Trends Report

It's Time To Review — And Renew — Your Telecommuting Policy

The Economic Downturn Spurs Many Firms To Revisit Telecommuting Costs And Opportunities

April 8th, 2009
Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D., null
Brownlee Thomas, Ph.D.
With contributor:
Christine Ferrusi Ross

Summary

Sourcing and vendor management teams should work with IT and human resources (HR) to regularly review the company's telecommuting policy. The current economic situation is pushing many companies to look for new ways to: 1) increase employee productivity; and 2) reduce operational costs. Over the past few months, we've had a growing number of client inquiries about telecommuting best practices. Some firms are trying to build a business case for expanding their telecommuting program. Others are standardizing their support for telecommuting with the aim of lowering costs. Most companies will save money by formalizing their telecommuting policies and standardizing support practices. Informal policies and ad hoc support result in inconsistencies about who can telecommute and what costs the company covers. Additionally, absent a formal policy, IT support costs will be higher when nonstandard and personal devices are connecting to the network.

Want to read the full report?

Contact us to become a client

This report is available for individual purchase ($1495).

Forrester helps business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. That means empowering you to put the customer at the center of everything you do: your leadership strategy, and operations. Becoming a customer-obsessed organization requires change — it requires being bold. We give business and technology leaders the confidence to put bold into action, shaping and guiding how to navigate today's unprecedented change in order to succeed.