“Resist teleworking at your peril,” warns analyst firm Gartner. Based on their most recent evidence they now believe that companies which are slow to adopt flexible working practices will struggle to recruit and retain skilled staff.

Patricia Roehling, a professor of psychology at Hope College and the former director of research at the Cornell Employment and Family Careers Institute, puts it another way. “Studies have found that between 75 and 85% of workers were more productive when working in a flexible environment, and that employers can trim absenteeism by 60%. Workers who are allowed to work remotely report greater job satisfaction and commitment and are less likely to voluntarily leave their job or look for another job"

However, a recent report from the European foundation for the improvement of living & working conditions showed that 40% less Irish work from home than the EU average. Only six of the 27 EU states have lower levels of eWork.

Tony Donohoe, IBEC’s Head of Social and Education policy, thinks that the main challenge is line-managers. “eWorking has thrown the issues of good management into a sharper focus. But we are getting cleverer at managing now in terms of setting SMART objectives and improving communications. All those kinds of management skills are improving and as they improve some of the resistance at line level might dissipate.”

Kate Keenan, a business psychologist, isn’t sure that change will be organic. “A lot of firms put policies in place, but do little to make it work. It is not that they are against staff working from home, but they find the whole issue of working out how to manage people they cannot see inconvenient – it is a whole mindset change for a lot of managers.”

David Forde, the SME manager at Nortel, agrees. “The problem is less about technology and more about perception. There's a perception that if you're ‘at work’ then you're working. However, work is something you do, it's not a place. Around Ireland you'll find many offices that may, at any one time, have only 40% occupancy and are wasting a fortune on real estate because people have this sense that ‘I must have a desk and I must have an office’. And management have a perception that, if staff aren’t at their desk and I don't see them working then it's difficult for me to manage them. It requires a different set of management skills.”

Mike McDonnell, a director of the Chartered Institute for Personnel & Development, believes that, "the key factor to the successful introduction of teleworking is that the culture of the organisation must be one that measures outputs, not inputs. An input-driven organisation values physical presence or "face time". This is what was measured in the past because there was no real requirement for people to give discretionary effort in their jobs, just that they do their jobs."

And Joseph Roitz, Director of Teleworking at AT&T agrees. “Our survey shows that a misconception appears to have lodged in the minds of executives. There seems to be a lingering view that unless workers are physically monitored, they won’t work. Indeed, ‘the difficulty of monitoring output of remote workers’ emerged as the main perceived obstacle to implementing remote working. It is true that managers have to get used to dealing with staff they can’t see”. But as Mr. Roitz says “Telework forces managers to do what they should be doing anyway. There is no reason why, if there is a proper system of setting targets, output will not be managed as efficiently as before. In fact supervising remotely should instil a better style of management by demanding regular communication between manager and remote team member and better monitoring.”

So how do we improve the situation here in Ireland? Gina Quin, CEO of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, thinks that eWorking should be more actively encouraged by government. She suggests incentives such as ensuring broadband availability and affordability (Ireland is currently ranked 23^rd among the member states) and increasing PC penetration by offering zero VAT on personal computers.

Sally Anne Kinahan, Assistant General Secretary for the ICTU wants the government to go much further and to “oblige employers to consider flexible working arrangements”. Similar proposals have recently been raised in both the U.S. Congress and in the U.K. House of Commons. It is the kind of proposal that, according to Behaviour & Attitudes, a Market Research company, has the support of 56% of Irish workers.

Tony Donohoe of IBEC cautions against such an approach, “Pragmatism is the way forward. Benefits must be for employer and employee. I’m wary of adopting any messianic approach for fear of not allowing individual company and employee circumstances to be considered.”

But evidence from around the world suggests that a hands-off approach won’t work. The U.S. federal government has become tired of waiting for federal agency line managers to adopt its teleworking policy and, even though 100,000 of the 700,000 federal workers currently telework, is this year withholding US$5 million in funding from every federal agency not making telework available to all eligible employees.

In the UK, a recent report by Oxford University concludes that “While more and more people want to work from home, the benefits of this trend are being undermined by poor co-operation by both Government and business over issues such as transport and the provision of IT. 83% of workers still believe that it is not possible to work from home. Yet, 65% are “very” or “somewhat” interested in at least one type of telework and 33% of all UK workers regard their job as feasible for home-working for at least one day per week.”

But care is needed. Evidence from the ESRI (Economic & Social Research Institute) suggests that an informal approach to eWorking can be counter-productive. It shows an unusually high incidence of Irish eWorkers reporting an increase in work related stress. The ESRI offers no explanation but too often employers allow staff to work from home without first ensuring that they are suitable candidates for eWorking and that they have all the resources and support necessary to do their job. And when it is the employees themselves who sought the arrangement in the first place they often keep quiet about the problems they encounter.

On the other hand, carefully managed eWorking can reap rich rewards. It can increase employee loyalty and retention. It can be an attractive substitute to pay increases. It increases productivity. It increases the skills pool, reduces absenteeism and can significantly reduce costs. Deloitte & Touche even found that 90% workers were likely to be more ethical when they have a good work-life balance.

The longer that we resist eWorking the greater will be the risk to our economy and our competitiveness. Already, according to CB Richard Ellis, Dublin is the 9^th most expensive city in the world for office rents. Petrol prices are expected to double in the next 5 years; Dublin has the slowest traffic speeds of any city in Europe and problems commuting are the most sited cause of work dissatisfaction (by 52% of Irish workers).

And all this is set to worsen. Add in the ever increasing wages bill and it seems that the time for employers and government to stop and consider the benefits of eWorking has arrived.

Ranald Milne is Managing Director of Tri-Cubic Consultants Ltd., who provide guidance and practical assistance with eWorking.