Work@home an opportunity in middle east

Work@Home: An Opportunity in the Middle East December 2013

Work@Home: An Opportunity in the Middle East What is the Work@Home Concept?

“Work@Home” or “Work from Home” is a form of work arrangement, which needs an employee to work fully or majorly from his or her home. This is an alternative to the conventional office setting. Also termed as 'telecommuting' or 'homeshoring', Work from Home, once referred only to self-employed, is now gaining popularity and acceptance among employees and employers alike, due to resultant cost saving and productivity improvement.

Work@Home owes much of this continuing rise in its popularity to the ongoing improvements in the communication technology. Due to advancement in the technology, irrespective of their location, employees remain connected with their colleagues, customers, and the other stakeholders.

Factors Driving the Work@Home Concept •

Globalization: Globalization has altered the standard work timing practices. It has led to change in work timing, so that, colleagues or stakeholders in other time zones can be accommodated

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Scarcity of Qualified Talent: Demographically, the industry is facing a declining labor pool from which employees can be drawn for call center jobs. To supplement pensions and retirement income, retirees with valuable sales and customer care experience often seek challenging part-time work. Moreover, there is availability of qualified workers who are physically handicap or reside in rural areas and find it difficult to commute to workplace

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Increasing Technology Penetration: Young workers, the major target segment for employers, are comfortable with digital technologies and machines and hence can be trusted to work from anywhere, including their home with limited support

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Rising House Prices: Walk to work, a concept referring to small distance between home and office, is now no more popular due to the sustained rise in housing prices. This has led to employees living at a significant distance from their employers’ offices and thereby incurring painfully higher commute time and cost

Advantages of Adopting the Work@Home Concept: Reduce Costs and Raise Efficiencies • Regardless of geographic distances, it is cost efficient to move bits than bodies. Due to the absence of physical infrastructure and automation of processes such as screening, hiring, training and monitoring, the Work@Home model is considered cost efficient compared to the traditional brick-and-mortar facility.

For instance, the consulting firm IDC calculated typical costs for an employee in a brick-and-mortar facility in the US, to be USD 31 per hour, compared to USD 21 per hour for a Work@Home employee.

• Also, the Work@Home concept can improve efficiency by allowing an on-site employee to utilize his/her free time. For example, when service engineers are not on customer sites, they can log in as agents from their homes to provide call-in assistance. It helps them take advantage of the otherwise lost time, and also helps the company stay competitive.

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Ensures Business Continuity • In today’s world of globalization, and specifically for the finance industry, the value of continuity is second to none. Natural disasters, transit strikes and major power failure are some of the scenarios in which business continuity could be impacted. If a contact center of a company already has a Work@Home arrangement in operation, it can significantly reduce the negative impact of these unexpected scenarios.

In a work from home setup, employees are located across multiple geographies and operations can be shifted across locations to provide business continuity in case of any emergency situation.

Larger Pool of Candidates for Recruitment • With geographic proximity no longer a selection criterion, the call center recruitment team can scrutinize from among a bigger pool of candidates to find the correct candidate for the job. Access to a nationwide talent pool, not restricted by local demographic factors, results in a high quality work force. Highly proficient employees drive service quality and productivity.

Enhanced Customer Service • Flexibility of work hours in home-based work enhances customer service as business hours can be extended and timely assistance can be offered. Also, by allowing employees to work in flexible schedules, job satisfaction can be increased and employee alteration rate can be lowered. Once employees are motivated, resultant customer service quality is bound to improve.

Helps in Achieving CSR Objectives • Work@Home supports women empowerment by offering jobs to women who are unable to attend regular jobs due to family priorities but still need to supplement family income. Also, individuals with physical disabilities, and are unable to commute to office locations for regular employment, can be offered opportunity to work from home. Work from home also leads to decentralization of business districts by offering jobs to individuals from remote rural areas including of workplace.

Best Practices for a Successful Work@Home Employment Employers evaluating the Work@Home concept can refer to the success stories scripted by leaders and pioneers in this space globally. By drafting a strategy based on the incumbent’s experience, a new entrant can replicate the success model and avoid mistakes made by others.

Following are some of the best practices a company can follow to derive a desired outcome from the Work@Home model.

Draft and Communicate work@home Policy Document

Every company that adopts the work from home concept must have dedicated guidelines for work from home employees. The policy should be drafted and communicated in a manner which can help keep remote employees productive, accountable, and in touch. Safety of documents and data is of prime importance and hence ensuring a securable and safe premise must be a priority.

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Different and Specialized Approach to Recruitment

Although skill sets required for Work@Home jobs are not completely different from the mandatory skill sets for traditional office-based jobs, they do differ to an extent. Some employees are excellent people and good performers, but may not be suited to Work@Home jobs. The screening process must be designed considering the requirements of the job. Once hired, the employee should be provided with a systematic online training platform.

The successful implementation of a home-based business model is contingent not only on getting employees who have the necessary skills, but also on their work habits and personality traits that allow them to perform without daily face-to-face interaction.

