Survey results from 100+ Fortune 1000 companies with home-based employees are in. Not surprisingly, the top challenge for companies is preparing leaders for effective management of telecommuters. The second largest challenge has been reported in
Personality tests can predict on the job behaviors, or they are intended to. And the use of them in customer service jobs is rapidly expanding. 60-70% of prospective workers are tested by US businesses today, doubling its use from a decade ago, according to a September article in the Wall Street Journal.
Two Days of Thought Leadership: November 12-13, Laguna Beach, CA
Nathan Hickman, Director Workforce Management, and Michele Rowan, President Customer Contact Strategies, lead this two-day meeting on all things remote working. Topics are attendee-driven, and will incude the following:
Unversity of Illinois 2014 Telecommuting Study:
Results from a recent study on benefits and limitations of telecommuting was released by the University of Illinois; here's the scope and top line findings:
Meet Nathan Hickman, Director Workforce Management and Technology Planning, BECU Credit Union
Driven by a keen curiousity surrounding physical vs. virtual distance in the workplace, Nathan conducted his graduate thesis at Gonzaga University on remote workers and was published in the 2011 Journal of Business and Leadership.
2014 UK LEGAL "RIGHT TO ASK" FOR FLEXIBLE WORKING ARRANGEMENTS
Until now, only employees in caregiving positions could request flexible working arrangements from their UK employers. But that all changed last month, when the Government got involved.
The change to the law gives all UK employees the right to request flexible working arrangements, as long as they have a minimum of 26 weeks of service.
So what is the UK Government trying to accomplish? Culture change in tandem with economic benefits. Here's what the UK Department for Business is forecasting:
Stacy Lowman, VP of Talent Development for World Travel Holdings, talks for 15 minutes on this webcast about removing barriers to world class remote working.
Remote working is exploding as a result of mobile technologies. An estimated 33 million Americans work remotely for all or part of their workweek, and the forecast doubles by 2016.
Enterprise road warriors are getting more work done now than ever before, with less down time. Flexibility and convenience is driving speed to market at a newfound pace.
For mid and back office support functions, remote working is liberating people to choose their ideal workplace - while controlling or reducing the high price of real estate.
And for contact centers, remote working opens up massive pools of US-based talent, flexible, variable staffing, sky-high employee satisfaction and retention, and improved attendance and productivity.
A recent survey conducted by Customer Contact Strategies by 200+ organizations revealed the following results:
But how do we ensure that remote workers are as engaged, and as productive as their in-house counterparts? Three critical success factors:
Two studies released in 2013 on employee engagement levels delivered a big jolt. Both indicated that nearly half of the work force is detached or not engaged.
I only felt better when