UNIVERSITY OF MAKATI
J.P. Rizal Ext., WEst Rembo Makati City
WORK FROM HOME ARRANGEMENT FOR EMPLOYEES
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement of the Course Business
Communication
SUBMITTED BY:
JOHN PAUL CABIGTING
HONEYLETTE FULACHE
LARRYCEL REBLANDO
MARK DANIEL TARALA
I - B BSOA
Submited on
May 27, 2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I - INTRODUCTION
II - SUBTOPICS
III - FINDINGS
IV - CONCLUSION
V - RECOMMENDATION
VI - REFERENCES
I. INTRODUCTION
Working from Home [WFH] has been rising for years, as more occupations
use computers and telecommunications, more people have reliable home Internet
connections, and more families have both parents working full time. The Covid-19
pandemic accelerated this process by forcing a large fraction of the global workforce
to switch to WFH at least temporarily. Compared to Working from the Office [WFO],
WFH has the potential to reduce commute time, provide more flexible working hours,
increase job satisfaction, and improve work-life balance. However, little is yet known
about some of the more fundamental consequences of WFH, including its effects on
productivity and which factors play a role in making WFH more or less productive
than WFO (WSJ, 2020; Financial Times, 2021b).
In this paper we provide an analysis of the effects of WFH in a large Asian
IT services company. The company abruptly switched all employees from WFO to
WFH in March 2020, in response to the largely unanticipated pandemic shock. Our
study has several novel and interesting features.
The industry and occupations analyzed here are among those predicted to
be most amenable to WFH. The employees are highly-skilled professionals in an
information technology company where a high degree of work has always been
computer driven. At the same time they are some of the most difficult to analyze. The
jobs involve significant cognitive work, collaboration on teams, working with clients,
and innovation. Productivity is hard to measure for such professions. WFH for
occupations with such characteristics has not previously been studied with nonsurvey data.
For a panel of over 10,000 employees and a period of 17 months
including both WFO and WFH, we obtained unusually rich data data from the
company’s personnel records and workforce analytics systems. These include each
employee’s key output and work hours, which provide a natural measure of
productivity. For a sub-sample, the firm provided data on how employees allocated
time between work tasks. This includes meetings, collaboration and time focused on
performing work without distractions. It also includes information on networking
activities (contacts) with colleagues both inside and outside the firm. We also have
employee experience, tenure, age, commute time (for WFO), gender, and the
number of children at home.
These data provide a unique opportunity to obtain a measure of
productivity for this complex type of work, and to investigate the determinants of
productivity during WFH. We analyze how WFH productivity varied by employee
characteristics, whether or not children were at home, and commute time. We also
analyze how it varied with the nature of the work: the extent of collaboration,
networking, supervision and coaching. Our analysis of the productivity differences
between WFH and WHO provide valuable insights about the issues that are likely to
be most important when designing future WFH schemes.
Our findings are presented in two parts. We first analyze how average
work time, output, and productivity changed during WFH. With that foundation, we
then analyze what drives those changes and which employees are more affected.
We consider the role of both employee and job characteristics and study extensively
changes in working patterns induced by WFH.
We find that employees significantly increased average hours worked
during WFH. Much of this came outside of normal office hours. At the same time,
there was a slight decline in output as measuredby the employee’s primary
performance measure. Combining these, we estimate that productivity declined by 8-
19%. These results are consistent with employees becoming less productive during
WFH, and working longer hours to try to compensate.
II.SUBTOPICS
What is Work from Home Arrangement?
Flexible work arrangements, known as flextime, refers to work environment
and schedules that don't have normal constraints of a traditional job. This
arrangements take into account individual's personal needs and allow employees to
better sync their work hours with their their personal responsibilities.
Most common example of flexible work arrangements is working from home aka
home sourcing where employees work full-time from their homes. Other examples
include job sharing, telecommuting and a compressed workweek.
What influenced the adoption of Work from Home Arrangement by the
companies?
The pandemic has changed the way people work, and more and more
people are choosing to work from home (WFH). Unlike traditional work patterns, this
approach has limitations and has had a significant impact on both organizations and
individuals. It also brings many challenges to the work of HR practitioners. HR
practitioners, as key players in strategic human resource management, need to take
advantage of management innovations under the crisis to improve employees’ work
flexibility and effectively address the impact of working from home. This study aims
to address the need for employee skill improvement, psychological stress relief,
work-family balance, and company culture reinforcement from an HRM perspective
because of the impact of WFH work patterns during the COVID-19 crisis. When
people work at home, some family tasks, such as childcare or housework, need to
be shared between them. This creates a conflict between family and work. The
imbalance between work and family can negatively impact job productivity, and HR
practitioners need to consider how to mitigate this conflict.
The Procedures in doing the Work From Home Arrangement
Business owners and managers have their own set of challenges to think
through, including how working from home should be rolled out across an
organization. For employees, the reality of working from home can sometimes be an
unwelcome surp ise. Most people immediately focus on the benefits: avoiding a
crazy commute, saving gas and being in a more comfortable setting. But there are
downsides, too, and bad habits that can sabotage your workday
Advantages and Disadvantages of Work from Home Arrangement
ADVANTAGE
SAVE ON COSTS - This is one of the advantages of working online. Without the
need to commute and buy breakfast or lunch, you will be able to save money.
