Telecommute or Not?

Contents

Executive Summary 3

What is Telecommuting? 4

Overview of ABC, Inc. 5

The Issue - increased absenteeism, missed deadlines and lower productivity 5

Proposed Solution 6

Recommendations and milestones 7

References 9

Executive Summary

Of late there has been a considerable loss of productive time due to inclement weather conditions (snow storms, ice storms, rain). At present there is no option for the employees to work remotely in such conditions - the main issue here is that they cannot test the code unless they are connected to the office network. Only managers have the option to connect remotely to the office network. Management is considering extending this option to everyone.

This paper explores the technology changes required and the costs associated with it. It also explores if this option to telecommute will improve productivity and boost employee morale. The paper also provides a list of recommendations and looks at a three year trend of the positive impact telecommuting will have on ABC Inc's future.

What is Telecommuting?

In layman's language telecommuting can be defined as work from home, e-commuting, e-work. It is a work arrangement in which employees enjoy flexibility in working location and hours. Telecommuting simply is a facility for employees provided by the employer.

32 inches of snow, blizzard, bike accident, tunnel blocked, bus broke down, overhead wire snapped, slippery rail, child sick, doctor's appointment, and the list continues. These are some of the reasons that will force an employee to take a day off. Quite a few large organizations offer their employees to telecommute when one such reason arises, thereby increasing the chances of fewer missed deadlines and higher productivity.

Overview of ABC, Inc.

ABC, Inc. offers processing for a complete range of prepaid cards - including reloadable and non-reloadable products. It accommodates a wide range of online and offline marketing, and distribution channels, utilizing a variety of payment networks.

ABC's solutions are end-to-end, incorporating all of the latest features and functionalities. These include configuration, multi-purse systems, flexible fee structures, analytics and campaign management tools and risk and fraud controls.

The Issue - increased absenteeism, missed deadlines and lower productivity

In the past few months Mother Nature has been very cruel and has resulted in most of us having to dig ourselves out from tons of snow, face blizzards and biting cold, tackle icy road conditions and deal with the frequent power losses. In addition, our extra smart fellow drivers have been kind enough to be reckless and caused numerous accidents. For those of us who use public transport, in addition to traffic issues we have been crippled by bus/train break downs and other operational hurdles. Not that any of these issues are new, but it seems that recently all these forces are conspiring against us. This has forced our developers to take time-off thereby resulting in missed deadlines. Our development contracts with our customers state that we will have to pay a penalty for three missed deadlines and each missed deadline after that. We have already missed two deadlines and cannot afford to miss another one.

ABC Inc's current network setup does not allow remote access for its developers which is primarily the reason for missed deadlines. Higher management and managers have limited access to the company