The virtual office set up and productivity levels

Employees working from home in a virtual office environment are generally more productive than their counterparts in the “traditional office” environment. This is according to Johnny Johnson, CEO of Corporate Absenteeism Management Solutions (CAMS), and absenteeism management specialists that generate statistical data, which companies can use to monitor their absenteeism levels.

CAMS owns sick and health management software which is used by various service providers to optimize their consulting services for their clients. In addition, CAMS collates sick absenteeism information and provides benchmarks and overall sick absenteeism statistics. The actual sick absenteeism management consulting services can be provided by preferred providers contacted with CAMS.

Johnson says that among the major causes of absenteeism in South Africa are work and life issues, which include stress and burnout as well as personal needs and family crisis. When people work from home, they are less stressed, have more time to do their work and can take care of family issues because of their flexible working hours.

“According to our research, there were 524 incidents of sick leave related to psychological reasons, such as stress and depression in 2005, which means 4.5% of all sick leave days taken were due to stress. This particular form of sick absenteeism is no longer an issue in those who work from home as they can manage their time, and thus their stressors, more effectively, “ says Johnson.

“CAMS recently sold the wellness management and absenteeism consulting portion of its business and now my team and I work in virtual offices which are connected via a network. Whereas before, I had 10 people on the payroll, now there are a handful of us connected via the latest technology. I found that the payroll and overheads of the larger company became the tail that wagged the dog. I spent more time dealing with personnel issues than I did with growing the business.

“Now I prefer to work with other free agents on a contractor basis. Finding a good contractor is as difficult as finding a good employee but the relationship is more businesslike and less paternalistic. I work with IT personnel, designers and my PR on this basis,” he says.

“It’s the Information Age and the virtual office is the way of the future. In terms of traffic congestion, the expenses of running a large office, employee cost of travel, as well as sick absenteeism due to the stress of not being at home to solve crises, it makes perfect sense to do business this way.

“My team meets up regularly to discuss matters needing attention. We also visit clients on site when needed. We use wireless networks connected over the Internet via broadband with secure Virtual Private Network (VPN) connections between each other. These methods increase our productivity and help keep our costs down, thus making the business more efficient and increasing the value we can deliver to our clients,” Johnson notes.
Executive PA Michelle Bennett at CAMS says, “Working from home has actually been a huge adjustment for me – I really miss the corporate set-up. What I do like though is that I can work on my own time, there are times when I can’t sleep and am up at 05:00 and I start working. Or there is nothing good on TV in the evenings so I work. The flexibility is great, but I miss the interaction and believe it or not – I miss dressing up for work.

“I think that I am more productive when working from home, as there are no interruptions, meetings or traveling to worry about. I easily add about an hour or two of extra productivity time to my workday. And its pretty much stress free.” she adds.