The Incredible Disappearing Office - The Conference Board

Press Release / News - The Conference Board



29 May, 2012

NEW YORK, May 29, 2012…According to a new report from The Conference Board, the proportion of employees who work predominately from home (or another remote location) has, over the last decade, more than tripled in many industries, while nearly doubling nationwide among all full-time (non–self-employed) U.S. workers. Drawn from a number of recent surveys by the U.S. Census Bureau and private sources, The Incredible Disappearing Office : Making Telework Work finds employees taking more frequent advantage of such workplace flexibility across the board, with 84 percent of employees who telework more than once per month now working remotely at least one day per week. In 2008, that number was 72 percent.

Amy Lui Abel, director of human capital research at The Conference Board and a co-author of the report, explained: “A confluence of factors, led by the rapid expanse of sophisticated, secure, and relatively inexpensive communication technologies, has sparked a quiet revolution in where and how many Americans do their jobs. To take full advantage of the opportunities teleworking provides—while avoiding the many potential pitfalls—employers and employees must engage in an open dialog that establishes the mutual expectations and responsibilities that come with this new workplace culture. Our report should serve as a catalyst for beginning that conversation.”

Not Just for Writers and Door-to-Door Salesmen Anymore

The latest research finds that teleworking rates (just over 2 percent nationwide) remain highest in occupations traditionally associated with the practice—including child care workers (9.1% in 2010), writers and authors (9.3%), and sales representatives (10.8%). The fastest growth, however, has been outside these familiar work-from-home roles, with the most dramatic increases seen in computer-related positions and others reliant on remote access to technical systems. The advancements in home networking over the last decade have been accompanied by huge teleworking gains among records clerks, 5.5% of whom teleworked in 2008–10 (up 516% since 2001–2003); insurance underwriters (4.5%, up 275%); lawyers (2.0%, up 166%); computer software developers (6.1%, up 127%); and many similar professions.

These trends are fundamentally altering the profile of the average teleworker. Where employees of non-profit organizations were most likely to telework in 2000, by 2010 the for-profit sector had taken the lead. It may be unsurprising that workplace flexibility appeals both to older workers nearing (or delaying) retirement and Gen-Y new hires for whom virtual presence and multichannel communication are second nature. Steady technical refinement, however, has made teleworking an increasingly attractive business proposition as well. As a case study, Making Telework Work cites IBM’s long-term holistic strategy, which grew out of the 1970s and the idea of installing access “terminals” in employees’ homes. By 1995, 10,000 IBM employees were mobile, allowing the company to move from a traditional 1:1 workspace-to-worker ratio to 1:4. In just that first year, a $41.5 million investment in worker training returned $74 million in savings.

With today’s significantly cheaper, lighter-weight technology, organizations without IBM’s expertise can now achieve similar savings. It is little wonder, then, that the federal government is embracing the approach. Signed into law on December 9, 2010, the Telework Enhancement Act (TEA) established a framework of identifying and training eligible employees, backed by appropriate policy and support, effective management oversight, and timely reporting; it offers a model not only for public agencies but also private organizations seeking to implement their own telework programs.

Achieving Work–Life Balance when Home is Where the Job Is
In surveys, teleworkers cite a number of obvious lifestyle benefits. With no commute, employees enjoy time with loved ones during precious morning and evening hours. Based from home, they gain the flexibility to adjust their schedules as job and personal demands arise. Likewise, teleworkers often note improved performance and higher productivity, with the ability to focus on work priorities free of the stress of distractions and office politics.

At the same time, this very autonomy can have distinct drawbacks. Teleworkers may feel cut-off from their colleagues and weakened in their ability to influence both day-to-day decisions and larger strategic plans. They often lack sufficient professional and administrative support and fear that being “out of sight, out of mind” keeps them from being properly recognized and rewarded by management. With meetings and group projects more difficult to coordinate, teleworkers also risk resentment from office-based colleagues, who may assume additional responsibilities in their absence. Finally, the same “always on” technology that makes the modern home office possible can mean difficulties setting boundaries between home and work time, setting the stage for potential overwork and burnout.

