OCTOBER 23, 2000
EMPLOYMENT TRENDS
Making Telecommuting Work | Here's a look at some adjustments -- big and small -- that employees and companies must make
| Tracy Ward knew that she had some explaining to do when her son described her occupation to preschool classmates a few years ago this way: "Mommy works out of her bedroom."
Ward chuckles now but says the perception of telecommuters as lounging around in pajamas all day is as pervasive as it's incorrect. "People think you lucked into something easy if you telecommute," says Ward, who has done her Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) marketing job from home since 1996. Instead, many telecommuters find themselves working harder at first, if only to battle the slacker slur.
Like Ward, many more Americans are holding down full-time jobs from home. It's hard to tell exactly how many because different researchers use different definitions of telework. But Gartner Group, a Stamford (Conn.) market researcher, estimates that about 29.7 million Americans -- 22% of the labor force -- are employed by a company, yet work frequently from home.
PUNCHING IN REMOTELY. Experts say people with such arrangements have more than quadrupled in the last decade, partly because of technology advances -- everything from e-mail to broadband access -- that have made it easier for people to work remotely. A decade from now, as many as 4 out of 10 workers may punch in from home at least part of the time, predicts Jack Nilles, author of two books on telework and founder of JALA International, a Los Angeles consulting outfit that helps companies set up telecommuting.
Acquiescing in this trend often requires execs to revise their thinking. After all, you don't often see senior vice-presidents telecommuting. Even though top execs are adopting technology that allows more flexible work schedules -- dialing in, for instance, from a Maine vacation home -- most won't stop going to the office entirely, says John A. Challenger, chief executive of outplacement company Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
That's partly because they feel a need to personally supervise people and projects. And of course, there's that other need: To get face time with their boss, the CEO. "Senior managers...really feel they have to be at command central," says Challenger.
The first psychological hurdle managers have to clear is the idea that empty offices mean work isn't getting done. Many companies "still [have] the attitude of the assembly line -- the 'I wanna see my people' attitude," says Gartner analyst John Girard. However, "if you look at the average company, about one-third of the jobs don't require a customer interface and could be done out of the office," he points out. For most employers, eliminating one-third of office overheads could add up to substantial savings.
EASY TRACKING. Even so, Nortel Communications teleworking director Michael Taylor says he had to lobby hard to persuade his management to permit distance working. He succeeded in convincing them that it's nearly as easy to supervise, communicate with, and track the productivity of teleworkers as with employees who are physically on site.
About 14,000 Nortel staffers -- 16% of the company's workforce -- currently work from home, says Taylor, and the number is growing at about 1,000 employees a month. He notes that the company hopes to equip 50,000 workers with access from home by 2002. Less than 2% of Nortel teleworkers ever decide to return to the office full time, Taylor adds.
A Nortel employee wishing to work from home starts by filling out an 18-question survey on the company's Web site. They answer such questions as how often employees interact with co-workers and whether their job requires some quiet time. The results are a guideline for staffers and their bosses to decide if the arrangement is a good idea.
Ultimately, the manager has final say, but Taylor says they must have good reason -- such as poor work history -- to veto such a move. It helps that "senior management is very supportive of telecommuting and has made this support visible," he says. "We don't see many cases where managers veto now." In all, Nortel spends about $3,200 in the first year to set up the employee's home office with furniture and a computer.
HOME-WORKING BONUS. What companies like Nortel get out of teleworking is the ability to cut capital costs as office rents in places like Southern California and New York skyrocket. Some experts say companies also get a home-working bonus as staffers, freed from a one- to two-hour commute everyday, give some of that time back to their jobs. It can also help keep turnover low, and in turn, reduce recruiting expenses. "Companies are absolutely using telecommuting to lure employees and keep the best ones they've got," says Nortel's Taylor.
So how can senior managers make sure the arrangement won't disrupt their office or hurt productivity? The best way may simply be to talk to employees about the characteristics that will make them good telecommuters.
Taylor says the best candidates are self-starters who don't require a great deal of supervision. It's also important for both parties to be realistic: If a spouse or small children are at home daily, will that affect their working time? "Telecommuting is not a substitute for day care," Taylor warns. Ideal teleworkers should also have good communication and time-management skills and be willing to be measured by a different set of criteria than office-bound workers. For example, a boss may seek more feedback from a teleworker's clients to ensure that they are still pleased with the work.
FEWER USELESS MEETINGS. At the end of the day, the onus is on the employee to make telecommuting succeed. "It's not for everybody -- you have to be unbelievably reliable so your work doesn't suffer," says Verizon's Ward. For such staffers, the arrangement can be rewarding for both parties.
Four years ago, Ward was working full-time at Verizon's Arlington (Va.) offices, when her husband, a U.S. Marine, was transferred to Southern California. Telecommuting allowed her to keep her job, and she says it even improved her productivity. She spent more time serving clients because she wasn't "running in and out of meetings" that she didn't need to be at, and she completed more projects since she wasn't constantly interrupted by her co-workers.
It worked out so well that when Ward and her family moved back to Arlington last year, her bosses let her continue teleworking a few days a week. Managers better be prepared for more workers like Ward. If trend watchers are right, many professionals will be taking their work home with them.
By Gregg Wirth in New York
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Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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