Getting the Job Done at Home; Telecommuting Can Save Money and Boost Productivity
Is there any truth to the image of telecommuters as pajama-clad, unshaven workers who get easily distracted by child care, personal telephone calls or housework?</br></br>Probably not, according to AT&T Corp., which tracked its employees' telework patterns for the past 10 years. In fact, the company's surveys show that its teleworkers are more productive than those who work in an office.</br></br>Most large companies today have at least a few people who telecommute from home, if not on a daily basis, then with some sort of regularity. With longer commutes, child-care issues, a global economy and, of course, much better technology, it only makes sense to allow workers to work from home at times.</br></br>About 90 percent of AT&T's management employees work from home at least some of the time, while 30 percent of them work completely from home. Other workers have the ability to spend days at home on an as-needed basis.</br></br>But with our new world of widespread telecommuters come growing pains. Telecommuting mistakes can cost companies money, productivity and employee morale, according to AT&T. Its own "casual" study of worst practices (that's such a nice change from all the best- practices research out there) found that companies don't trust employees to be productive, said Cathy Martine, senior vice president of Internet telephony at AT&T. Companies also face problems in that teleworkers miss face-to-face contact. But those companies that don't permit teleworking fall flat during weather or other disasters, when employees could have worked from home, even if they could not travel to the office.