Working from the comfort of your home

One of the things that technology has enabled in our day is connecting us to the world of employment from wherever we are. So, as one hunts for their dream job, working from home or telecommuting is among the options to think about.
“As job seekers, we are usually stuck to the orthodox way of ‘look for a job that gives you a particular work station where you have to commute every day to work from 8am to 6pm’,” Sheila Namuyaba, a telecommuter at Strategy for Hope, says.
After a year of looking for employment as a researcher, Namuyaba finally found an opportunity that did not require her to be in office every working day. The organisation would provide her with a gadget, internet access, and airtime and she could work from home or anywhere.
“Of course I had to commute for the first few months and work without supervision, and when my employer ascertained that I could deliver, I then started telecommuting, coming to office only once a week for organisational meetings,” Namuyaba explains.
Though this system is not yet very popular in Uganda, it is present, and being used by some organisations and employers.

Cutting costs
However, according to an article by the Guardian newspaper, when Sun Microsystems - a computer and software company took a look at its telecommuting programme, the company found that it avoided $64m [about Shs234.3b] per year in real estate costs, $2.5m (about Shs9.1b) on the electricity bill and employees saved an average of $2,335 (about Shs8.5m) per year in telecommuting costs.
The article further quoted Mike Jude, a consumer communication services programme manager at Stratecast |Frost & Sullivan saying, “The migration of work from the office to the home is profound. This relocation defines the way in which professional workers interact, conduct business and manage their work-home dynamic.”
Julia Kushemererwa, a human capital consultant at Success Africa, a human resource development and consultancy firm shares that, “I personally did telecommuting for four months after I just had my baby. However, the challenges that come with telecommuting to both the employer and employee depends on the reason why one is doing it.”
She explains that if someone is doing it because of the challenges they have at home, one may not expect them to cover a big amount of work because of the challenges they already have. However, if one telecommutes because that’s the nature of their job, then it can be really effective.
“Telecommuting or working from home is very highly productive. I remember I could do a day’s work in just four hours when I used to telecommute. For the employer, it still comes down to trust,” Kushemererwa notes.
Wilson Muheirwe, a human resource manager at Ham holdings cautions that working from home calls for a very high level of discipline. “One should be able to execute their duties and responsibilities as promptly as they are required with no supervision from their superiors,” he says adding, “The idea is that working from home should give you a better and calm environment within which to work, while saving time and stresses one would have encountered commuting, especially with our Kampala traffic.”
He advises people with disruptive or uncomfortable homes not to come from the house.
“There are also people who naturally prefer environments that conditions them to focus on working. If you are such a person, this may not be ideal for you,” Muheirwe says.
Kushemererwa adds that on the part of employers, “The person should have a good history of productivity. When you are able to bank on the person to replicate their commitment when they are telecommuting,” she points.
She also says that telecommuting can be a valuable way to work especially for parents and people with family duties. Further still, for people who have more than one job, especially in two different places, upcountry, or overseas to be able to balance their work, but also be happy about what they do. It is also idea for people with disabilities.
“Presently, work is increasingly stressing, especially between work and family. I believe that telecommuting can be a remedy to this,” Kushemererwa says.
“A number of companies and organisations do telecommuting, some without being aware they are. Job seekers can further interest potential employers in letting them work from home, but produce results because this is a good deal for both employers and employees,” says Muheirwe.

Jobs where telecommuting works best
This may not be ideal for jobs like front desk officers, cashier, administrators, petty cashier, and any job that requires physical presence. However, jobs such as research, reporting, sales, blogging, writing, accountancy, telemarketing, data entry, speech writing, travel agency, web design, and editing are perfect for this.