FLEXIBILITY - Online work requires internet, a laptop and your personal time
management. This makes you more flexible and means you can be able to work
from anywhere.
INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY - Due to fewer interruptions, which would normally
occur in an office environment. By contrast, working from home allows for a quieter
environment that can facilitate more focused work.
LESS STRESS - The stress of commuting in bumper-to-bumper traffic at rush hour in
many countries is extremely counterproductive and can lead to disgruntled workers
who are already exhausted and worn before they have even begun their daybegun
their day.
DISADVANTAGE
WORKING FROM HOME DOESN'T SUIT EVERYONE - Working from home might
not be suited to everyone's personality or ability. Some employees might prefer the
routine and structure that working in an office environment provides them.
DISTRACTIONS - Although it has been found that working from home can boost
productivity, there’s no denying that there are some new distractions to be aware of.
Factors such as noisy neighbours, family or friends will mean that your productivity
and concentration levels may drop.
WORKING SLOWLY - Sometimes the office has an energy. Sometimes your home
does not.
LESS TEAMWORK - Working from home naturally means that you don’t get to work
in a team as much. There is less communication between employees which in turn,
may decrease an element of teamwork amongst yourselves
Possible solutions for Problem Encountered by Employees in the Work from Home
Arrangement
Home has always been a sacred space away from public life. Many treat
it as their sanctuary, and having a part of it invaded by work can be a culture shock
to some. This sudden invasion can lead to blurred lines between work and personal
life, thereby increasing stress levels.These blurred boundaries can even manifest
negative results in unusual areas. For example, working from home increases
tendencies towards sedentary lifestyles. With blurred boundaries, employees may be
afraid to even take time off for exercise.
Possible Solution: Employers must take the initiative in ensuring that their remote
teams get dedicated “downtime.” Supervisors should avoid excessive
communications outside working hours, especially for nonessential task.
Employee Isolation Human beings are social animals, and working from
home removes them from the traditional close interaction they get with colleagues.
While some may appreciate the isolation, developing these habits isn’t typically
healthy over prolonged periods.Aside from the risk to mental well-being, employee
isolation can also quickly lead to breakdowns in unit cohesion. The result may also
lead to poor overall performance in specific areas resulting in unfair blame falling on
some individuals.
Possible Solutions: Consider using group communication tools like Slack to allow
employees to communicate even outside core meeting groups. They’d be able to
form private channels and even utilize other communication facilities like voice or
video calls. You can leverage team-building exercises aimed at helping foster
greater cohesion among employees. One asset to consider is gamification, a
strategy that helps achieve objectives more lightheartedly
II. FINDINGS
COVID-19 has had a significant impact on employment in the Philippines:
A majority of employees reported their job was suspended, hours and pay
reduced, or they were forced to take unpaid leave. Only 37% of employees could
report that COVID-19 had no impact on their job.
A total of 6 out of 10 families lost income.
Over 60% of those affected began working from home.
However, nearly 70% of employees reported they were able to be equally or more
productive during the crisis – 21% of women and 14% of men reported being more
productive.
Overall, 4 in 10 adults felt pressure to do more household work and child care.
Increased time spent on cleaning was reported by 77% of women and 72% of men.
Importantly, 48% of women and 39% of men reported a negative impact on
their mental well-being due to COVID-19, and 4 in 10 respondents reported a
negative impact on their physical well-being (43% of women and 41% of men).
III. CONCLUSION
Despite almost limitless flexibility in where to work, 84% of the respondents
said they prefer to work from home. This is despite a Starbucks on almost every
street corner, countless local coffee shops and restaurants catering to business
professionals, and co-working facilities popping up in every locale and community.
It makes sense, though. There’s no commute to the home office and there’s
every degree of convenience and flexibility. The real question (which isn’t answered
by the survey) is whether home is actually the best location to work. Many might still
answer “yes,” but for some getting out of the house might actually be more
productive and limit the sense of isolation that can affect remote workers.
It’s much easier leaving work at the office when the office is in a different
physical location. You leave the stuff you need to do work at the office and the
commute serves as a time to “log out” of your work mind and prepare for re-entering
the atmosphere of home.
For those who work from home, not having those built-in barriers between
home and work can make it difficult to truly “clock out.” According to the Buffer
survey, 22% of respondents confess to having difficulty unplugging from work or
establishing firm boundaries between work time and personal time
IV. RECOMMENDATION
CREATE ROUTINES - Whether you live alone or with others, it is important that you
and each household member adhere to a schedule. The key to success is to
establish a good routine. It's crucial to distinguish between flexibility and a complete
absence of routine. Routine is necessary for being organized and productive on a
daily basis.
BE RESPONSIBLE - If you want to have the freedom to choose your own schedule,
you must be responsible in order to work well. The basic principle is to complete the
tasks that you must complete before moving on to the tasks that you desire. Knowing
that you will be rewarded after you complete the tasks at hand will encourage you to
keep going. Assign responsibility to others. Don't overwork yourself; instead,
concentrate on the most important tasks.
BE BALANCED - To stay healthy, you must maintain a sense of balance in all
aspects of your life (mental, physical, emotional, spiritual). You will be able to make
time for other important things if you follow a routine, organize yourself, and be
productive. Natural light and fresh air are beneficial to your health. Consume a
healthy and balanced diet. One of the most crucial aspects of being productive,
healthy, happy and getting enough sleep.
V. REFERENCES
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