Talking Talent

It’s a sign of the times that, as teleworking becomes more popular, companies are stepping up their electronic monitoring of tens of thousands of home-based independent contractors.

The Wall Street Journal reports that employers are taking photos of workers’ computer screens at random, counting keystrokes and mouse clicks and snapping photos of them at their computers. “They’re plying sophisticated technology to instantaneously detect anger, raised voices or children crying in the background on workers’ home-office calls. Others are using Darwinian routing systems that keep calls coming so fast workers have no time to go to the bathroom.”

Peter Weddle, an author, consultant and researcher on employment Web sites, calls the trend “21st Century Big Brotherism” that risks being “horribly intrusive.” Skilled workers “don’t need someone looking over their shoulders,” he says. But while the monitoring can put a damper on home life, many people are so eager to avoid commuting hassles that they see the practice as an acceptable tradeoff.

The article makes an interesting point.  While this sort of monitoring has so far been mainly restricted to freelance IT workers, writers, graphic-design artists and call-center agents, the monitoring itself may speed teleworking growth, because it tears down one of the biggest obstacles to working at home - employers’ fear that remote workers will slack off.

As fuel costs soar and we come to grips with the greenhouse challenge, and as skills shortages continue to bite, we must find creative ways to keep talented people in the workforce - and teleworking is one of them.  And as teleworking becomes a mainstream choice, we’ll find that people shrug off domestic sounds of barking dogs, children and lawnmowers, just the way we now accept that some people hold teleconferences in taxis and write briefs on airplanes and take client meetings in cafes.

I’ve mentioned before that teleworking could be one of the solutions to Australia’s climate change challenge.

This week alone, 32 million Americans could be telecommuting at least one day. They would not drive 1.2 billion miles – which is equal to 51,000 times round the Earth.

Additionally, by not wasting time being stuck in traffic, telecommuters could be more productive for the equivalent of 4 million extra workdays during this one week alone. Productivity improvements, typical for telecommuters, would provide a bottom line benefit to the US economy of $311 billion yearly.

A Canadian company called Teletrips Inc capitalises on the benefits of telecommuting by engaging companies in a work from home program. Companies that allow their employees to work from home can calculate the greenhouse gas emission savings, which are then credited to the employer. Emission credits are tradable on a market and thus earn employers money.

The project offers flexibility for workers, earning potential for employers and a bonus for the environment. For example an employee commuting 40 kilometres could save 8.4 kilograms of carbon dioxide by avoiding one trip to work.

Yesterday I said that “work is not a place” and that with fewer cars hitting the roads, our carbon footprint would decrease. 

Telecommunications provider Telstra recently undertook an extensive report on how better use of teleworking and smart sensors could alleviate carbon emissions.

Telstra’s researchers estimated that Australia can save 2.4 million tonnes of carbon emissions by using video conferencing rather than travel; 4.8 million by managing appliances not in use or on standby and 3.1 million through teleworking options.

The issue to overcome in Australia is that over 60 per cent of middle managers want to see their staff sitting at their desks.

When I joined IBM in 1981 the hit song was “My baby takes the morning train.  He works from 9 to 5 and then he takes the train back home again…”

Thank goodness work isn’t like that anymore!

Work is not a place.  It’s not time bound. It is all about mobility and connectedness, anywhere on the globe.

Sensis’ 2007 survey of teleworking reveals that just 22 per cent of Australian businesses have employees that teleworked. Positively, in terms of business performance, SMEs that had teleworking employees reported significantly higher levels of confidence than those that did not embrace teleworking. Apart from business confidence, teleworking businesses also performed higher in other performance indicators, most notably sales and profitability.

However, this figure must increase.  The use of flexible working arrangements and telecommuting provide opportunities for increasing participation of women in the workforce, governments growing productivity and communities reducing their carbon footprint as fewer cars hit the road and large buildings burn lights and air conditioning plants.

Yesterday’s Federal Budget included a range of measures aimed at increasing productivity and workforce participation, including a $12 million package to encourage family-friendly work practices.

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, said the Australian Government would spend $12 million over three years to support small businesses as they introduce flexible working hours and other measures to improve retention and productivity.

Small businesses will have access to grants of up to $15,000 to help meet the set-up costs of family-friendly policies, such as rosters based on school terms, core working hours limited to 10am to 3pm, unpaid leave for carers or parents of children with special needs, workplace mentoring and family rooms at work.  The program is expected to be fully operational by 2010.

Of particular interest to the recruitment industry, the government will spend $19.6 million over four years (including $400,000 in capital funding in 2008-09) to “strengthen the integrity of temporary working visa arrangements, including the 457 visa program, by clarifying the obligations and rights of employers and workers”.

According to the Budget papers, funding will support a comprehensive information strategy and the introduction of legislation to better define employers’ obligations, increase the investigative powers of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), and develop “a more robust sanctions framework to protect workers’ rights”.

The temporary skilled migration program is expected to exceed 100,000 places in this and the next financial years.

Sick of suiting up each day and tackling the traffic to get to the office?

More and more Australians are choosing to work from home for at least part of the week, saving time, headaches and CO2 emissions into the bargain.

At a conference I attended last year, Victorian Cabinet Secretary Tony Lupton pointed to a study by the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO) which concluded that if 20 per cent of business travel in the EU were replaced by audioconferencing, videoconferencing or telepresence, then 25 million tonnes of CO2 might be saved annually by 2010.

Closer to home, Telework Australia says that having a workforce that works at least partly at home can reduce costs of heating, air-conditioning, car parks and lighting by 17 per cent of salary costs.

And teleworkers are happy workers! In Australia, telework reduces avoidable staff turnover by over 20 percent, while managers report that employees are up to 40 percent more productive.

These results are backed up by an international study by CDW, published in August 2007, found that teleworkers are more satisfied with their current jobs than those that don’t have the option to work from home.  89 per cent of US government employees and 89 percent of private sector employees with the option to telework were either satisfied or very satisfied at work

As we look for ways to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions and minimise our environmental footprint, teleworking provides an answer. Teleworking helps companies get the most out of available resources. It provides an alternative to traffic congestion, office distractions and tying up capital in expensive office space or car parks.

It’s time to get smarter about how we manage our businesses. Technology has delivered the solutions which enable people to work from home - it’s time for businesses to embrace them.