Telecommuting Arrangements Benefit Employers As Well As Employees 

(Published December 8, 2008)

Telecommuting is not a brand-new concept. For years, this flexible work arrangement has been recommended as a way to address employees' concerns about their work/family balance.

When fuel prices rose dramatically earlier this year, telecommuting was touted as an environmentally responsible way to cut down on fuel consumption while also cutting out-of-pocket costs for increasingly money-pinched employees.

And even though fuel prices have gone back down, these arguments in favor of telecommuting are all still valid.

"That's all well and good…but what's in it for us?" some employers may still wonder, justifiably concerned about their bottom line. Human resources management expert Carol A. Hacker, president of Hacker & Associates (Alpharetta, GA), is armed with a plethora of answers to this question. As part of AHI's upcoming web conference, Critical Success Factors For Managing A Remote Workforce, Hacker spells out the various benefits you can potentially reap from a carefully implemented telecommuting policy. Among them:

• Flexible work policies, including teleworking, can attract top-level applicants.
  
  
• You can hire the best talent regardless of where they live.
  
  
• Real estate expenditures and associated energy costs are reduced, due to having fewer people in the office.
  
  
• Offices can be consolidated for even greater savings.
  
  
• There's little need to relocate key employees when company offices are expanding, closing, relocating, etc., or when employees move.
  
  
• When employees move from verbal communications to e-mail or other web-based communications, the company has a better documentation trail.
  
  
• Remote working lets employees expand their workday and operate more productively.
  
  
• Daily workplace conflicts are absent, resulting in fewer employee complaints.
  
  
• As a cost-cutting measure, it can be a way to prevent the loss of good employees who might otherwise be laid off.
  
  
• Adding it as a perk can help reduce turnover if employees become upset with other cutbacks (e.g., if you are forced to discontinue annual raises and/or bonuses).

Besides making the business case for telecommuting (and pointing out the challenges involved), Hacker also delves into the practical considerations of implementing a successful telecommuting program. One key piece of advice: "Don't implement before you're ready. Any technology and HR issues must be fully resolved, or the program will flounder." These issues are numerous, including:

• providing/making sure teleworkers have adequate resources and equipment,
  
  
• implementing tracking systems for payroll (particularly for employees classified as non-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act),
  
  
• creating policies spelling out when, where, and how company-owned equipment may be used, and
  
  
• training teleworkers on data security procedures.

In working to resolve these and other issues, it's essential that you "bring together all the stakeholders," Hacker stresses. "HR, IT, and Facilities Management all need to be involved to manage a remote working process effectively."

To find out from Hacker what other critical steps you should take before you implement a telecommuting program at your organization, sign up now for AHI's live web conference, Critical Success Factors For Managing A Remote Workforce, to be presented on December 15, 2008.