Controversial Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer, one of the world’s most famous working mothers, has caused a stir in the news over the last two days with the announcement of her move to end home-working for Yahoo employees.
Mayer’s decision sparked a debate here at ipSCAPE. It’s reported one of her reasons for banning home working is ‘speed and quality are often sacrificed when working from home’. While some acknowledge the motivational benefits of spending physical time together under the same roof, there’s a clear company benefit from individuals having the flexibility to work from where ever they are, while still retaining high levels of productivity.
At ipSCAPE, we believe in cloud technology’s power to enable working access from any device with an internet connection. In the same way as mobile phones have changed the way people communicate, the growing trend towards cloud adoption will lead more companies to realise the benefit of allowing – and even encouraging – working outside of the office.
Utilising technology that allows flexibility, also enables home workers to be more efficient and effective. For example, ipSCAPES’s cloud contact centre software provides real time reporting, up-to-the-second views on individual or team performance, meaning companies retain visibility and supervision over their worker’s productivity and measures wherever they are. We have clients who run service centres who specifically target home-workers for their contact ‘centres’. With no physical restrictions on size in terms of desk space and infrastructure, the company can rapidly scale its operations – and they’ve found higher quality, performing staff who are less likely to leave the company because their work can fit in with their lifestyle.
Meyer’s decision is controversial because the goal of many technology companies (including ipSCAPE) has been to adapt to change to new lifestyles and free up the workplace. What do you think? What policies does your company have?