Companies built from the ground up to either include a remote workforce or to consist of nothing but remote employees … in other words, virtual enterprises … can save quite a bit compared to providing cubicles.
Saving quite a bit isn’t the same as free, though. Among the reasons: While the case law isn’t entirely settled, there’s a pretty good bet the employer is responsible for providing a safe work environment whether that work environment is on premises or in the home.
That’s why, if you plan to allow or encourage telecommuting of any kind, you must talk with HR. Sheldon Bird, Technology Director, Natural Resources Agencies, Maine Office of Information Technology was very clear on this point:
“If you’re on the clock, ordinarily you’re protected by Workers’ Compensation laws, varying by state. If you’re driving your own car to the post office for the boss and you’re injured in an accident, usually the employer’s Workers’ Compensation is on the hook.
“I had an employee slip and fall in someone else’s parking lot walking to a meeting in another office. I had one on coffee break at his work bench slice his cornea with a newspaper while reading the funnies. Liable. OK.
“We work hard to provide a safe workplace. What if you’re working at home and trip over that roller-skate your kid left in the hall on the way to your coffeepot? And if the employer is liable, do you have the right to inspect the home office and lay down rules about where the work is performed, and when the employee is and is not ‘in the workplace’? Are you prepared for that expense?
“More importantly, we are all aware of repetitive stress injuries and good ergonomic design. We spend a lot of money on good adjustable workstations, keyboard trays, monitor stands, chairs, ergo review, lighting, and training. We conduct stretching sessions for VDT workers. What must we do for home workers, both to prevent injuries and to protect ourselves? To what extent can we require these measures as a condition of telecommuting?
“All this means that employers and their HR departments must think all these things through and have clear policies and practices in force. The risks are significant, but even more so for the small employer if the risk of permanent disability is higher than it would be at the workplace.”
Nothing is static. A recurring theme in this series has been the importance of establishing and maintaining personal relationships through periodic face-to-face contact.
And yet, that experience isn’t universal. One of the game-changers is the increasing number of “digital natives” in the workplace. “Digital immigrants” might understand in theory that it’s possible to build and maintain interpersonal relationships solely through Internet-enabling mechanisms. Digital natives live their lives this way — to them, Facebook-based friendships and IM conversations do the job just fine.
In this vein, a few correspondents described their work in virtual enterprises as being entirely satisfying. This seemed to correlate with small companies … it isn’t clear how a company of any size might succeed in fully virtual fashion. Among the challenges — recruiting, interviewing and on-boarding new employees.
Mike Gautier points out that the Federal Government provides a wealth of information on this and other subjects. Search the Office of Personnel Management [http://www.opm.gov] website. Among other documents you’ll find A Guide to Telework in the Federal Government which includes quite a bit of useful information.
Assume for the moment that with a properly designed operating model, strong leadership, appropriate management, and the right technology … in other words, done right … that most businesses could become fully virtual.
That would mean most employees at all levels live most of their work lives through their keyboards and monitors. That narrows the visual field to less than 10 percent of what real-world experience provides, and it’s two-dimensional besides.
That raises a question: No matter how well the business works, is defining the work environment as such an impoverished perceptual universe really such a good idea?
And finally: As an employee, be careful what you ask for. If you ask to telecommute, think through your competitive position in the marketplace first. As long-time subscriber Leo Heska put it, “If you can do the work from home, so can an offshore competitor, for 1/5 the price.”
Once again I’d like to thank the 300+ correspondents who shared their personal experience with all forms of telecommuting, both as managed and managing employees. The information they provided was remarkable, both in terms of its sheer quantity, and its quality.
Alternate translation to today’s Management Speak:
To me, knowledge is power, and I want to keep everyone else in the dark.
“I make it a point to buffer my employees from the burden of too many meetings outside the department.”
BION, I had a manager, 2 levels up, who really meant it. He told us that his job was to get us the resources we needed and to keep our supervisor from having to attend unnecessary supervisor “training.” That’s a little different situation, but the manager, a really modest guy, followed through and didn’t demand the spotlight if he didn’t deserve it. Which probably explains why he never rose to upper management.
“That raises a question: No matter how well the business works, is defining the work environment as such an impoverished perceptual universe really such a good idea?”
I’m a programmer, so seeing the business through my monitors doesn’t seem to be so much of a restriction. I have a very good monitor at home.
“And finally: As an employee, be careful what you ask for. If you ask to telecommute, think through your competitive position in the marketplace first. As long-time subscriber Leo Heska put it, “If you can do the work from home, so can an offshore competitor, for 1/5 the price.—
Working in the office is no protection. AT&T outsourced a large part of their development to IBM who promptly sent it offshore to India.
That’s the reason I no longer work for AT&T. The reason I no longer work for IBM is that they wanted me to manage projects with sponsors in different states than I was in and developers in a different country. I suspect a great project manager could have done it, but I couldn’t.
For those of us who are telecommuters in an environment where senior leadership is resistant and most are working “under the radar” with their immediate supervisor’s permission, we know that worker’s comp is not an option.
We know that we’re easy pickings when job reductions come. We do our best not to attract attention, and that includes engaging IT support. By necessity we become expert in networking, VPN, and desktop client issues, sometimes getting calls from cubicle-dwelling peers who find themselves stymied and want to avoid “opening a ticket.”
If we’re smart, we don’t skimp on the home office just because we’re paying for it. If I had an office, my employer would not be likely to match my home office with an Aeron chair or two secondary monitors.
There are the occasional golfing and shopping “bad apples” (in the office, the same ones who pull out People magazine when the coast is clear), but most telecommuters respond to their situation by being more responsive, more available, and are much less likely to file a frivolous HR claim or ruin their back on a crummy chair.
“…recruiting, interviewing and on-boarding new employees.”
“On-boarding”? Sounds almost like ManagementSpeak. How about “hiring”? What’s next, “go-forwarding”?
Thank you for sharing your experience and thinking for all these years! Your newsletters are always refreshing and interesting to read.