Australian telecommuting: management communication strategies

Abstract

This paper reports findings on the significance of management communication strategies to telecommuting, based on a survey of telecommuters at IBM Australia. With increased adoption of telecommuting, many strategies have been proffered to ensure that telecommuters have appreciable levels of job satisfaction. Low levels of job satisfaction can lead to unduly rapid employee turnover that is detrimental to business operation. The objective of this paper is to ascertain the perceptions of telecommuters at IBM Australia on a number of telecommuting practice measures, and to suggest how job satisfaction can be improved and maintained at high levels by giving greater attention to particular communication management strategies in Australia. Although the management communication strategies proffered in the literature appear to apply generally, this study concludes that a few aspects are distinctively applicable to the Australian environment. Those aspects should be specifically noted by those interested in benefiting from telecommuting practice.