Managing Off-Site Staff for Small Business
Lin Grensing-Pophal
Make the move to off-site staffing!
Does your business need more employees but you don't have the office space to accomodate them? Does someone on your staff want to work from home? Do you want to promote a flexible work environment but fear losing profits? Off-site staff may be the answer.
The changing face of today's workforce and workplace means that employers need to seek alternative solutions to accomodate the needs of workers and expand their businesses. Managing Off-site Staff for Small Business provides managers with the tools to set up and mantain a productive off-site staffing program that benefits both employees and employers.
This book explains how to:
Determine whether off-site staffing or telecommuting is right for your company
Assess new and current telework candidates
Train telemanagers and teleworkers
Help off-site staff to cope
Communicate effectively
Set up the home office
Measure the success of your program
Take care of the legal details
CONTENTS
Notice ix
Foreword xi
Introduction xv
1 Telecommuting: What It Is and Why You Need to Know 1
Executive Summary 3
1. The Origins of Telecommuting 5
2. The Terminology of Telecommuting 7
3. The Trend toward Telecommuting 9
4. The Growth of Telecommuting 10
5. Myths and Misconceptions 12
6. The Drawbacks and Challenges 14
6.1 For employers 14
6.2 For employees 16
7. The Benefi ts and Rewards 17
7.1 For employers 18
7.2 For employees 19
8. Case Study 22
101forSMALL BUSINESS
iv Managing off-site staff
2 Getting Started 25
Executive Summary 27
1. Which Jobs Are Best for Remote Work? 29
2. Is Your Business Ready to Manage 33
Off-site Staff?
3. Handling Resistance from Managers 35
and Employees
4. What Resources Are Required? 37
4.1 Offi ce equipment and tools 38
4.2 Safety considerations 39
5. The Characteristics of a Successful Program 39
6. Case Study 41
3 Policies And Procedures 43
Executive Summary 45
1. Policy Considerations 47
1.1 Work hours 48
1.2 Work assignments 48
1.3 Evaluation 48
1.4 Salary and benefi ts 49
1.5 Overtime 49
1.6 Equipment 49
2. Documenting Your Policies and Procedures 49
2.1 Policy statement 49
2.2 Selection criteria 51
2.3 Expectations/responsibilities of off-site employees 51
2.4 Work schedules 52
2.5 Equipment and supplies 52
2.6 Insurance 53
2.7 Employer’s right to inspect workplace 53
2.8 Privacy and confi dentiality 54
2.9 Performance measurement 54
2.10 Company policies 54
2.11 Termination of the agreement 54
2.12 Employment-at-will disclaimer 55
3. Case Study 55
Contents v
4 Off-Site Relationships with Existing Staff 57
Executive Summary 59
1. Working Remotely Is Not for Everyone 62
2. Selection Criteria 63
3. Assessing Candidates 64
4. Traits of Successful Teleworkers 67
5. Perils and Pitfalls 67
5.1 It just doesn’t work 67
5.2 It’s not fair! 69
5.3 My manager won’t let me! 69
6. Case Study 70
5 Recruiting Employees For Telecommuting Positions 71
Executive Summary 73
1. Social media for recruitment 76
2. The Internet as a Recruiting Tool 78
1.2 Effective online recruiting 80
1.3 Using your own website 81
2. Other Sources of Applicants 81
3. Steps in the Hiring Process 82
3.1 Position requirements 83
3.2 Selection criteria 84
3.3 Interviewing candidates for off-site jobs 85
3.4 References 86
4. Perils and Pitfalls 87
5. Case Study 88
6 Training Off-site Workers and Their Managers 91
Executive Summary 93
1. Employee Training 96
1.1 Characteristics of employee training programs 96
1.2 A structure for training 97
1.3 Making it real 99
2. Supervisor/Manager Training 99
2.1 An unnerving transition for managers 100
vi Managing off-site staff
2.2 A structure for supervisory training 100
2.3 Supervisor’s checklist 103
3. Team Training 103
4. Training the Rest of the Staff 104
5. After Training 104
6. Tips for Starting Telecommuters 105
7. Case Study 106
7 Managing Telecommuters 109
Executive Summary 111
1. The Truth about Managing Off-site Staff 113
2. Traits of Successful Remote Managers 114
3. Setting Objectives 116
3.1 Establishing job standards 117
3.2 Establishing goals 118
4. Providing Feedback 120
5. Communication 121
5.1 The technology of communication 121
6. Maintaining Involvement 124
7. Motivating Off-site Staff 125
8. If the Relationship Doesn’t Work 126
9. Additional Tips for Managers of Off-Site Staff 128
10. Case Study 129
8 Program Outcomes 133
Executive Summary 135
1. Measuring Program Outcomes 137
2. Why Alternative Work Arrangements Fail 138
3. Case Study 141
Contents vii
Appendixes
1. Telecommuting Proposal 145
2. Telecommuting Policy 147
3. Telecommuter’s Agreement 157
4. Telecommuting Agreement 159
5. Telecommuting Resources 163
6. Merritt Group Elecommute Program 165
7. Merritt Group Cell Phone/Smart Phone Policy 167
8. Remote Access Permission 169
Tables
1 Percentage of Organizations Offering 21
Various Flexible Working Benefi ts
2 Flexible Work Benefi ts by Year 22
3 Flexible Work Benefi ts by Organization Size 22
4 Assessment for Suitability for Telecommuting 65
5 Example of Goals Outlined for 118
Telecommuting Employees
Samples
1 Common Traits of Successful Telecommuters 68
2 Examples of Job Recruitment Postings 80
3 Sample Outline for a Telecommuting 98
Training Program
4 Teleworking Issues — AG Communication 130
Systems Telework Handbook
5 Managing Telecommuters: Tips for Supervisors 131
Figures
1 Barriers to Implementation 35
Checklists
1 Telecommuting Safety Checklist 40
2 Supervisor's Checklist for Telecommuters 102