivity. Therefore, employees working in the office will principally be motivated to work hard so that they can be absorbed into the work-from-home program. Proposed changes to improve the company’s work-at-home policy The work-at-home policy is meeting resistance from the employees since a clear framework of change management was not used to effectively implement the change. In this case I propose that the company should utilize the Kotter’s model of change, which is one of the highly accredited change management tools that is based on a solid foundation of empowerment, communication, and focus. This framework will aid in adequately communicating the desirable outcomes of the initiatives throughout the organization. Secondly, it is apparent that employees working from home are not monitored, and therefore there is a great possibility that some of them might be cheating by either using other unqualified individuals to assist them in working. In this regard, it is paramount for the company to monitor the performance of these employees through Online “Video Chats” such as Skype. Most interestingly, under this platform, employees will be required to accurately account for their returns by providing viable information about the manner in which they execute work. In conclusion, it is obvious that there’s a remarkable business benefit by having employees to work together in the same facility since it fosters cooperation and team building. These are critical ingredients required to avert the existence of any conflict of interest as a result of the initiated change. Therefore, the company should ensure that both the work-at-home employees and those working in the office interact together quite often-for instance on a

CAN A WORK-AT-HOME POLICY HURT MORALE? quarterly basis in a year- so that they can actively learn from each other and move the company to greater heights.

5