Teleworkers: Are They Connected or Disconnected?

Friday, February 15, 2013

By now everyone knows that Marissa Mayer, the new CEO at Yahoo, has directed that Yahoo’s teleworkers are going to be recalled to the office. Returning to the office cubical may require some Yahoo teleworkers to choose between keeping their jobs and relocation. Mayer believes that recalling teleworkers to the office will increase the “collaboration” among Yahoo’s some 11,000 plus workers. This increase in collaboration is part of Mayer’s plan to rejuvenate Yahoo in the face of other competitors. Like many others firms, telework has proved to be a tool to attractive, retain, and motivate workers to choose between employer “A” and employer “B”. After all, the best talent for an organization may be living in a remote cabin somewhere in Idaho with laptop and a satellite dish.

Certainly working remotely has both advantages and disadvantages, like most things in life. The key to a successful telework practice is how it is implemented and the policies which are or are not designed to support a remote work environment. Giving an employee a laptop, a security key, and remote log-in and telling them to work from home may not be productive for either the organization or the employee. Policies, written or otherwise, must address expectations around phone and e-mail responsiveness, productivity, performance measurement, and the need for regular visits to the office (once a week, once a month, once a year), and security of company and client information. Failure to provide for the organizational, employee, and security aspects of telework will invite a host of issues most organization may not have anticipated.

Security issues along are enough to deter many organizations from attempting telework. Consider the exposure to organizationally sensitive information such as financial and performance records, business plans for new products and markets, client order, credit, and purchasing data. Access to employee and employee benefit information brings another level of risk with the potential for Personal Health Informational (PHI) and Personal Information (PI) exposure. Lost and stolen laptops and storage devices have found many organizations looking at millions of dollars in fine and penalties.

One of the most difficult areas of telework is selecting those employees to work remotely. Not everyone either wants to work from home nor is everyone suited to work away from an office environment. Organizational policies around performance expectation are key to a successful remote work arrangement. How will the teleworkers be measured on their productivity? Can their work be accurately and reliable measured? Are there hours and days that a worker must be available online, by phone, by e-mail, by IM? What are the work products for which the employee is responsible? How is attendance at staff and organizational meetings handled? How are pay, time, and attendance records maintained for someone working from home? Are paid time off policies for teleworkers the same or different than for office workers? When is an accident in a remote location covered by Workers Compensation?

Only history will tell whether or not Marissa Mayer’s recall of teleworkers will aide in the recovery of Yahoo or whether it will hasten its decline. As CEO she is held accountable for both the success and failure of the organization. While CEO’s have much to do with an organization’s growth and decline, having the right talent, with the right skills, at the right time, and in the right place is equally important.