Home Work

Insurance Journal‘s own Don Jergler recently tackled the controversy triggered when Yahoo ended its liberal work-at-home policy. The tech firm decided that employees who work in offices with others have more opportunities to collaborate and be creative. Retailer Best Buy also said it is having second thoughts about telecommuting and issued new restrictions.

Jergler found that some insurance companies in Yahoo’s own backyard allow certain employees to work from home, and others are exploring expanding their telecommuting programs.

More than half of respondents to an InsuranceJournal.com poll said some agency employees are allowed to work from home on occasion depending on their job. More than seven percent said all employees are free to work from home, while roughly 37 percent said working from home usually isn’t an option.

The Society for Human Resources Management says the percentage of organizations offering telecommuting is growing and urges companies to have a workplace flexibility policy that meets the needs of both employers and employees.

Carol Sladek, work-life consulting lead at Aon Hewitt, says employers should keep in mind that virtual work programs are not one-size-fits-all. “They need to consider how to best balance workforce productivity with initiatives that attract, engage and retain top talent,” she says.

Some believe this sort of flexibility is key to the insurance industry attracting quality talent. “A lot of the carriers now have people working remotely,” says Sharon Emek, founder of Work At Home Vintage Employees (WAHVE) that provides remote staffing for the insurance industry using retirees. “It makes sense. They need to find talent, they need to keep talent.”

Emek maintains that at-home workers are more productive. “They accomplish much more in the day because they have no interruptions,” she argues. “Some people aren’t productive in the office. You just think they are productive because they are sitting in the office.”

John Challenger, of the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, advises that while a particular job may be compatible with telecommuting, not every employee is. Challenger recommends employers take a case-by-case approach.

Aon Hewitt offers questions for employers evaluating virtual work programs including to what extent does the organization emphasize collaboration, and how might collaboration be affected by requiring all employees to work on-site? Also, how does a virtual work option affect employee attraction and retention? Are there tools in place to assess the effectiveness of virtual work, such as performance, engagement, retention, teamwork and cost/savings impact?

In the interest of disclosure, most Wells Media Group employees, including Jergler and yours truly, work from home. It allows us to cover London, New York, Los Angeles and Tallahassee at the same time. Now might be a good time to investigate if telecommuting makes sense for your agency.