Consider Telecommuting
I’ve been wondering about telecommuting lately. Why don’t more employers take advantage of this low-cost benefit that builds employee morale and increases productivity?
About 10 years ago, I was fortunate to work for a forward-thinking manager. When I needed to strike a better balance between my work life and my family life, he offered me an opportunity to work from home on a part-time basis. I didn’t realize at the time that I was among the few, if not the only, employee at the company who was “telecommuting.”
I spent the next 10 years working from home, sometimes just a day a week, other times I was working at home the entire week. My personal situation, my meeting schedule and the availability of a desk a the office were frequently among the factors that determined where I was on any given day.
The Benefits to Me–the Employee
In addition to the fact that I didn’t have to find a new job, and I saved money on clothing (yes, I did spend some days in my bunny slippers and PJs) and gas, there were benefits that were, as the MasterCard commercial says, “priceless.”
Flexibility. As a telecommuter, I enjoyed the flexible schedule. I could be at home, keeping an eye on teenagers in the afternoon and work while they were at school or soccer practice or were doing homework after dinner. I was known to work some crazy hours (my co-workers would tell you about receiving 3 a.m. emails from me), but it worked for me and my family.
Less Stress; Greater Concentration. With telecommuting, I wasn’t worried as much about my sons because I was spending more time with them, which meant I could concentrate on work when I was working. Plus, I had fewer interruptions, which meant I had longer blocks of time for writing.
Less Chatter. Let’s face it, we sometimes waste time in the office. Joe stops by to ask about a project. We talk about that, but soon the conversation veers toward what we did over the weekend. With telecommuting, that’s cut to a minimum since you have to make a phone call, IM or text to have a conversation.
Trust. When I was given the opportunity to telecommute, I knew that my managers trusted me to get my job done, whatever it took. They were paying me to develop communication plans and to write, edit and distribute those communications on time. As long as I delivered satisfactorily, I could continue to telecommute. Because of that trust, I made sure I upheld my end of the agreement.
Benefits to the Company
Retention. My company retained a good, experienced employee they otherwise would have lost. They retained the time and training they’d invested in me and avoided spending time and money to replace me.
Increased productivity. Less stress, more concentration and less chatter all result in greater productivity. In addition, because I felt I had to live up to the expectations of my managers, I gave them 110% in return for the trust they placed it me.
Low-cost. This is a low-cost benefit. There’s the time the company should spend developing a solid telecommuting policy. And depending on the need and what the company is willing to provide, there may be additional investments in equipment, but compared to other benefits, the cost of this is minimal.
It’s Not for Everyone
Telecommuting doesn’t work for every company, for every job or for every individual. If you’re a member of the Society of Human Resources Management (www.shrm.org), they’ve got some great resources for creating telecommuting policies and agreements, as well as lists of the kinds of jobs that are suited for telecommuting (not tellers, dock workers or retail clerks, but certainly word processors, analysts and designers).
I suggest that employers explore the options. Not every employee wants to telecommute and not all of them are suited for it (self-motivation, responsibility and job knowledge are among the traits of a good telecommuter). Offer an employee a “trial run” to see if telecommuting will work. Just don’t say “no” without considering the benefits.
[...] The Benefits Are “Priceless” Posted on July 8, 2010 by teamdynamic It is easy to say that telecommuting benefits the employers and the employees in many different ways. It is great to show studies and evidence that employees are happier and employers retain their workforce by telecommuting. However, it is impressive to have a first-hand account of how telecommuting changed one person’s life and the company she worked for. In this article a woman urges companies to consider telecommuting options by describing her experience as a telecommuting employee and the impact she saw it make on the company she worked for. Consider Telecommuting. [...]