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did you know?

Nearly 60 percent of workers believe that telecommuting at least part-time is the ideal work situation.

IBM saves $700 million in real estate costs by allowing 25% of its worldwide employees to work from home.

wise words we heard

Businesses that ignore the possibilities offered by emerging technologies risk becoming dinosaurs.

virtual work

Virtual workers are defined as people who work from home, from the road, from anywhere that isn't a traditional office. The common denominator for all virtual workers is that they communicate and perform work duties almost entirely through electronic technology. Going virtual makes sense for many workers, not just the people you see plugging in at coffee shops around the globe: Gen Yers just starting out, older workers phasing into retirement, people who need a custom-fit because they have restricted physical abilities or live in remote geographic locations, or two-job families where being close to both jobs is impossible. High- and low-wage employers have found moving to virtual work productive and profitable. Call centers, sales teams, individual consultants - even entire organizations - have all found this new way of working to be virtually perfect.

Virtual work can create a more robust business overall, as it has been shown to cut workplace costs and produce more satisfied, productive employees.

Advice for Employers

Adopt a performance-based management philosophy. Look more at results and less and whose car is in the parking lot.

Use technology in innovative ways to promote team building. Consider going beyond the basics of phone and email in order to help create a close group and help workers connect. Set up a community home space featuring pictures and profiles of team members, a discussion board, a team calendar, or a chat room.

Show respect. This might mean being sensitive to members who speak English as a second language, or paying attention to language and cultural differences, business protocols - even time zones.

Design fair and consistent guidelines for who can take advantage of virtual work.

Meet in person, too. Many companies that adopt virtual work also have regular retreats or in-person check-ins. This promotes team cohesion.

Remember that workers cannot be available 24/7 and will need boundaries to make virtual working successful for both themselves and the business.

Advice for Workers

When making a case for a flexible work arrangement, cite the business benefits of higher productivity, less time lost commuting, worker loyalty, decreased absenteeism, improved health and sometimes reduced real estate costs. (See Studies and Research)

Create an expectation of clear work/life boundaries. Just because you are now connected to work at home or on vacation doesn't mean you should be online 24/7. Clarify what will work well for you and your employer.

Be realistic but open-minded about virtual work's plusses and minuses. While it fits well with some jobs, virtual work isn't a good fit for others.

Consider stepping up the frequency of communication. This can mean checking the team's calendar or sending an email after every phone conference to document and confirm the action plan. Find out what will make this work well for everyone.

What About Me?

Submitted on Tue, 2011-03-15 04:00

The Huffington Post recently named the growth of workplace flexibility at Fortune 500 companies as one of the top stories of the last decade. That’s no surprise if you look at corporate data. A recent survey of CEOs found that the #1 investment challenge facing business in the next decade is “obtaining human capital and optimizing human capital investments,” and that the #1 driver for attracting and keeping this talent is “providing flexibility to balance life and work.”

Firms of all sizes now promote creative options like telecommuting, paid leave and career breaks. It seems every day we read about a new company or industry that embraces workplace flexibility. This isn’t because these companies are run by nice people. It’s because study after study has shown that giving employees flexibility in where, when and how they work is good for a business’s bottom line.

Yet whenever we talk about workplace flexibility, the majority of American employees still ask, but what about me?

Whenever there is a story in the papers about workplace flexibility, most people read it and say, “that sounds great — but how come I don’t have it?” This weekend The New York Times looked at the growth of workplace flexibility in the notoriously grueling accounting industry. The article cited many real-world examples of accounting firms that have come to realize it helps — not hurts — the company’s productivity levels to give employees options like part-time careers, unpaid summers off, or the ability to plateau or dial down their career for a finite period, without jeopardy or stigma. Yet almost all of the comments onThe New York Times Web site read like this:

“This has got to be an April Fools joke. There is no flexibility at big 4 accounting firms. They advertise flexibility, they don’t practice it…. When I worked at a big 4 accounting firm, you’d get dirty looks if you were to dare leave the office before 6pm. That is not flexibility”

“I can tell you, it’s not really like this. Many audit teams have mandatory 60+ hour weeks plus weekends. And if you’re productive and get your work done quickly, they will reward you with someone else’s work.”

“I know they talk the talk but I agree with a couple of other posters here, it’s just that, talk, at least for the vast majority of employees. I worked at a Big Four for 7.5 years (until 2005, still pretty recent) and it was all about face time and having your posterior in the chair. They certainly like to make examples of some people who get those flex benefits, etc. without repercussions, but the reality for the rank and file is quite different.”

There is apparently a big flexibility gap this industry, with a lot of people saying “hey, why not me? Where’s my flex?” But the gap is not limited to the accounting industry. Recent research shows that while 80 percent of workers want flexibility, only about a third have it. So if employees want flexibility and employers know that it works, then where is this flexibility gap and resulting unevenness coming from?

In large part it is coming from the fact that firms are not putting their money where their mouth is. We know that a major barrier to implementing flexibility stems from the behaviors of middle managers or supervisors who may not be aware of flexibility policies, or may feel that they are stretched thin and cannot see how to provide flexibility without it being a zero sum game. Educating and training supervisors on how to implement flexibility is important. But if corporate efforts with diversity are any guide, training will go only so far. What most effectively brings about change is accountability: when managers and supervisors are held accountable for results.

If managers are held accountable during their annual reviews for how well and how fairly they implement flexibility to achieve business ends, we will then see unevenness dissipating and the flexibility gap closing. Companies that want to say they are truly walking the walk on workplace flexibility (and reap the business benefits) can’t just offer flexibility to some workers — they need to set up a system of accountability so that everyone is able to find some flexibility.