Working Life

Out of Sight, Yes. Out of Mind, No

Well into the work-from-anywhere era, managers are beginning to ask: Are the underlings working remotely...or remotely working?

Yes, chained-to-the-desk mandates seem quaint at a time when we collaborate across continents and carry the office around in our palms. But as more and more people decamp, companies are grappling with how to manage these invisible armies and what kinds of people are cut out to work offsite.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) offers a personality test so workers can determine whether they are suited to solo toiling in pajamas. Among other things, the test assesses whether workers can handle limited supervision. But even those who can require some face time. Researchers at IBM (IBM) learned that if teams went more than three days without gathering, their happiness and productivity suffered. Now managers are required to bring teams together at least once every three days—physically or virtually—for reasons that have nothing to do with completing an assignment.

Managing remote workers is like enabling an ecosystem. Executives at IBM and HP are schooled in setting up ways to gauge the productivity of people they rarely see. The most important ingredient in making these arrangements work: trust.

Sorry, I Composted Your Memorandum

Hot on the green-office trend is Marriott International. (MAR) The hotelier's employee cafeteria recently dumped plastic and paper containers, replacing them with real plates and compostable, potato-based containers called SpudWare.

Paper cups are passé: Employees receive thermoses for coffee, and those caught with a Starbucks (SBUX) cup may get an eco-shaming. Marriott has passed out reusable water bottles that can be filled straight from the tap. Workers can trade in burnt-out regular bulbs, from home or work, for compact fluorescents. The company also has green ambassadors to spread the word on turning off lights, shutting down electronics, printing double-sided, and forgoing paper whenever possible.

Yes, some resisters grumble. But the company says the cost- savings easily outweigh any employee agita.

A Stable of Execs-to-Go

Hollywood has talent agencies. Now the corporate world has one, too: the Business Talent Group. Billing itself as an "executive talent agency," BTG is at the forefront of what management types call the talent-on-demand business. This is the future, writes Peter Cappelli, a Wharton management professor.

Venture capitalists have long kept executives on ice, ready for the next startup. Now, thanks to a volatile global economy and quicksilver business trends, companies also need to tap talent on a flexible, real-time basis. BTG's 500-plus seasoned executives can be placed within five days. The company charges a percentage of salary for the duration of employment, so it's pay as you go.

So far, BTG's stars have ended up at places like Silver Lake Capital, Fox Mobile (NWS), Dun & Bradstreet, Novartis (NVS), National Geographic, and MOCA. Does this make BTG's CEO, Jody Greenstone Miller—formerly of Maveron Capital and Walt Disney (DIS)—the corporate version of Entourage uber-agent Ari Gold?

Edited by Michelle Conlin