Telecommuting and more

Staffing Industry Review Magazine (November 2008)

A year ago, Kim Ingram said bah humbug to her long work commute and began working part of the week at home. A recruiter for the staffing firm Allstates Technical Services, Ingram was spending two hours a day or 10 hours a week -- the equivalent of more than a full work day -- driving back and forth from her home in Childersburg AL and Allstates' headquarters in Birmingham. Not only was she spending a lot of time in the car, but also she was spending a lot of money on gasoline. So she asked her company about working from home and received approval. Her husband, who happens to be a network administrator, helped her get set up with a home office. In many ways, staffing firms are embracing the modern world of work. Let's take a look at these opportunities for staffing firms.

Telecommuting and Other Top Workforce Trends

Telecommuting is hot right now and expected to become more popular in the future. Right now 16 million workers in the United States telecommute two or more days a week, and that number is expected to reach 20 million by the year 2015, according to Charlie Grantham, executive producer of Work Design Collaborative, a Prescott AZ and Berkeley CA-based think tank that looks at the changing nature of work and how to manage it.

If you were to include people who telecommute just one day a week, the numbers would be even higher. "It is definitely a trend," says Grantham. "It's becoming more and more of a trend given the price of gasoline."

In addition to telecommuting, some other trends that are prevalent in today's workforce and being embraced by those in the staffing industry include flex time, job sharing, mobile technology and instant messaging.

Employers Benefit

From the employer perspective, companies that allow telecommuting find it is a good way to attract and retain employees, many of whom are looking for flexibility in terms of where and when they work. "It's a big selling point," says the Work Design Collaborative's Grantham.

Another benefit to companies is that workers who telecommute tend to be more productive. In fact, studies indicate that telecommuters are 10% to 15% more productive than if they were in the office, says Robert Moskowitz, president of the American Telecommuting Association in Washington DC.

Allstates' Ingram is one of those people who have gotten more work done by being at home. Her numbers are up this year. "I'm not distracted," she explains. "I tend to stay focused. There's nobody there but me.

Mike Fitzgerald, a partner in Winter, Wyman & Co.'s New York technology division who works out of his home in West Hartford CT four days a week, also has been more productive. "Easily, this is my best year results-wise, and it happens to be the year I spent the most time at home," he says.

Jessica Lynch, a senior technical recruiter for Workway who telecommutes from her home in Yuma AZ, says, "You actually end up putting more hours in. Many times I'll log on before 8 o'clock and then stay on until 7:30 or 8." In fact, Lynch says she works so hard that "nine times out of 10 I don't take a lunch."

Eric Edelstein, chief technology officer for The Nelson Family of Companies, who telecommutes from his home in San Jose CA at least three days a week, points out that he can get work done during the time he'd normally be in the car. "It's the time," he says. "When you're a CTO, your time is really what matters. That's really the important savings. Every hour matters."

Each time Edelstein goes from his home to Nelson's headquarters in Sonoma CA and back, it's anywhere from four to five hours in the car, depending on traffic. "It's the traffic that will kill you," he says.

Another benefit of telecommuting to companies is that they can add staff without having to relocate.

In some cases, telecommuting can also allow companies to hold on to valuable people that they might otherwise lose if they didn't offer this benefit. At Kforce, for example, when an HR benefits manager's husband got a job in Hawaii, the company decided to let her telecommute rather than lose her, points out Mike Ettore, chief sales officer. "It enabled us to retain a valuable employee," says Ettore. "It was: Lose this great person or be flexible. She jumped on it right away and it's worked out great, absolutely great."

Embracing the Concept

Atlanta-based MATRIX has 18 people who telecommute, according to Sandy Jess, director of human resources. Most of the people who telecommute are in support positions, operations, IT, finance and administration. At Winter, Wyman & Co. in Waltham MA, 19 people work remotely. Of those, 15 telecommute once or twice a week, and four telecommute full-time, according to Scott Ragusa, president of the company's contract business division. "It's definitely more prevalent now than it was one or two years ago," Ragusa observes.

Geoffrey Toffetti, VP of strategic solutions for ZeroChaos, estimates that 20% of his company's staff work permanently from home. "They come in for a couple of meetings a year," he says. "They're remote workers."

Some people who work from home are semi-retired while others are stay-at-home mothers who want to be reintroduced to the workforce, according to Toffetti. "These are seasoned pros," he explains. "As individual contributors, they're very strong. We know that we can trust them to manage their productivity. We just give them certain deliverables and they get them done."

ZeroChaos has a server-based application called Terminal Services (most people call it Remote Desktop) that allows anyone at the company to work from home. It provides "access to all the applications they use to do their job," Toffetti says. Toffetti personally uses Terminal Services every day to get some work done late at night while his kids are asleep, making him a more productive employee. "I log on at 10 at night and get the best quality work time there is," he says.

Advantages for Employees, Too

Employers aren't the only ones who benefit from telecommuting. Employees find there are advantages to working remotely as well. First, they save money on gas, and in general they're putting less wear and tear on their cars.

