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In a world that is connected through so many different types of devices, such as laptops, tablets and smartphones, working remotely has become a realistic possibility. However, even though people can be connected at homes, companies are still wary about allowing their employees to work remotely. In a new study, researchers set out to examine the effects of telecommuting and discovered that for some workers, working outside of an office can be beneficial.

"After Yahoo changed its telecommuting policy, this question of, 'Is telecommuting good for performance?' came to the fore," researcher, Ravi S. Gajendran, a business professor from the University of Illinois, said. "At the time, there was a lot of debate about it, but there was very little evidence available. Well, now we have some evidence that says telecommuters are good performers as well as good co-workers on the job."

For this study, Gajendran and his fellow researchers examined field data gathered from 323 employees and 143 supervisors that were matched to the employees. The researchers found that telecommuting was tied to improving two aspects of performance.

The first one was associated with task-related performance. Employees who telecommuted tended to feel the need "to go above and beyond to make their work presence more visible." Since they were given the opportunity to work from home, these employees were more likely to acknowledge their special arrangement by giving back to the company via overcompensation.

"Their thinking could be, 'My boss is giving me something special, I've got to reciprocate and give a little back,'" Gajendran said according to the university's press release . "Our data doesn't tease that apart, but I imagine it's possible. If you're working remotely, you don't want your co-workers to resent that arrangement. You want them to continue to think you're helpful. You don't want to be 'out of sight, out of mind.'"

The researchers found that when the employee had a good relationship with his/her supervisor, however, he/she was less likely to work harder. Despite this, the employee's job performance did not dip. For employees who did not have the best relationship with their supervisors, being given the chance to work from home could be seen as an opportunity to excel and prove to their supervisors that they are assets to the company.

The second aspect of performance that was improved by telecommuting was contextual performance, which encompassed work behaviors, such as being cooperative, helpful and considerate. Even though people who work remotely do not physically interact with their co-workers, the researchers found that their work and job performance helped others. They were also dedicated to their work, which is another component of good contextual performance.

The researchers concluded that even though telecommuting is not the norm, it should not always be viewed as something negative. The team noted that the study did find which types of businesses would benefit from telecommuting.

"Although we found that telecommuting's positive effect was modest, even a small positive effect is a big deal, because a lot of employers assume the worst with working remotely," Gajendran said. "Even if there were no effect at all - if the study found that telecommuting essentially did no harm, that it's no different than being in the office - that in and of itself would be a finding."

The study, "Are Telecommuters Remotely Good Citizens? Unpacking Telecommuting's Effects on Performance Via I-Deals and Job Resources," was published in the journal, Personnel Psychology.