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TELEWORK
– a new way to work
By the Department of Communications
Australian organisations are
embracing telework, increasingly
aware of its many benefits, however some still face challenges
when it comes to implementing
more flexible workplace models.
National Telework Week – held 18-22 November
– promoted the benefits of ‘anywhere working’
and ways organisations can address barriers to
introducing telework policies.
With improved access to high-speed broadband
connectivity and the proliferation of mobile
devices, work is now what you do, not where you
do it.
As the Minister for Communications, Malcolm
Turnbull, said in a recent interview: “I don’t
actually care whether people are in the office, as
long as they’re productive…the way to measure
people is by output, not how many hours they’ve
got their bums on the seat in the office.”
A recent survey by the Australian
Communications and Media Authority found
that 51 percent of working Australians are digital
workers, working away from the office between
one and four days each week.
To help employees juggle the demands of work
and home in this digitalised economy, 38 percent
of SMEs allow their workforce to work at home at
least one day a week. This rises to 55 percent for
medium-siz ed organisations.
Considering the many positive impacts
teleworking can have for both employers and
employees, the rising popularity of ‘anywhere
working’ is not surprising.
Evidence shows that telework can boost
productivity and innovation, increase staff
retention, and reduce operational costs.
Businesses with staff who work remotely are also
more likely to improve their bottom line. Research
by MYOB found that SMEs that allow teleworking
were 24 percent more likely to experience a
revenue rise; 21 percent experienced a revenue
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boost in the past year, compared to 17 percent
whose staff only work from the office.
Telework can also be beneficial for the
broader community by reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, traffic congestion and fuel
consumption associated with commuting. It
enables productivity gains from the highly
educated female workforce, many of whom are
constrained by the ‘geographic leash’ in juggling
work and home carer responsibilities.
Despite the benefits of telework, Australia still
lags international trends. Many organisations
have misconceptions about telework, while
others do not feel equipped to implement such
policies, with the principal barrier being the lack
of appropriate skills and capability among line
managers to manage a more virtual workforce.
The 2012 Australian Digital Workplace Study by
Telsyte found that 57 percent of organisations
that currently do not allow teleworking confirmed
that they don’t have the capability to support
staff who work from home if the need arose.
Similarly, only three in five organisations that
allow mobile working say they have the security,
networks and computing devices in place to
enable this. Less than half (45 percent) offer
remote application access and only 31 percent
operate a virtual desktop infrastructure.
The Commonwealth Government’s support of
digitally-enabled ‘anywhere working’ is part of its
strategy to grow Australia’s digital economy, and
to encourage citizens to take advantage of new
technologies that are transforming our global
competitiveness.
Nearly 180 organisations across Australia,
including 106 from the private sector, have
become Telework Partners with the Department