Work is something you do, not a place where you go !

Pic credits - https://cdn.smartrecruiters.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/telecommuting.jpeg

Work is something you do, not a place where you go !

Millenials will make 50% of our workforce by 2020. Millenials are reshaping the workplace.  Companies ability to attract, motivate, retain and develop young leaders will make or break your company in the coming years.

After competitive pay and benefits, the top things employees say are very important in a potential job are: “being able to work flexibly and still be on track for promotion” .Workers around the world want the option to work flexibly– without penalty – Ernst and Young study highlights.

There has been numerous studies and research on benefits of Telecommuting. The reward of telecommuting is high: increased productivity, happier employees, and cost savings (which you can invest into building a better business). Then why do we see only a handful of Indian startups and few MNCs adopting Telecommuting work culture?

It is the cafeterias which offer free Wi-Fi, which is the birthplace of innovative, creative products and services as many youngsters, startup founders believe in anytime anywhere working.  Visit any cafeteria in Bangalore and you will witness the energy and passion of youngsters.

On the other hand HR practitioners in large organizations roll out one HR initiative after the other and scratch their brains to engage disengaged workforce.

Telecommuting (work from home or from any other place other than office without being able to commute long distance) isn’t a new phenomenon, it has been in existence for decades. However, telecommuting is gaining popularity amongst startup cultures. Startups know what motivates young workers.

Is Telecommuting a critical tool in your Talent Acquisition Strategy? If not, then be prepared to loose the best breed of talent to Startups which know the pulse of Millennial Mindsets well. Amongst other perks and benefits, flexi –work, telecommuting is offered as a choice to Millennial. It is a tool which startups use well.

Then what prevents large organizations to think about how to make their workplaces more flexible and employee- friendly?  If organization values Putting People First, then do listen to the voice of your customer – key talent in the market. They are demanding workplaces to become bit more flexible. Start at policy level, put telecommuting / flexi-work policies in place.  Commission a project team that will look at several factors to implement Telecommuting at your workplace – 1. Policy angle 2. Manager Enablement 3. Infrastructure requirement 4. Culture Building 5. Collaborative Mindset

But has remote work lived up to the hype? In some organizations, yes. IBM, Automattic (the creator of WordPress),Gitthub and the U.S. government are four good — and very different — examples.

Questions that client ask companies - why are you special? what is different with your talent? What do you do to retain top talent? how are you stacked up against competition? Are you employer of choice for top schools? for women etc?

Telecommuting is a choice that is sought after by talented women folks too. Many talented women drop out of workforce post maternity. Companies are planning to bring them back to workforce and leverage this talent pool. Telecommuting is the tool of choice to engage and attract Talented Women candidates too and make your workplaces more diverse and inclusive. Not only women, many Young Dads too seek this option to work from home and choose alternate lifestyle.

With major shifts in the workplace, such as the large increase in Millennials and the fading line between work and life, remote work will become an even more critical tool for recruitment and employee engagement.

Telecommuting is the #FutureofWork .  Are you preparing a Future ready workforce ? 

Think about it. 

 

90% employees want work from home but 70% Employers are not prepared .Survey of 800 employers https://t.co/FlJX2QL9nH @DPDilpreet #HR #India

— Ruchi (@rucsb) August 17, 2016

Working out Loud - Telecommuting

Hi Ruchi,

I saw your DM, but didn’t find your note in my email inbox. So am sending you this message so you have an id to respond to with the material you mentioned.

Like I mentioned when we tweeted about telecommuting several months ago, I’ve been a skeptic primarily because the engineering function – as I see it - is about face time, about whiteboard discussions, new ideas coming up as a consequence of quality of discussions, etc. There are times when one works alone, and there are times when collaboration can happen with loose touch points. But driver for innovation, imo, are discussions/brainstorming which many a time are unstructured. We in Cisco have access to some really good collab tools .. I believe the best ones available:-) .. and yet not quite good enough to support this level of interactions.

I do understand there are several other roles (and like I pointed out, at times even in the engg role) when working in more structured collaboration environments, loosely coupled teams, well-defined interface points, etc., work very well. And telecommuting is very well suited for these orgs.

And while I do not insist that the individual contributors in my org, I do insist that all the managers in my org show up at work every day. No telecommuting for them unless there’s an emergency at home, or a dire need of some kind. And maybe HR folks will see me as a slavedriver for that:) But then, I believe managers need to be available for their employees. To meet 1-1, to coach, to support in their development, to provide performance feedback on an ongoing basis. And while it’s  easy to argue that all of these can be done remotely, I’m of the opinion that these need the human touch, the ability to read body language.

Okay, I’ve painted myself as an old fashioned guy enough:)

I must say that the HBR article I pointed out over the last weekend did change my perspective slightly. And I know there may be other ways to make this work. Am still in the quest…

Sundar


My reply to Sundar 

Hi Sundar,

Thank you for reaching out and entrusting me with your business situation.

I agree that managers have a bigger responsibility to develop team members, coach them , provide feedback so they need to be in office and interact face to face with team members.
So lets begin Telecommuting with Individual contributors.
In IBM though , culture and context is different. take my case for example , i have met my manager only once in last 1 year .
She is Mumbai , her team members are in Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida, Pune, Kolkatta. So even if any of us go to office or work from home, one and the same thing since our immediate team members are in different locations. We are all part of Recruitment  HR team.

