For many organizations looking to allow telecommuting, one of the biggest hurdles they have to overcome is, “How do we decide who gets to telecommute and who doesn’t?” Unfortunately, many organizations leave this up to the individual manager because they know the employees the best, BUT that could be the biggest mistake of all!

Let me explain. When selecting telecommuters one shouldn’t start with WHO but with WHAT. What job functions are appropriate for telecommuting, what job tasks are appropriate, what performance criteria should be considered, what costs are going to be incurred and what responsibilities will be assumed? By starting with the “What” of telecommuting as opposed to the “Who”, makes it easier to build the Telecommuter requirements, as well as create an equal selection criteria that can prevent possible discrimination lawsuits.

Looking further into the “What” we can find three main sections:

1. Business Function: what business functions are appropriate- does the job require a lot of face to face time? Are there sensitive documents that should only be accessed on site? What other business units regularly depend on this business unit and in what context?
2. Job Responsibilities: what job responsibilities can be done remotely and what will need to be done on site? What resources need to be accessed and utilized to complete the work and can they be accessed remotely? Is there any special equipment or data sources that need to accessed? Are there any services that have to be covered such as internet or phone and who is going to pay for these services?
3. Performance standards: what are the performance and/or tenure standards that must be met to qualify for consideration and maintain the arrangement? What increases in performance are expected? What performance standards are going to be tracked and what is the employees’ responsibility in tracking these standards?

By looking at the what organizations provide managers with a solid selection tool for deciding who in a more subjective manner. This helps to curb employee “favoritism” and reduce the liability on the organization. Additionally, organizations can get a better sense of what needs to be included in their telecommuting policy (policies) and procedures.

If you would like more information on How to select the right people for Telecommuting please feel free to contact me directly:

Brandon Dempsey
1-888-878-4832
Brandon@SuiteCommute.com