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Work from Home: What Factors Influence Employees’ Productivity?

Work from Home: What Factors Influence Employees’ Productivity?

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Working from home has become the new normal during the corona pandemic scenario. Large technological giants such as Google, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook were among the pioneers to initiate the remote work plans for their employees across the globe.

Highlights :

  • Working from home can increase the efficiency of the worker
  • Remote work is more flexible and cuts down on commute stress
  • It is money-saving both for the company (office expenses, rent, etc) as well as the employee (transportation, car maintenance, parking fees, etc.)
Covid-19 has led to the culture of working from home (WFH), where it has both positive as well as negative effects that depend on the job function, seniority and age, reveals a new study.
A study was conducted by the Associate Professor, Christine Ipsen at DTU Management Denmark, to identify the areas which should be kept in mind by the company’s senior officials while formulating strategies for designing remote work in future.

A questionnaire was circulated among workers who have worked from home during Covid-19 lockdown from mid-March to mid-May 2020, in eight European countries namely; Denmark, Austria, Finland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden and Netherland.

The aim of the study was to find out the pros and cons of working from home and the conditions affecting the well-being and efficiency of employees while working from home.

The researchers found that people in the age group of 18 to 30 years scored significantly high on work/life balance as compared to those above the age of 31 years.

The younger group had issues with 'unpredictability about the work' while the older group had a problem with 'inadequate tools'.

There are six important factors that significantly affect the efficiency and well-being of remote work in European knowledge workers. Some of these factors are advantageous and some are disadvantageous for the employees working from home, according to the DTU research.

Advantages of Working from Home (Remote Work)

Majority of people thought that working from home is beneficial on following grounds:
  • Better work/life balance Increased efficiency due to fewer distractions, meetings, etc.
  • Increased control on their work, less interferences, taking breaks whenever required

Disadvantages of Working from Home (Remote Work)

The benefits of working from home are outweighed by the following three main disadvantages:
  • Unavoidable shortcomings of the home office such as spending more time in front of screen, isolation, etc
  • Uncertain tasks like unexciting tasks, which tasks to solve first, less interest in work, etc.
  • Inadequate tools-such as non-availability of documents, printers, scanners, etc.
Associate Professor at DTU Management Christine Ipsen, said: “Before companies and organizations make new plans for the scope of remote work, it’s important to remember that people experience the pros and cons very differently. In other words, it is not a given that everyone feels positive about working from home or have the same challenges. By analyzing the employees’ experiences based on the six factors we identified, management can get an overview of what to keep in mind and when to take action in relation to different employee groups.”

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Reference :
  1. Six factors that determine success when working from home - (https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2021-04/tuod-sft042621.php)


Source-Medindia


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