Nurturing the Telework Ethic

According to Making Telework Work, extensive, proactive planning from the top is key to reaping the significant cost savings and worker-satisfaction gains of teleworking while maintaining organization-wide morale and cohesion. Whether opportunities for telework are reserved for the best-performing employees, promoted across an organization, or used to attract standout applicants from a wider talent pool (such as disabled veterans, semi-retired experts, and parents with young children), leaders must establish formal, transparent guidelines if the “virtual office” is to be a real success.

“Research concurs that the dual lynchpins of effective teleworking are strong management and robust IT,” explained co-author Gad Levanon, director of macroeconomic research at The Conference Board. “With support from HR, managers at all levels must make the ‘mental shift’ to trusting that employees are getting the job done without seeing them every day—and to have the strength to act decisively when they’re not. On the technology side, the right hardware and software choices backed up by abundant support staff can make the difference between a seamless transition and hundreds or thousands of man-hours lost to bugs and faulty connections.”

From these prerequisites, The Incredible Disappearing Office: Making Telework Work offers a guideline for “making telework work.” The report details best practices for:

Building strong team relationships that bring together teleworkers and others

Building a strong community of teleworkers that can share experiences and offer advice online or in-person

Promoting an organizational culture that recognizes the needs and talents of teleworkers

Growing the technical literacy of managers so they “buy in” to advantages of some employees working remotely and can identify potential telework opportunities

Refining performance and reward systems to maximize individual initiative and minimize “slacking off” and trust issues

Creating established no-meeting times or “isolation zones” to ease information overload for all employees

Implementing flexible policies tailored to family needs for retaining talented workers

Integrating support for traveling workers as part of a larger teleworking program

Broadening recruitment to attract talent especially well served by telework

Read this report http://www.conference-board.org/press/pressdetail.cfm?pressid=4498

Do You Know What You Are Feeling? - HBR Blog Network.

Peter Bregman


1:35 PM Friday May 18, 2012

Excerpts:


Simply being able to feel is a feat in itself. We often spend considerable unconscious effort ignoring what we feel because it can be painful. Who wants to be afraid or jealous or insecure? So we stifle the feelings, argue ourselves out of them, or distract ourselves with busy work or small talk.

Unacknowledged feelings simmer under the surface, waiting to lunge at unsuspecting, undeserving bystanders. Your manager doesn't answer an email, which leaves you feeling vulnerable — though you don't acknowledge it — and then you end up yelling at an employee for something unrelated. Why? Because your anger is coiled in your body, primed, tense, aching to get out. And it's a lot safer to yell at an employee than bring up an uncomfortable complaint with a manager.
But repression is not an effective strategy. It's where passive aggressiveness is born. It's the foundation of most dysfunctional organizational politics. And it undermines the collaboration so integral to any company.

It sounds easy to know what you're feeling and express it. But it takes great courage.
How do you get to those feelings? Take a little time and space to ask yourself what you are really feeling. Keep asking until you sense something that feels a little dangerous, a little risky. That sensation is probably why you're hesitant to feel it and a good sign that you're now ready to communicate.

It's counterintuitive: Wait to communicate until you feel vulnerable communicating. But it's a good rule of thumb.

Peter Bregman is a strategic advisor to CEOs and their leadership teams. His latest book is 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done. To receive an email when he posts, click here.



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RELATIONSHIPS - Happiness Newsletter - Lionel Ketchian

Excerpted From May 15, 2012 Happiness Newsletter

Be Happy Zone
By Lionel Ketchian

We have many relationships in our life. I have many great relationships with people who read this newsletter. Thank you for the wonderful relationship that we share. I positively appreciate your interest in happiness.

Relationships are very interesting. You start off by having a relationship with your mother and father, then you meet the rest of your family members. You developed relationships while growing up and making friends in school. You developed relationships at work. Then you find that special person that you want to spend the rest of your life with and live happily ever after. How does it all work out? For most people it turns out that relationships are one of the most difficult things they have experienced.

People think that relationships can cause happiness or that relationships can cause suffering. The truth is that relationships don't cause either one. Relationships can't make you happy, but if you are happy then you can experience happiness in your relationship. People think that relationships can make you experience suffering. The truth is that relationships do not make you unhappy or create suffering. They reveal the unhappiness that is within you.

You are probably saying to yourself right now, "He never met the person I am living with." Well, being right or wrong has nothing to do with it. It does not matter who is right or wrong. What matters is whether you react or respond to the person. The reason we react in a relationship is that something within us is there to begin with. If we get angry, sad or afraid, then the relationship can only evoke the emotion that was there all along to be provoked.