I believe, in today's world, mostly in organizations - employees do Knowledge work, for the final output - both type of working is required . ie discuss work with team members , and then come back  to work individually and build upon the work.

What constitutes work is a good question to ask ?  ( hint - thinking, finding information, brainstorming, consulting, advising, creating, communicating, discussing, meetings  )

Now to make telecommuting work . Few ingredients are required

1. Trust - that team members will remain focussed on their jobs even if they are out of manager's sight
2. Discipline - on part of individual contributor . To set boundaries and make working from home as disciplined as one is in office.
3. Loyalty and Passion - towards job
4. Meaningful work projects  - is a single biggest motivator
5. Techonlogy and collaboration tools - For document sharing, building knowledge repositories, real time chat, conference calls
6. Collaborative Mindset is the key.

After team members have met and working together for a while, one can start to collaborate virtually. As there is enough Trust within the team and chances of communication gap is reduced vis a vis a new team altogether where chances of communication gaps during virtual communication are relatively high.

If a prject team is 5-6 member team,

1. How does team share documents currently ? ( ppt, word documents, minutes of meetings, through email ? )
2. where does a new team member find the knowledge about a team projects ? - through manager or through online repositories ?
3. where can one find process , policy , guidelines documents ?
4. how often is documentation done within a team ?
5. beyond regular team meetings, how often does the team collaborate with members in the organization outside of team
6. who leads team meetings , discussions ?
7. what is the work flow ? who assigns work to team members ?
8. how often team collaborates , meets, brainstorms  on concalls ?
9. does any of the team member , leader currently blog ? ( read - work out loud tweets from John Stepper and Luis Suarez on this concept)


Do a little experiment - Ask one of your project team ( 5- 6 members) to work from home for a week. And record what all challenges they faced during the week .
Then we can brainstorm to mitigate the risks and solve those problems.

I am available at 9911112396 for a telephonic discussion.

Further resources on Telecommuting - Ruchi's Magzine on Flipboard



HBR Article - Do you really need to hold that meeting ?

An open letter to HR Professionals

An open letter to India HR Professionals

 

Telecommuting is the Future of work says Meghan M Biro whose work I admire. The business case and evidence for telecommuting is piling up.  Telecommuting ensures less carbon footprint ( less burden on our planet earth)  , saves infrastructure costs for organizations, ensures higher employee productivity & job performance. 

#Futureofwork  #Telecommuting #Flexiwork @Sairee pic.twitter.com/QwdStyKmYX
— Ruchi (@rucsb) January 22, 2015

Then why do Telecommuting roles are less common in India Corporate Inc ? 

Is it lack of awareness about the business case for Telecommuting,  lack of formalized HR Policy (Read What would HR Policies look like if they were based on giving ) , lack of manager skills to manage a virtual team or general bias towards telecommuters ? 

Talented candidates are seeking Flexi roles and Millenials want Career choices. 

Diversity is a business imperative across all organizations. Organizations are loosing out on diverse talent pool by not providing Flexi work options through HR policies. 

This open letter is a general appeal to HR professionals to consider the business case of Telecommuting in the context of your business, do through fact finding, evaluate and go through an informed decision making wrt Telecommuting.  Whether you are a recruiter, mid level hr professional, senior or C level Executive, you all play an important role to define the Culture of India Corporate Inc. HR Expert and Thought Leader Abhijit Bhaduri says Work from home has been increasing as an acceptable way of working rather than a perk.

Ask yourself few pertinent questions 

1. Am I thoroughly informed wrt Decision making for telecommuting  ? 

2. What role does Telecommuting play to influence the corporate culture in my organization  ? 

3. Do I need to  influence the stakeholders in my organization  ? 

4. What does my business gain by  tapping into untapped & Diverse Talent pool ? 

5. Is my workplace inclusive and diverse ? In what ways can I ensure diversity at my workplace ? 

6. What Skillset do I need to equip my managers with to ensure Telecommuting roles are a success in my organization ? 

7. Am I leading a  21st century organization ? Is the business culture of my organization suitable for candidates who seek out Flexi work options ?
 What cultural changes at workplace do I need to pursue ? 

8. What are the hallmarks of a Culture where Diversity thrives ? ( Read 5 elements of irrestible organization)

9. What do we do to make organizations engaging  for Millenials who want Career  choices ? 74% Millenials want Flexi work schedules.  The burden of lost productivity to disengaged workforce is immense and impacts us all. 78% Leaders rate engagement and retention urgent and important according a Deliotte Global Human Capital Trends research.

10. Would this move build credibility for HR professionals  in the Industry, with the business, amongst its stakeholders  ?
11. Am I creating a culture which makes my workplace well designed to be recognized as " Future of workplace" ?

In India, I am aware of two startups - PlugHR and Sheroes who work with Corporates for Flexi work options . Seek their counsel. Talk to Industry HR experts where Telecommuting is a norm. 

Look forward to hear your thoughts, concerns and comments. 

The author can be contacted via twitter @rucsb


Recommended Reading -

1. Abhijit Bhaduri's take on Telecommuting - http://www.abhijitbhaduri.com/index.php/2013/03/i-can-work-from-office-now-yahoo/

2. Lynda Gratton's Book " The Shift " 

3. Telecommuting Statistics- Global Workplace analytics 

4. 1.2 billion of total workforce ( approx 3 billion) worldwide Telecommutes

5. The Future of work has no boundaries by Meghan M Biro