How to win your case for telecommuting
Posted: Friday, April 4 2008 at 04:16 pm CT by Bob Sullivan
With gas prices soaring toward $4 a gallon, a solution seems obvious: skip the commute. U.S. drivers travel an average of about 15 miles, one way, to work. Working from home a few days each week would be the quickest route to relief at the pump. It would ease pressure on clogged roadways, too.
But telecommuting appears to be stalled in the driveway.
Once considered the rightful inheritance of the 21st Century workforce, teleworking has barely made a dent at many companies. Even the most generous statistics indicate only about 20 percent of employees "telework," a number that has barely doubled in the past decade, according to research firm Gartner. And that's using a very broad definition of telecommuting -- those who perform regular work duties remotely at least one day each month. When the data is constrained to once-per-week telecommuters, only about 9 percent of Americans qualify.
Making matters worse: The long-promised watershed moment for telecommuting may have already come and gone, not with a bang but a whimper. According to Gartner’s data, the number of teleworkers spiked about 50 percent from 2002-‘04, likely paralleling the widespread availability of cheap broadband to the home. Growth has slowed to a trickle now, about 2 percent each year, barely more than the increase in the general workforce population.
That's a disappointment after years of tax incentives, clean air campaigns, and software designed just for stay-at-home employees.
"Frankly there are still a lot of trust issues," said Andy Lausch, who co-authored a telecommuting study recently for CDW Corp., which supplies work-at-home technology to major U.S. corporations. That study found even lower telecommuting rates than Gartner, suggesting only 14 percent of private employees say they ever work from home. "One respondent said to us, ‘My company has a policy that if they can’t see you, you probably are not working.' We need to be candid and honest about these issues," he said.
But mistrust is only one issue, Lausch said. Another major stumbling block is jittery computer security managers who are nervous about losing control of their network. Every employee who can access the corporate network from home represents another security risk.
"The good news is there are robust technologies now that can alleviate those security concerns," he said.
Employees deserve some blame, too, Lausch said. Many are unaware that their organizations already have teleworking policies in place. In the CDW study, 25 percent of private-sector workers said they didn’t know if they were eligible for telecommuting. Some of that "ignorance" may be intentional, Lausch said.
"Some workers have a not-so-positive view of telecommuting," he said. "Some really like the communal aspect of going to work." Others look at their Blackberry-burdened co-workers and cast a suspicious eye at teleworking arrangements. Switching a day at the office for a day in PJs is one thing; adding the ability to work at night and on weekends is another.
In fact, the blending of work and home makes it harder for telecommuting researchers to quantify just how common true work-at-home arrangements are. The relevant point at the moment, however, is how often these arrangements save employees at the gas pump. Joey Ledford, spokesman for Atlanta’s Clean Air campaign, said high gas prices are convincing some people to stay at home on weekdays.
“Gas prices are driving people to look for alternatives to the commute,” Ledford said. “But it’s too early to see that as a trend.”
Atlanta, with some of the nation’s worst traffic, actively encourages work-at-home arrangements. Employers can get a $20,000 tax credit for staring a telecommuting program, and a $1,200 credit for each employee who stays off the roads one day each week. But even in Atlanta, where the average drive to work is 20 miles, only 10 percent of workers telecommute every week. That’s a bit frustrating for Ledford -- keeping 2,500 employees at home for one day keeps 100,000 miles worth of car exhaust out of the air.
A major sticking point for employers is the squishy return on investment they get for implementing telecommuting programs. While the benefits to employees are obvious -- no fighting with traffic, the recovery of up to three hours each day, not to mention sanity -- what do employers get? They're often promised productivity gains, but these are hard to measure. So is employee retention, often telecommuting's biggest selling point. Even tax benefits granted by states and municipalities aren’t always clear.
But Lausch is optimistic. Younger employees who live their lives on the Web are demanding remote work arrangements, he said, and they may yet cause a radical shift in the workplace.
"I think we will see a perfect storm of financial incentives like gas prices, younger people directing technology teams, green initiatives, (technology) solutions. Wrap all that together, and that is making this (subject) get a lot of attention now," he said.
RED TAPE WRESTLING TIPS
Talking your boss into a telecommuting arrangement can be a tricky conversation. For help on how to do that, I called Tim Ferriss, author of the No. 1 New York Times best seller The Four-Hour Work Week. Ferriss has become the de facto spokesman of remote work arrangements. His over-arching principle is to make a business case ("Here's why this profits the company") not a personal case ("I hate my commute.") That'll make it much easier for the boss to say yes.
His specific tips:
--Make it an easily reversible decision: Suggest a very brief trial period for working at home -- perhaps two days during the next month. Promise a thorough review when the month is over, and profess a willingness to scrap the plan if it doesn’t work. That will make saying yes less risky for your boss. It also sets up the next tip.
--The "puppy dog ploy:" Every salesman knows this one. Picture the salesman at the pet store saying, "Just take him home for a day, and if it doesn't work out, bring him back." No one ever brings back a puppy. Once you get a foot in the door (or rather, out the door) it will be much easier to take telecommuting to the next level. After a month passes, document how productive you are, and slowly increase the amount of time you spend out of the office.
--Suggest a Wednesday: If you ask for a Monday or a Friday to telecommute in your first foray, Ferriss said, that will sound too much like you simply want a three-day weekend. By offering up a middle-of-the-week day, your request sounds more like a business proposal.
--Don't give up: Here's an offer your boss can't refuse. Offer to work extra from home a couple of Saturdays during the next month, free to the company. What boss would say no to that? Then, document how productive you are. Include things like the lack of interruptions by co-workers. Taking the initiative will impress the boss and being productive will make your case hard to refute.
--The reverse strategy: In your next round of salary negotiations, ask for travel expenses. You won't likely get them, but you will have a fall-back point to offer -- less commuting. You will also have made a point about gas expenses.
--Remember, bosses are people: They have to justify their decisions, too -- both to their boss, and to your peers. Don't make it hard for them. Understand their fears and challenges. “If you ask for a personal perk, they'll have to give it to everyone else,” Ferriss said. Instead, hand the boss a rational business decision she can defend. Even if your ultimate motivation is a cheaper gas bill, frame the conversation as a good-for-the-bottom-line strategy and you’ll dramatically increase your odds of success.
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