Management

As Telecommuting Debate Rages, Aetna Sticks by Big At-Home Workforce – Insurance & Technology

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In 2012, 63 percent of companies allowed employees to work some hours from home compared with 34 percent in 2005, according to the National Study of Employers, which was produced by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Families and Work Institute.

A 2010 survey by SHRM, the human resources industry’s largest trade group, said that providing flexible work arrangements such as telecommuting, part-time work and phased-in retirement was the best way to attract and retain the best workers. And 20 percent of companies allow workers to work full-time from home.

Of health insurer Aetna’s 35,000 employees, 14,500 do not have a desk at Aetna, a move that the company’s top executives, CEO Mark Bertolini and national business chief Joseph Zubretsky, have said helps cut costs in real estate.

via As Telecommuting Debate Rages, Aetna Sticks by Big At-Home Workforce – Insurance & Technology.

HT – Hank George

Change This – Lay Off Your Buildings, Not Your People!

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Change This – Lay Off Your Buildings, Not Your People!.

It amazes and disappoints me that we treat humans more poorly than we do our buildings.
We treat them as more fungible. Our building leases are for set periods of time, and we can’t
get out of them, so we lay off our people and keep the buildings. There’s always a mismatch
in that businesses are continuously looking for talented people, but in tough times they have too
many people in aggregate, and in boom times they lose a lot of business opportunity because
they don’t have the bodies on hand to capture it. There’s a better way to address this challenge:
being less reliant on physical buildings, which will enable a more elastic workforce.

 

 

New Research: What Yahoo Should Know About Good Managers and Remote Workers – E. Glenn Dutcher – Harvard Business Review

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We found that individual effort was highest in the 100%-in-house teams. The addition of remote workers reduced the in-house workers’ exertion.

And why did the in-house people reduce their effort when a teleworker was added to the team? Because they believed that the teleworkers were less productive. Which wasn’t true, by the way. We found no evidence that the teleworkers were shirking.

The implication is that teams containing teleworkers would benefit from knowing that remote members are working just as hard as everyone else. Managers can play a role in this, providing data about teleworkers’ productivity. Our research indicates that if team members know that all other members are working hard, the negative effect of including teleworkers in teams goes away.

So companies don’t have to get caught in a tug-of-war between letting their employees work remotely or forcing them to come to work and collaborate. Collaboration can happen even among in-house employees and teleworkers. It simply takes a different managerial skill set.

via New Research: What Yahoo Should Know About Good Managers and Remote Workers – E. Glenn Dutcher – Harvard Business Review.

New Employees: ‘We Were Jobbed About This Job’ – Workforce.com

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More than half, or 51 percent, of new employees hired in 2012 have “buyer’s remorse” and 88 percent are looking to make a change, notes DDI’s report. Their chief complaint: The hiring process “failed to paint a realistic or accurate picture of the job.”

via New Employees: ‘We Were Jobbed About This Job’ | Latest News – Workforce.com.

Surprise!

Over 30 years ago I was lied to during a job interview.  The agent of misinformation was to be my future boss.  Some things never change.

How Self Storage Facilities Are Wooing Business Customers & Why You Should Pay Attention – The Frugal Entrepreneur

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Many assume that the only business use a self-storage facility can offer is storage. But today many of these facilities are now offering a complete range of services such as mail-boxes, office facilities, showers, meeting rooms, and even pick up and delivery that can help numerous businesses on a daily basis. Some self storage companies block off a certain set of the storage units specifically for business use.

via How Self Storage Facilities Are Wooing Business Customers & Why You Should Pay Attention | The Frugal Entrepreneur.

Showers?