If your workplace does not support employee scheduling flexibility and telecommuting, you are among a small percentage of companies that has not kept up with workforce management trends.

Evidence of the widespread acceptance of flexible schedules and telework was presented in Washington, D.C. recently at the Telecommuting, Remote and Distributed Works Forum.

Presenters agreed that the days of offering telecommuting or flexible schedules as a perk to certain employees are long over. Now, according to conference coverage by the Society for Human Resource Management, those options should be part of the strategic management of every workforce.

Perhaps the most eye-popping numbers were provided by presenter Rose Stanley, a senior practice leader at the nonprofit WorldatWork of Scottsdale, Arizona.

She cited a study by WorldatWork and Boulder, Colorado-based FlexJobs Inc. of human resource managers that revealed a full 85 percent of them include ad hoc telecommuting in their policy handbooks, 82 percent have adopted flexible scheduling, and 82 percent support workers’ requests to work part time.

Another two-thirds of those respondents said their employees can work flexible schedules “at their own discretion.” And nearly half said they believe teleworkers are just as productive as those who come to the office every day.

By embracing employees’ demonstrated desire to telework (80 percent want that option, another study showed), companies ultimately benefit from a more satisfied and productive workforce.

Even better, SHRM reported, speakers noted they can save on real estate and related costs by right-sizing their facilities. With as much as 70 percent of space in most offices now underused, employers are increasingly turning to facilities management software vendors and consultants to determine exactly how much space they need to pay for in this era of increasingly flexible scheduling.

“Offices are vacant 60 to 70 percent of the time,” said Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics. “The employees have already left the building and whether they are nine feet, nine floors or nine time zones away, they’re working virtually. You don’t get up to go talk to the guy 10 cubicles down because it’s easier to e-mail.”

Instant Insights /

Most employers now support telework, flexible schedules

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