Relationships are a great way to experience knowing yourself. That is what a relationship can do for you. A relationship can get you to really know yourself better that anything in the world. Why does this happen? In every relationship there comes a time when the other person cannot meet the needs and demands that you think you have, or your ego thinks you have. This is when the problem presents itself. At this point the relationship acts more like an addiction than a loving bond. This is the point that you need to learn more about yourself than you ever have.

It is at this stage of a relationship that pain, suffering and unhappiness surface. They were there all along, but the relationship just enabled you to see it. The relationship is not here to make you happy. It is here to help make you conscious. In other words the relationship provides the means for you to realize you have a choice to be happy. The relationship cannot make you happy, it can only awaken you to your potentiality for being happy.

One of the biggest problems for relationships lies in the inability to let go of the past. The other side of the coin is our fear of the future. When we live in the moment we can truly embrace our relationship now. People believe that through negativity they can change their relationships. This it the heart of the problem. Only when you accept the situation in this moment and not resist it, can you have any power over it.

So, if you become unhappy in a relationship you have an opportunity for growth. Relationships give you a chance to get to know yourself and experience growth. The most important relationship you can have is with yourself. Just learn to be yourself. As you get to know yourself better and accept yourself you get along better with yourself. You are who you are, accept it. It does not matter what other people think of you. Self-acceptance is of the utmost importance in your relationship.

Once you have begun to like yourself and have stopped trying to change yourself, then you can finally become friends with yourself. This is one of the most important relationships you can have. Only when you have accepted yourself can you accept other people. Only when you stop being judgmental of yourself can you be less judgmental of others. It is at this time that you can love others as yourself. It all starts with being yourself, your direct relationship with yourself.

Legendary pianist Arthur Rubinstein, lived from 1887 to 1983, and he loved life to the fullest. He once described himself as the happiest person he had ever met. As Arthur Rubinstein once said, "Accept life unconditionally. Life holds so much -- so much to be happy about always. Most people ask for happiness on condition. Happiness can be felt only if you don't set any conditions."

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As Job Market Improves, Candidates Notice - MRINetwork First Friday Preview

MRINetwork First Friday Preview
Volume V, Issue 4
May 2012


In the depths of the recession, as unemployment rates were rising and everyone knew someone who was being affected, “It’s better than no job at all” became a common refrain across the factory floors and offices of America. While it was a poor retention strategy, it was a worse recruiting strategy and now, with the economy on the mend, candidates are no longer falling for it.

“Candidates now know—as much, if not more than hiring managers—that the market is improving,” says Rob Romaine, president of MRINetwork. “Top candidates are getting multiple offers, and those who don’t like what they hear from one employer are more frequently willing to wait for another suitor.”

Employment growth was below expectations in March, with just 120,000 positions added compared to more than 200,000 in some projections. Though, that had followed four months in which more than a million positions were added collectively. The rate of growth is expected to remain decidedly slower for the remainder of the year. However, short of the U.S. economy slipping back into to a major recession—something almost no economist is projecting—the labor market is going to remain competitive.

“It’s dangerous to underestimate the competitiveness of the labor market. Companies are pursuing plans, bidding on business, and making projections, only to later realize that it is taking many months for their internal HR departments to fill the roles and often at higher starting salaries than expected,” notes Romaine.

The job openings rate has risen from 1.8 percent in the worst of the recession to 2.5 percent in February. Over the same time, the hires rate has risen from 2.8 to 3.3 percent, while the separations rate has fallen from 3.5 to 3.1 percent. While the positions available and being filled span almost all sectors of the economy, the bulk of employees being hired share one thing in common: four-year college degrees.


Since March of 2011, total employment by those with a Bachelor’s degree or higher has risen by more than 1 million positions. Total employment by those with less than a Bachelor’s degree, though, has actually shrunk by 218,000 positions. The unemployment rate for those in management, professional, and related occupations has fallen to 4.2 percent, and when you look at more technical fields, the rate begins to approach full employment.

“Candidates have realized how rare a commodity they are, but when an employer isn’t making them feel courted, someone else will,” says Romaine. “It’s not that top performers are demanding the red carpet treatment during the hiring process, but when they have multiple offers, the style of the process can be as important as the substance of the opportunity.”