This book provides everything you need to launch a telework program, improve existing programs, or manage teleworkers more successfully.
Does telework work? Telework, or telecommuting, offers numerous benefits to both workers and the firms that employ them. Off-site workers enjoy flexible schedules and avoid the costs, stress, and wasted hours of workday traffic. For employers, telework is a powerful incentive in a firm's efforts to be considered an employer of choice. Firms that implement successful telework programs enjoy reduced absenteeism, enhanced employee retention rates, and increased productivity. This book provides indispensable guidance in designing the tools for choosing and managing teleworkers—the telework guidelines, policies, assessments, evaluations, home safety inspection forms, sample labor union telework agreements, and advice from human resource specialists and managers who have successfully implemented telework.
Even if you decide that teleworking isn't appropriate for your firm at the present time, the information included in this book may convince you of the soundness of a telework contingency plan, especially in the aftermath September 11. When the unexpected happens, having a telework plan in place can ameliorate the chaotic conditions facing workers who are suddenly displaced from the office. Among the challenges addressed in this book are compliance with the law, ergonomically correct home offices, and remote computer security issues. Replete with valuable resources, including Web sites, consultants, and software, this book also explains how to avoid such primary stumbling blocks to successful telework as teleworker isolation, coworker resentment, and managerial resistance.
Foreword by Timothy J. Kane
Preface
Acknowledgments
It's Broke, But We Can Fix It!
In the Beginning
Keeping It On the Up and Up
Feeling Safe and Secure
Home Away from Home
An Organized Response
Preparing for Disaster
The Implementation Process
Clearing the Hurdles
Appendices
Glossary
Index
Endorsements
In my 15-year involvement as a telework specialist, this is one of the most comprehensive books on the subject I have ever had the pleasure to read....The authors have really done their homework and are not afraid to support their assertions with hard facts....I consider this book a must read for those who are already, or wish to become, involved with telework.—Bob Fortier^LPresident, InnoVisions Canada
Bill Fenson and Sharon Hill have provided managers with a comprehensive review of telework programs of all kinds. The guide is rich in details of successful strategies other managers have used to implement their programs. It provides a wealth of examples, facts, and figures. Thoroughly researched, ^IImplementing and Managing Telework^R is a valuable reference for responding when your boss asks 'How do you know teleworking will work?'—Joanne Pratt, Joanne H. Pratt Associates