Match the Personality of the Candidate with the Job Profile

Offering the Right Tools to Employees

Direct and Fast Access to Seniors and Expert Pool

When it comes to deciding who should work from home and who should not, the typical mistake done by companies trying to transition agents to a homebased model is allowing them to work from home based solely on their onsite performance. This approach does not take into account the distinctive personality traits required for an agent to be successful in a home-based environment. This invariably impacts the employee’s performance because some people need the social component that working in a group environment provides in order to perform well. By failing to take the personality part of the equation into account, attrition gains are squandered and the morale is hurt

For disturbance-free working, it must be ensured that there is a dedicated workstation at the employee’s home. This space should be designed in a manner that does not compromise employee’s health and safety. A primary assessment of the following must be done to ensure that home-based employees have access to all contact center features • • • • •

The seating and layout of the employee’s computer workstation Computer hardware configuration and software installed Communication tools Electrical equipment Lighting and noise levels, ventilation and room temperature

Home-based agents may face situations in which they might need urgent guidance from their seniors or a subject specialist. A time-tested technical solution, in the form of either instant messenger or video call, must be made available to the employees working in isolation

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Monitor and Measure Performance

It may sound invasive, but companies must use electronic monitoring to monitor their home-based employee force. Taking photos of the employee’s computer screens at random, counting keystrokes and mouse clicks can be used as a monitoring tool. Also, help of advanced technological tools to instantaneously detect anger, raised voices or noise of children crying in the background can be useful To be effective, a work-at-home option should include specific requirements, goals and measurement processes.

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Minimum Requirements for A Home Office Include: Prospective home-based employees may not necessarily relate themselves to the unconventional working environment of home. Keeping this in mind, the employer must draft and communicate the Work@Home policy, which should provide every employee working in a home environment the necessary infrastructure and access to all necessary information and contacts so that he/she does not feel isolated. Following are some of the key requirements that an employee with a suitable working environment must have, irrespective of him/her being away from office.

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A dedicated work space and a reasonably safe working environment

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Secure & safe premises and a lockable cupboard or desk. A secure environment setup to keep sensitive information confidential

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Suitable furniture, including chairs, must be used to avoid posture-related concerns. Also, compliance with health and safety regulations is a must

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Minimum one or more business telephone lines or mobile connection

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A computer with high speed internet connection and email access and all necessary machines like Web camera, printer, etc. as per requirement

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Adequate insurance covering valuable equipment from thefts and breakdown

Target Segments for Employers: Who Would be Interested in Work@Home Employment?

Men looking for double income or multiple jobs Men could be open to taking this up as an additional source of income. A lot of men take up entrepreneurship roles post office hours and this concept could work well for them

Physically challenged persons Given the mobility related limitations, candidates with physical challenges would be most benefitted from this concept

Students eager to work and earn a living Students are very eager to work and make some money and Work@Home can give them an exposure to work life early on hence, can be an ideal category to work in a Work@Home environment

Work @ Home: An opportunity in Middle East

Married women with school or college going children A majority of females in the Middle East, mainly in the rural areas, get married at an early age and hence, would give birth to children at an younger age. Due to this added responsibilities, educated and ambitious females have to sacrifice their career. Work@Home can be a viable opportunity

Married women living in joint families Married women who live in a joint family system, and receive support from other family members in their daily workloads can also be encouraged to join the work from home type of job

Women with high levels of work experience Women employees with about a decade or more of work experience may prefer to have a greater work-life balance

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Middle East – Demographics and Localization Compliance Favoring the Work@Home Concept

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Total population of Saudi Arabia as of 2012 was estimated to be 29.2 Mn. About 32% of the population is made up of foreign nationals living in the country

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Of the overall population, 20.7 Mn are of 15 years and above, 41% of them being female. This category of population (>15 yrs) is divided into Labor force and Out of Labor force Unemployment rate among Saudi nationals is significantly higher compared to the overall population’s unemployment rate in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

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Of the overall population, only 1Mn make up the Saudi female labor force, 0.7Mn of which are from the age group of 15 to 34 years

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There is a large labor pool of local females in Saudi Arabia, who being educationally qualified, are unemployed (0.36 Mn). They along with females who are now out of the labor pool due to varied reasons can be tapped to be a part of the Work@Home force

Work @ Home: An opportunity in Middle East

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Total population of the UAE in 2010 was estimated to be 8.3 Mn. Share of female population has been steady, at an average of ~26% of total population

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The UAE Government has adopted a policy of Emiratization to employ its citizens and reduce dependence on foreign workers

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Though unemployment is quite low in the overall population, it is much higher among UAE nationals, with the majority of the employed working in the Public Sector

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Women in the UAE are outperforming men at every educational level. UAE’s educational indicators show that women’s achievements in education have reached its targeted levels, and in some cases, exceeded that of men

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In spite of being well educated, UAE local females have low level of workforce contribution, which gets worsened by poor maternity laws and company policies

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Enhancing local women’s private sector workforce presence would be the key to achieve Emiratization. Women have the education and, more important, the desire to play a central role in the region's labor market

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Saudi Arabia Labor Force by National and Education Status (2012)

Saudi Arabia Local Female Labor Force by Education and Employment Status (2012)

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UAE – Key Employment Statistics for Local Female Population

With few success stories in either the UAE or Saudi Arabia, there could be a snowball effect in the entire Middle East market, prompting several existing and newer employers to seriously consider the advantages offered by the Work@Home concept. Moreover, with increasing focus on women employment, local females would prefer a sustainable source of income and seek self reliance. For career-oriented women, Work@Home can be the first step towards achieving financial independence.

Governments in the Middle East countries are also indirectly promoting the Work@Home concept by pushing regulations that can benefit Work@Home. Following are few examples of government initiatives that can promote adoption of Work@Home from employers

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In September 2011, in the KSA, the second phase of the Nitaqat Program for "Saudization" of the labor force came into effect, and requirements range for the banking industry was set for 49%

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From January 2011, students on the university sponsorship program in the UAE can legally work part-time upon receiving a permit from the Ministry of Labor

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Conclusion A detailed analysis of the demographic profiles of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), suggest that Middle East countries are best suited for the Work@Home concept. Higher share of females in the educated yet unemployed talent pool can be leveraged to form a strong and efficient work force. Work@Home also helps employers in aligning with the strong regulatory drives in the Middle East to increase localization and empowering females.

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