They also are able to achieve a better work/life balance. "I think it gives me the opportunity to have a more balanced life," says Anna Noguiero, business systems manager for The Nelson Family of Companies, who started telecommuting when her now-teenage daughter was first born and has been doing it ever since. "Having that balance makes me a better employee."

Employees also tend to encounter fewer distractions when they're working from home as opposed to an office setting. Michelle Allegra, VP of risk management and a certified ergonomic technician for The Nelson Family of Companies, says she can hear cars as they drive by and her dogs barking, but overall the distractions are minimal compared to the distractions she encounters in the office. "The cars don't stop, pop their head in the door and talk to me," she says. Allegra says that if she goes to get coffee, she's "not passing seven people who want to know how my weekend was."

Another advantage to working at home, employees find, is that they can wear whatever they want. "If I'm working at home, I can just throw on my jeans and a top," comments Allstate's Ingram. "Anything that's comfortable."

Ingram, who alternates between working at home one and two days a week, still has work clothes for the days she goes into the office. "For someone who works at home all the time, you could save a ton of money on clothing," she points out.

Employees also like that they can be at home if they have something that needs to be repaired or delivered. For example, Ingram says she was able to be at home when a repairman needed to come fix the air conditioning and also when she had a new washer and dryer delivered. She continued to work away while the air conditioning was being repaired and the washer and dryer were being installed. "I went back in my office and let them do their thing," she explains. "Usually you have to take off work. I didn't have to take off work to go home. That way, you don't have to use vacation time for something that's not fun, and you don't have to miss time away from work."

Good for the Environment

Telecommuting also is good for the environment. After all, fewer cars on the road translates into less pollution. "Society benefits from telecommuting because it immediately cuts down on air pollution, use of nonrenewable energy sources and traffic congestion," comments the American Telecommuting Association's Moskovitz.

Adds Rich Thompson, VP of training and development for Adecco: "Telecommuting is a great way to go green. There are some companies that have offered telecommuting as an option in their part to go green. It's a great perk to offer because it has multiple benefits, not just to the employee and the employer but to the environment."

Be Sure to Set Goals

In order for telecommuting to be effective, it's important for employers and employees to set goals, and then track those goals to make sure they are being met, points out Peter Burki, CEO of employee benefits organization LifeCare Inc. "If you set yourself up that way from the very beginning, it certainly helps," says Burki.

Telecommuting certainly isn't for everyone. In order to do it, you have to be a self-starter. You have to be self-motivated and self-disciplined, or it's simply not going to work. "You have to be a lot more disciplined to be a telecommuter," says Adecco's Thompson, who works remotely two days a week. "You can't find yourself watching Oprah. You have to mentally behave as if you're going into the office."

Disadvantages to Telecommuting One disadvantage to telecommuting is that you don't get any face-to-face interaction with your colleagues. "I miss the morning coffees with my team," says The Nelson Family of Companies' Edelstein. "I miss the joking and camaraderie. We certainly have some of it via email and messaging systems, but it's not the same thing."

Winter, Wyman's Ragusa says people from his company have tried telecommuting and then come back to the office because "they miss that face-to-face time."

Those who telecommute can feel isolated. "You have to make extra effort to stay in touch with people in the office, stay connected and find out what's going on," says Sandy Lowe, VP of consulting for Veritude, who telecommutes from her home in Lake Champlain in upstate New York. Says Winter, Wyman's Fitzgerald: "Solitude is solitude. There can definitely be moments where you miss the buzz of the office."

Some telecommuters find it's difficult to leave their work, since it's always right in front of them. "There's really no 9 to 5 type of thing," comments The Nelson Family of Companies' Allegra. "It's always right there."

It's also possible to get distracted by family members if they happen to be home while you're trying to work. Or perhaps you see all the work that needs to get done in the house and start doing that instead of the work for which you are getting paid.

Television can be a distraction as well. "You've got to stay away from the TV, definitely," says Workway's Lynch. "You end up making boundaries for yourself, like the TV doesn't go on between 8 and 5."

Some Have a Telecommuting Policy, Some Don't

When it comes to allowing staff to telecommute, some staffing companies have a formal policy while others do not. At Allstates, you need to be in a recruiter or business development/sales role and to have been in that position for least one year before you can work remotely, according to President Andrea Hopkey. Those who qualify are allowed to work from home one day a week and receive a laptop, PDA, software and materials needed to create their personal satellite office.

Allstates' telecommuting policy has been well received, according to Hopkey. "Approximately 80% of eligible employees have opted to use this policy. I think this new initiative focuses on retention and sends several positive messages to our employees, including that we take work/life balance seriously and, under defined and mutually agreeable terms, we will do everything we can to make sure they succeed in their professional and personal lives."

Some staffing companies, lacking a formal telecommuting policy, simply let managers or supervisors decide whether or not someone should be allowed to work remotely.

