Telecommuting: Tangible Benefits for Organizations and Workers

"Telecommuting: Tangible Benefits For Organizations and Workers"

By M. Richards

It is becoming more and more common for people to do at least some of their regular work from home instead of going into the office. Technology has made it possible for a worker to stay at home but be connected to the office by telephone, computer, modem fax or email. This type of arrangement is often called "telework" or "telecommuting". Since the late 90s, many organizations implemented telecommuting policies as an added benefit for their employees. In an industry where all companies are searching for new ways to do business, and newer ways still to attract and retain qualified IT professionals, instituting a telecommuting policy can deliver significant advantages for both workers and employers alike.

For workers, telecommuting offers the obvious benefits of flexibility in terms of work hours, habits, and styles not offered within the typical 9-to-5 office environment. It is especially attractive to employers who are experiencing lifestyle transitions ─ for example, the birth of a baby, the sudden need to care for aging parents, and so on. Teleworkers say that telecommuting is a boon for productivity ─ especially for workers who live a great distance from the office or must spend hours in traffic each day ─ since once-idle hours can now be spent at work "virtually."

Telecommuting also offers advantages to the organization, according to recent research and first-hand experience from organizations that have taken the plunge. One of the top reasons for considering implementing a telecommuting policy is that telecommuting can be a new tool in an organization's arsenal for attracting and keeping good employees. Telecommuting has been shown to increase employee loyalty substantially. That's what financial services industry leader, Merrill Lynch, found out when it launched a telecommuting program three years ago that was designed to drive employee loyalty and retention. Although weaving the new program into the culture of the company posed some initial challenges, the organization took steps to overcome obstacles by developing a telecommuting policy. Today employee satisfaction is up 30 percent, and both Business Week and Working Mother magazines have named Lynch among the best places to work.

The desire to cut costs is another reason to explore a telecommuting policy. That was just what IBM was attempting to do when it decided to implement a telecommuting program in 1995 for 10,000 sales people who survived company cutbacks but no longer had an office to go to. By having those 10,000 sales people and consultants telecommute, IBM estimates that it now saves $75 million a year. Additionally, employee productivity has increased 20 percent, and 75 percent of the employees involved said telecommuting has improved their morale, according to the same CIO article.

But instituting a telecommuting policy is not without drawbacks and challenges. First and foremost, companies need to be able to trust the employees to whom they give the privilege of telecommuting. If an employee is a good and trustworthy employee on company soil, it's likely that they will be successful as a telecommuter. Similarly, organizations should not expect employees who perform poorly to do any better while working from home. The best defense according to those who have been there is to have performance measurements in place to evaluate employee performance overall, and to judge telecommuters by the same criteria. Rather than having suspicions confirmed, most companies find that productivity soars among their teleworkers.

Other barriers to success in launching a telecommuting program include lack of management buy-in, inadequate technical support, and improper expectations and training on the part of telecommuters and their manager. Companies deciding to go the telecommuting route are best advised to convene a cross-functional of managers and employees to take a close look at the objectives, requirements, and evaluation criteria, and to develop a plan, taking into account the challenges other companies have faced and planning ways to circumvent them.