Gain a Competitive
Edge: Consider Telecommuting to Recruit,
Retain Top Talent
BY KRISTINE COLLINS
“Can I work from home?” These words strike fear into many man- agers. We picture our employees surfing the Internet,
interviewing for other jobs and generally
using the time for anything but work.
However, allowing telecommuting for
trusted employees actually can give your
organization a competitive edge by contributing to retention and recruitment of
top talent and making your team more,
not less, productive. Read on for reasons
why and how to make telecommuting
a part of your organization’s business
practices.
Freedom of Flexibility
Employee turnover costs organizations
thousands of dollars a year in recruiting,
training and lost output.
But organizations possess a no-cost
strategy to help minimize turnover of
top talent and reward performers: The
freedom of a flexible work arrangement.
Appraisal Institute’s Chief Executive
Officer Fred Grubbe, CAE, says the organization offers flexibility to attract and
retain talented, quality employees. This
approach also reinforces the organization’s culture of promoting a work-life
balance. Ultimately, Grubbe has found
that happier employees work harder.
Simple math suggests that less time
spent commuting to and from work
results in more time available for work-
ing to serve an organization’s members.
And without the water cooler and casual
visits from coworkers stopping by to
discuss plans for the weekend, more
business hours are devoted to work pro-
duction rather than socialization. Manag-
ers are afraid that if they are not able to
check on employees, then the employees
must not be working as hard. However,
a home office can afford the seclusion
from distraction needed to achieve more
than in a traditional office environment.
By and large, possibly the greatest rea-
son to consider allowing employees to
work from home is that it best fits the
demands of working with volunteers from
around the world.
Tips for Telecommuting
Success
Carey Goryl, CAE, CEO of the Interna-
tional Association of Forensic Nurses,
allows her team to work from home one
to two days each week, and later this
year is shifting to an entirely virtual
office. Managing end products instead
of micromanaging the steps taken to
get there is critical to IAFN’s telecom-
muting achievement. This is a shift in
