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Seacoast Summit on Teleworking!

December 12 2014

Whether you call it “teleworking”,”telecommuting”, “working remotely”, or simply “working from home”, it’s all good.  Maybe not for everyone, and maybe not everyday, but it’s certainly an option to consider for a host of reasons.

Research shows that telecommuting can lead to increased productivity, reduced turnover, fewer sick days, higher employee satisfaction, and significant overhead and real estate cost savings. And it allows employers the chance to dramatically expand their candidate pools.  And let’s not forgot, it reduces the number of commuters who drive alone to work!

For all these reasons, teleworking is a steadily growing phenomena.  However, I do meet some companies in the Seacoast that do not allow it or strongly discourage it.

Certainly there have been some high profile case studies where there were abuses or problems  (e.g. US Patent Office, Yahoo!, Best Buy), but these seem to be the exception not the rule and due to poor management practices.  Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater.

So….thinking along these lines, commuteSMARTseacoast is working to plan a regional summit on teleworking in the late fall, 2015.  We will be reaching out to collaborate with other like minded organizations as co-sponsors (e.g. Chambers of Commerce, municipal Economic Development, Human Resource professionals).

I’m envisioning a practical, hands-on day or half-day geared towards HR professionals that will highlight the many benefits of teleworking and offering local case studies.  Also breakout sessions to drill down to the practicalities  — how to build the case to senior management, implementation issues, identifying appropriate jobs and workers, how to manage remote workers, legal considerations, etc.

If you are interested in this event, please let me know!  arugg@commuteSMARTseacoast.org  603-953-3176