– During the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of teleworkers almost doubled in developed countries following the three periods of confinement. In 2020, an estimated 557 million people telework from home, i.e. 1 worker in 5. At the same time, the culture of teleworking has also spread to emerging and developing countries thanks to the interdependence of their economies and intercontinental trade. Telework has become not only a trend but a necessity for some economies that have begun to condition its generalization.
-In Morocco, do we have the means to generalize it?
– In Morocco, this trend is starting to gain more momentum than before the pandemic crisis, especially in service sectors such as ICT, communication, finance and insurance. Its generalization first requires the development of a charter governed by a law with the establishment of a collective agreement in which will be mentioned the conditions for switching to teleworking, the methods of controlling working time, a formalization of an agreement between employer and employee as an alternative mode of employment.
Then, a preparation on the part of politicians for a technological transformation (broadband network, maximum coverage of areas) and on the part of bosses and entrepreneurs for new organizational modes of work. Added to this is the cultural readjustment of public and private organizations with changes in managerial skills by making new working methods more flexible. Without forgetting to assess in advance the relevance of teleworking for the public and private organization, its feasibility (there are, for example, non-teleworking activities such as in the public health sector, education), and its acceptability to the actors concerned as a new managerial model.
-What are the disadvantages of this way of working in terms of team management?
– Each generation is better at telecommuting than its predecessor, generation Z’ “Zoomers” adapts more to technological transformations compared to generation x or y, and therefore the disadvantages and their impact on team management differ from one generation to another and depends on the average age of the management team and their ability to adapt to change.
Among these disadvantages which will impact the management of the teams, we can identify; the lack of friendly relations, the loss of sense of the organizational collective, limits in the relational framework favoring only the virtual, and less sense of belonging, weakening the identity of the company and its symbolic image. Teleworking can cause professional inequalities within teams by gratifying, rewarding in a tangible way the performances noticed in person.
The transition to teleworking can impact the emotional capital built up over years within managerial teams. Managerial teams can develop fewer innovative and creative solutions within companies due to the lack of brainstorming sessions. Despite this, it must be realized that teleworking weakens computer and data security following the intrusion of viruses or hacker practices such as ransomware, phishing, DDOS or data theft.
-Can we afford 100% remote work without a drop in productivity?
– In teleworking, productivity is measured by the quantity of work provided in relation to the hours teleworked during the day or during the mission. American studies have shown that 85% of American teleworkers are more productive at telework than in the office.
In Morocco, organizations can promote productivity gains through telework only if they build a synergy between teleworkable and non-teleworkable activities; create a system for measuring performance in telework, its control, monitoring and evaluation; simplify conversion to hybrid mode (presence/remote); help develop the shift to horizontal network coordination promoting a network effect with more transactions and flexibilities; ensure an optimization between costs / benefits, such as the reduction of energy costs (heating, air conditioning, lighting, petrol, etc.), travel costs, the number of departures and delays.
It remains to emphasize the positive environmental impact of teleworking on productivity by taking this observation as an example (1 day of teleworking/week can save up to 271 kg in CO2/year, reducing transport consumption bills by almost 1400 km/ year).