Employees That Telecommute are the Most Loyal

Posted on September 18, 2007  Comments (3)

In Loyal Employees Stay Home, quotes from the Wall Street Journal (behind a iron curtain still in this day and age – oh well):

“When companies allow employees to work remotely or from home, they are explicitly communicating to them that ‘I trust you to be dedicated to the accomplishment of the work, even if I’m not able to observe you doing it,’ ” says Jack Wiley, executive director of the institute, which is in Minneapolis. “It boils down to respect,” he says. “I respect you and I have confidence in your commitment to the work — to do this under the conditions and at the time you feel will be most productive for you.”

I agree with the sentiment expressed here. And I speak from personal experience that it does make a big difference to me. I have trouble getting some of my work done in the interruption prone office. Working at home allows me some time to concentrate and focus with fewer interruptions (and ones easier to ignore if I really need to focus). If you wanted to hire me (given what I would be doing) and didn’t offer telecommuting options the odds of hiring me are not good.

Related: Five Pragmatic Practices – The Siren Song of Multitasking – Curious Cat Management Improvement Jobs – performance appraisal posts

3 Responses to “Employees That Telecommute are the Most Loyal”

  1. Amy Cham
    September 21st, 2007 @ 1:09 pm

    I’m with you; waaaay more productive at home!

    Incidentally, word on the street is that Murdoch is leaning toward making WSJ’s online content free, following in the treads of NYT: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070918/us_nm/newscorp_dowjones_dc

    Let’s hope so…it would be nice to be able to actually link to the articles!

  2. Scott
    September 25th, 2007 @ 3:30 pm

    I am a 100% telecommuting employee out in the middle of the pacific, in Hawaii. My company is headquartered in Montana, and my closest branch is in AK.

    I find that emulating my ‘old’ workday as much as possible helps in bridging the gap. I work the same schedule as the AK team (6-3 HST). I use IM so I can always be in touch with management. Webcams also help bridge the body language aspect for important meetings and brainstorm/kaizen events.

    My company is great, in allowing this and I consider it a compliment. But, there are ways that telecommuting can get a black eye (not that I or my company is doing that). Just make sure you use all the tools at your disposal to bridge the gaps that need it.

  3. Curious Cat Science Blog » One Sneeze, 150 Colds for Commuters
    December 7th, 2008 @ 9:44 am

    At the busiest stations, one sneeze not smothered by a tissue or handkerchief will provide enough germs to infect another 150 commuters…

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