A new study of 10,000 workers by Kenexa Corporation found that employees who telework from home at least on occasion were happy than those who had to put in “face time” every day at the office. I hope managers who still insist on measuring employees by the hours in the office vs. results are reading this. Just because they are in the office doesn’t mean they are producing anything of value. You can have one employee work an eight-hour day and another work a twelve-hour day, and the eight-hour worker can be FAR more productive than the twelve-hour worker. It doesn’t matter how long you’re there; it only matters what value you created in that time. If one “loyal” worker toiled the office all day for 12 hours but played solitaire, bought plane tickets for a vacation, checked their fantasy football scores, and made personal phone calls all day, who cares that they were in the office! I’d much rather let someone work from home occasionally and build loyalty and increase retention and measure that person based on what they produced. Organizations that allow occasional telework allows them to recruit the very best talent. In turn, employees give their best every day and are less likely to search elsewhere where this oppotunity isn’t provided. With the tightening labor market, it’s imperative that leaders reassess their positions around working from home if they want to attract and keep the best workers.
As Mark Sanborn, bestselling author of The Fred Factor, wrote in the Foreword of my book Leave the Office Earlier:
“Too often leaders focus on input rather than output. There are times when arriving early and staying late are necessary, but the real test of an employee’s abilities and commitment is accomplishment. The proof is in the results, not the recorded hours. Today, good employees refuse to sacrifice their family and personal lives on the altar of antiquated employer expectations. If you are a leader, face the facts: you are renting talent, not buying the hearts and souls of workers. You will either focus more on results and contribution and less on desk time or end up with a team of posers. If you are a valued employee, find somewhere to work where your contributions are recognized.”
AMEN to that! Several years ago I talked my boss into telecommuting when he was out of the office. I had a 100 mile commute to and from work so telecommuting was a God send! He agreed and we both realized that I was able to get a heck of a lot more things done outside of the office than in. There were no distractions, no walk by chatting, and no office bs. It was GREAT!