At Winter, Wyman for example, "Those who are interested [in telecommuting] simply need to talk with their manager who will make a decision based on their performance," explains Ragusa.

Kforce operates much the same way. "It's really between the person and their immediate supervisor," says Ettore. "We apply as much flexibility as we can."

Most companies, whether they have it as a formal policy or not, generally don't allow someone to telecommute until they've been working there for a while, usually at least a year. That's because they view telecommuting as a privilege that an employee isn't entitled to until he or she has demonstrated that they're a top performer and will work well in an out-of-office environment.

Flex Time Works for Some

Some companies give staff the option of working on "flex time." People who take advantage of "flex time" put in a full 40 hours a week; they just don't work traditional business hours. Some come in early and leave early; others come in late and leave late.

Others work longer on certain days of the week and then take a day off. At ZeroChaos, for example, many people in the company's payroll department work 12 hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and then take Friday off, says Toffetti.

And at Kforce, some staff work 10 hours, Monday through Thursday, and then take Friday off. "We have some people doing four 10-hour days," says Ettore.

The four-day work week doesn't seem to be something that's unique to the staffing industry: In Utah, for example, all state workers are now working longer Monday through Thursday and taking Friday off. "You can't get a driver's license in Utah on a Friday," says Peter Weddle of WEDDLE's, a research, publishing and consulting firm.

Job Sharing Another Option

Some staffing companies have a job-sharing program that allows two people to share a job, which provides each with a little more flexibility. MATRIX has had a job-sharing program since 2000, according to Jess. MATRIX extends full benefits to those who job share even though they are not working full-time. In order for job sharing to work, both people have to be compatible. They have to look at their personality styles and make sure there's a match. Those who job share need to make sure they choose a partner who is responsible and will do their full share of the work. "You're depending on someone else, and the other person is dependent on you," Jess points out.

MATRIX has found that allowing staff to job share can actually boost productivity: Jenniffer Clark and Meg Abstein were named "Recruiter of the Year" in 2007 after just one year of job sharing at MATRIX. Together, they generated the most revenue of any recruiter.

Clark and Abstein swap entire weeks: One week Clark will work Thursday through Wednesday and the next week Abstein will work the same days. They introduce themselves as one recruiting team and have one email address. They also have the same telephone number and the same voicemail.

The two women, who are both mothers, say job sharing has worked well for them, and they plan to continue with it. "So far there's no motivation not to continue doing it," says Clark. "We have no plans to change it right now."

Mobile Devices Popular, Companies Help Foot the Bill

The use of mobile technology is another workforce trend. Today workers are using a variety of mobile devices -- everything from BlackBerries to laptops to cell phones -- to stay connected to work when they're out of the office. And many companies, recognizing that these devices are being used for work and that they boost productivity, are offering to help foot all or part of the bill. "A lot of companies pay for somebody's CrackBerry or iPhones," says Weddle of WEDDLES. "That's been going on for a couple of years now."

At ZeroChaos, all client-facing employees have a BlackBerry, according to Toffetti. "We want them to be able to meet client needs," he says. ZeroChaos pays for both the BlackBerry itself and the monthly service. According to Toffetti, there haven't been any problems with staff making personal calls on their BlackBerries. They know it's for business and use it for that, he says. Most people have personal cell phones and use them to make personal calls instead of using their BlackBerries, he explains. Those in management positions and salespeople also have a laptop "to ensure that wherever they go, they still have the ability to meet client needs," says Toffetti.

The Reserves Network, based in Fairview Park OH, reimburses primarily managers and account executives for their cell phone service, as long as the phones are being used for company purposes, says Neil Stallard, executive VP and chief operating officer. "A lot of people are on the road a lot," says Stallard. "That's how they stay connected."

Instant Messaging Keeps Everyone Connected

Instant messaging is another workforce trend. "It is a very effective tool," says Winter, Wyman's Ragusa, noting that recruiters instant-message candidates, and account managers instant-message clients. "We dabbled in it two years ago. This past year, it's really gained momentum. It's real time. It's basically the best way to get ahold of people."

"Instant messenger is one of the tools we use every day," explains Workway's Lynch, mentioning that she uses it to get back to other recruiters and supervisors. "I always have it up and set to pop out in front. Instant messenger is the best method to get in touch."

Lynch says she likes that "you hit all of the people real time, right away. Email is great, but there is that lag, and it forces you to go into that message."

Today, companies are focusing more on results rather than the process. Their number one concern is simply making sure that staff are doing the work that needs to get done; where and how it gets done have become less of a priority. By allowing employees to take advantage of telecommuting, flex-time, job sharing, mobile technology and instant messaging, companies are discovering that not only are their workers happy and appreciative, but also they get a lot done, even though they're not necessarily in the office or working a traditional 8- or 9-to-5 schedule. The flexibility that today's companies are demonstrating is going to help them to win in the changing world of work.

For additional information on The Reserves Network and its affiliates,  please contact: Brandon Thimke, communications manager, at bthimke@thereservesnetwork.com.