The virus has also bought new experiences like telework, which provokes a totally new meaning in Iran. The term is no longer new, but incomplete infrastructures prevent a successfully implementation of this workstyle. Although it has been unofficially reported that 86% of employees prefer telecommuting in this situation, but managers are not very satisfied with this method.
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ew studies suggest that one-fifth of human resource managers believe that employees who work at home, showed a slightly higher standard in terms of work efficiency compared to when they work in the office, seven percent or more believe that they work with a dramatically higher standard when at home. However, employees are less optimistic about this idea, and only 15% believe that telecommuting provides a higher standard.
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owever, almost half of both groups i.e. 49% of HR decision makers and 45% of employees think that this type of work has no effect on the output. In fact, only 27% of HR decision makers think that employees who work from home offer a higher standard of work compared to when they do the same job in the office. About 20% of both groups think that the standard of work produced by the employees is three percent lower than the expected standards for working at home compared to the office. 45% of employees of companies that work with home policies also think that their workplace does not affect the quality of their output, and less than a quarter (22%) think that working from home improves their productivity. 70% of businesses encourage telecommuting while only 27% consider it as harmful. Both sides have their own reasons including improper infrastructure or staff limited capacity.
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he opposition group believe that telecommuting requires a strong network of the Internet and technology which has been addressed around the world for many years. Some companies have such a robust infrastructure that not only they did not experience a shock due to the outbreak but they also, easily sent their employees to their home, even permanently. One good example is Microsoft, which announced that it is possible for the employees to work from home permanently with a proper authorization from their managers. It is actually Microsoft›s imitation of its tech rivals Facebook and Twitter, which have made telecommuting a permanent choice for their employees.
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owever, despite the fact that most of the research activities in the world are telecommuted, such a plan can not be implemented for banks, insurance companies, education and service organizations, because it still requires a more extensive technology and our country has not yet been able to telecommute its employees by good training and trust building.
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ccording to Sattari, the CEO of a large company, telecommuting cannot be done properly until the expected trust between the employers and employees is established. According to this employer, implementing such a plan without the expected trust requires a great increase in monitoring activities, thus increasing organization costs. Ultimately the initial goal of reducing costs, backfire disastrously.
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he CEO of another private company agrees: “at the beginning of Coronavirus outbreak, many companies agreed to telecommute their employees for a while, but the idea didn’t continue for a long run. There were many reasons, including the lack of a proper Internet infrastructure with many interruptions in connections. It has caused many employees to spend all their day-time working, therefore creating many serious problems for the families. On the other hand, the inefficiency of communication infrastructure has caused major concerns among companies and organizations in terms of telecommunications efficiency. Therefore, after the end of the government’s restrictions, despite the high prevalence of Covid-19 and most of the provinces in the red zone, we see that there is no support for telecommuting even in jobs where telecommuting is a possible option. Highlighting that «Unfortunately, there is no clear solution to this issue,» he added «with the present quality of ISPs, telecommuting can not be relied on unless you can change your ISP».
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urthermore, many experts believe that lack of specific telecommuting laws in our country causes businesses, organizations and even employees to not be properly aware of telecommuting administrative rules such as leave, overtime and check-in /check-out times. These issues can lead to some inconsistencies and misunderstandings. Lack of sufficient computer equipments is another problem of telecommuting. A personal computer and laptop are essential basic tools for telecommuting. Due to unbelievable price of computer equipments, many employees do not have a suitable computer system appropriate for their job situation. In addition to many other hidden factors, this make telecommuting, at least in our country, not a really good option.
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ome, however , say that there are solutions for these concerns, including managers’ attention focused on the output of their employees instead of evaluating their working hours. this output can determine the development and responsibility of employees and as a result the workplace or home becomes a result-oriented place that leads to promotion, development and excellence.
