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Health and safety in a work setting
Health and safety in a work setting
Health and safety in a work setting
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ARTICLE SUMMARY : IT SUPPORT SERVICES FOR TELECOMMUTING WORKFORCE
According to Tuncay Bayrak, in his paper, IT Support Services For Telecommuting Workforce, in new era of technology, organization faced many radical changes. The changes involved from traditional workplace into more technology ways. With the existence of various types of software that enable long-distance communication, telecommuting workforce has been evolved. Nowadays, the organization was transformed to become a network-based operating structure where employees are not tied to the workplace. Every day, the rank of telecommuter job continues to grow. Telecommuting job allows employees to work from home or remote locations across the world. The question is what is the different service support that was provided by the organization for telecommuter and traditionally employee in a regular office. The aims of this study are to explain many types of support service for telecommuting employee that can be provided and the different support service that needed for telecommuters and desktop computing. The goal of this paper is to provide a framework to help IT manager to solve the issues in increase their potential benefit of providing good support service.
In the previous study, the authors stated that there are various studies about the telecommuting include references to corporate attitudes toward telecommuting, motivation, productivity, supervision and employee satisfaction.
There are two stages of method that used in this study. Firstly, academic research and journalist were used to present key issues and challenges of supporting telecommuters. A method that was used in this stage based on review of the scientific literature. Secondly, the discussion bet...
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...anization cannot ensure who use telecommuter computers and what happen in remote location. It's also too difficult to ensure telecommuter follows the Non-Disclosure Agreement. There is a way that IT department can use to prevent this from happening. They can control the remote computer settings, and monitoring employee perform on the computer. The deep Freze program can be used to prevent telecommuter to change computer settings. Other than that, keystroke recorder can monitor activity telecommuter so that they engaged with the company work. The last categories of technical support is communication and logistical support. For the communication, IT department responsible to provide support for telecommuters by operating communication and groupware tools for business such as e-mail, instant messaging, and chat room that provide means of communication.
One of the most important things for telecommuters to consider is communication. More specifically: How will the telecommuter stay in contact with the company? There are several types of technology that telecommuters rely on. One, the Modem, allows remote computers to communicate, and transmit and receive data via telephone lines. Second, an Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides an account and a phone number to dial into and gain access to the Internet. Third, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), uses existing 2-wire telephone wiring to deliver high-speed data services to businesses and homes. Fourth, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) uses digital technology and is capable of faster data transfer speeds. Fifth, Instant messaging, supercedes the pace of email by allowing two people to communicate in real time
I found this article to be of great interest to myself because my work and life has revolved around telecommuting for the past several years. As the article indicates, “a telecommuter is anyone who works at least part of the time at home, in their cars, from clients’ offices, and/or in hotel rooms and telephone booths.” Although the article is somewhat dated (1995 to be exact), I feel that what Robert Moskowitz wrote about telecommuting back in 1995 still applies today. When I chose to go to work for ADP-Automatic Data Processing several years ago, I already had some previous work experience as a telecommuter. At the time, I had no idea that my current position would actually transition itself to a telecommuting position or as I would like to call it now, “a virtual office position.”
Telecommuting Telecommuting starts with the lower level of the working class workers but with the success it has had it’s rapidly moving towards the executive level. There are two forms of telecommuting the employers use today, one is home telecommuting which is a work arrangement the most people do this is working from home with a computer terminal utilizing today’s current technology by transmitting data and documents while working from home and maintaining a close contact with co-workers, managers, through the use of email, internet (instant messenger), and telephone and fax machines as well. Video conferencing using web cameras can also be an effective tool for telecommuting in order to help enhance the productivity of its employees and executives. The other form of telecommuting is center-based telecommuting that involves the use of office space close to home where employees work without direct supervision, commute travel is still reduced and some of the disadvantages of home offices are removed.
Working in today’s society has changed in the last few decades. The economy and technology are the main reasons for this change. The type of job and environment where one works has also changed. The fact that many people work from home via the internet has drastically changed the workforce and the environment surrounding it. With this change have come new demands, expectations, and opportunities for employers. Everyone deals with these demands differently, affecting the employee’s quality of life and job satisfaction. Though the job and office types and locations have changed over the years the need for job satisfaction has not. In today’s economy the job is not as stable as it used to be. One must be prepared for changes in the future.
Sometimes there is no middle ground. Monitoring of employees at the workplace, either you side with the employees or you believe management owns the network and should call the shots. The purpose of this paper is to tackle whether monitoring an employee is an invasion of privacy. How new technology has made monitoring of employees by employers possible. The unfairness of computerized monitoring software used to watch employees. The employers desire to ensure that the times they are paying for to be spent in their service is indeed being spent that way. Why not to monitor employees, as well as tips on balancing privacy rights of employees at the job.
One type of surveillance is employee monitoring. Many employers monitor their workers’ activities for one reason or another. Companies monitor employees using many methods. They may use access panels that requires employees to identify themselves to control entry to various area in the building, allowing them to create a log of employee movements. They may also use software to monitor attendance and work hours. Additionally, many programs allows companies to monitor activities performed on work computers, inspect employee emails, log keystrokes, etc. An emerging methods of employee monitor also include social network and search engine monitoring. Employers can find out who their employees are associated with, as well as other potentially incriminating information. (Ciocchetti)
Technology has been rapidly changing the appearance of organizations and the way we interact with others on a daily basis. In an evolving marketplace, technology provides growth opportunities to organizations and assists in the continuation of a competitive. Many organizations have tested the new flexible schedule work theory to use modern technology as a competitive advantage and a way to stay ahead of the competition. Flexible schedules can have positive and negative effects on an organization. Positive effects include reducing overhead costs by saving money in the office by saving cost on supplies, electricity, and the amount of space an organization needs which assists the company in participating in the go green campaign and flexed schedules also assist individuals on balancing their work and personal lives. Unfortunately, flexed schedules can have negative effects on an organization such as loosing the day-to-day interaction with your co-workers and customers and not interacting with management that can have negative affects on an employees performance reviews and maintaining personal contact between the groups. Instant messenger, email, and the telephone have replaced face-to-face communication. The typical nine to five work schedules are replace by working virtually from the comfort of your own home.
Throughout the United States there are over eleven million people working at home at least part-time. In cities such as New York, federal legislation put into effect required a decrease in the amount to commuters that drive the city's streets during rush hour. Forced to make changes, Merrill Lynch decided to give the telecommuting program a try. Merrill Lynch started a program where potential telecommuters working at the firm, go through an extensive training course by taking a two-week stint in a simulation lab where they are isolated from co-workers and managers just as they would at home. Some people find it more productive while others realize that telecommuting is not for them. Most telecommuters will find the job comfortable if they themselves are self-motivated and focused.
Telecommuting may be the movement of the future, which will allow more people to work away from the office. Many people see telecommuting as a way to be close to home or allow them to be connected to their organization while working abroad. While telecommuting might work for some people, telecommuting is not for everyone. There are many disadvantages; as well advantages to telecommuting which most people do not take into account. When considering telecommuting, the advantages fall for both employer and employee. The same can be said about the disadvantages of telecommuting.
The workplace today goes beyond just the walls and ceilings that surround an office environment or office building. According to the International Telework Association and Council, 44.4 million Americans worked from home at least part of the time in 2004, up 7.5% from just on year earlier (Earthweb, 2005). Though it may be very convenient to work from home, the choice can bring its own set of problems. There are financial reasons, efficiencies, and even managing time are just a few to name that bring about many challenges and issues that any remote employee would face in that type of work environment.
During the past decade, the internet has revolutionized and changed the way organizations do business by offering rapid communication systems and enhanced information access and innovation of technological advancements have created a brave new workplace. Further, the internet enables organizations to decrease expenses, reduce product life cycle time, market goods and services more efficiently (Anandarajan et al, 2000). However, with these kinds of benefits, the internet provides employees with a technique
What is telecommuting, and why would anyone want to either be employed by or employ others to work from their home? The telecommuting employees are “Salaried employees of an organization replace or modify the commute by working at home or a location closer to home than the regular workplace, generally using ICT to support productivity and communication with the supervisor, co-workers, clients, and other colleagues.” (Hoang, Nickerson, Beckman, & Eng, 2008) and according to studies 47 percent of telecommuting workers report that they are more productive while working from home due to a lessening of stress and increased satisfaction in their career - while their employers glean the benefit of saving 63 percent of the cost of absenteeism and save thousands of dollars annually over traditionally employed workers. (Potter, 2003) While some may say that in order to function properly in a workplace you have to be in the workplace, with minor adjustments in technology on both the employer’s and employee’s part telecommuting has become a proven, viable way for businesses to function profitably while their workforce remains able to reduce the stress of commuting on their personal and family lives.
According to a study conducted by The Dieringer Research Group of WorldatWork (2006), the number of Americans telecommuting at least one day per month has grown by 10 percent in recent years, rising from 26.1 million in 2005 to 28.7 million in 2006, with roughly 20 percent of the workforce engaging in some type of telecommuting work. Predictions are that this number will continue to rise to an estimated 100 million workers by 2010 due to factors such as increased access to wireless and broadband connections, making it less expensive and more productive to work remotely, and an increasing number of employers favoring alternative work programs designed to help employees with a work/life balance.
One of the disadvantages is increased isolation. When an individual works independently, he or she must be faced with a challenge of isolation. This is because when an individual works alone they are bound to feel lonely. Hamilton states that “loneliness is the key reason of lack of exposure to new ideas” (par. 5). Another disadvantage of telecommuting is loss of team spirit. This makes it difficult to pull together for people who are not actually together. Working as a group fosters a sense of belonging and a motivation to work toward achieving a common goal. For instance, in case workforce is remotely located, the sense of working toward a shared goal diffuses easily, especially in small organizations. Loss of synergy is another disadvantage of telecommuting. Working solely denies employees the knowledge of new ideas, which is necessary in the course of work to increase productivity. Putting heads together employees help a workforce come up with new ideas and solutions to issues as they crop up. Lack of communication is also a telecommuting disadvantage because no information is shared. Where information is not shared chances of not working right may occur. In addition, developmental matters and ways of solving problems may not be discussed.
The rapid development of information systems and technology brings some positive effects to individuals. In order to use information systems effectively, individuals need to acquire skills and knowledge on using different computer technology. Take an example of an individual working in a project on market research, he needs to learn the way to use spreadsheets for analysing the data. The new knowledge acquired by the individuals will lead to upskilling effect. The innovation of technology brings a lot more new channels of communication, such as e-mail and instant messaging applications, it increases interaction between individuals. The barriers of location is eliminated by technology, people can communicate with one another in anywhere around the world through Internet. In addition, virtual office and work from home are becoming a common practice for companies, people can enjoy more flexibility in working locations and hours, and this is particularly beneficial to individuals who have young children at h...