A JACOBSON WHITE PAPER THE RISE OF TELECOMMUTING: EMBRACING THE VIRTUAL WORKFORCE HOW CAN ORGANIZATIONS BEST RESPOND TO THE GROWING POPULARITY OF WORK-AT-HOME PROGRAMS? © 2019 The Jacobson Group +1 (800) 466-1578 | jacobsononline.com THE RISE OF TELECOMMUTING: EMBRACING THE VIRTUAL WORKFORCE By Taylor Dever, Client Advisor, Life In the past there was a fine geographical line between work and home. Employees would commute to the office each morning for a full day of work then return home at the end of the day to rest and find comfort with their families. But times have changed. The line has blurred between work and home as employees increasingly prefer to work remotely. In fact, 77 percent of candidates consider flexible work arrangements a major benefit to consider in evaluating job opportunities.1 Now work-at-home (WAH) is a popular practice for many industries looking to recruit and retain top talent. Yet many insurers are still reluctant to promise WAH opportunities to their employees and potential new hires. Meanwhile, many non-local candidates do not consider relocation a viable option. A required physical presence complicates recruiting strategies and narrows the industry’s talent pool, restricting organizations’ access to talented professionals who do not wish to relocate. It is important that insurers embrace the WAH trend and create an accommodating environment for their remote employees. UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF WAH Today’s typical WAH employee is no longer a young professional with a personal laptop sitting in a local coffee shop. Nor is it a working mother juggling her children’s after-school swimming practice with important 2 © 2019 The Jacobson Group conference calls. Today’s average spending at least some time working lack of emerging talent, severely limiting adversely affect their engagement. As telecommuter is 46 years of age or older remotely in 2016.3 As a result, thought the pool of candidates. Implementing a result, they often leave their current with at least a bachelor’s degree earning leaders across all disciplines and industries a WAH program opens doors to all positions for better benefits or their a higher median salary than an in-office are advocating for companies to take part industry professionals across the productivity suffers. worker.2 The WAH revolution is no longer in the movement and ultimately excel at country, even around the world, to join a phenomenon for select demographics. talent management in today’s business their organizations. It also allows hiring Telecommuting opportunities help Everyone is in the game. reality. Organizations are steadily managers to consider candidates, such address these issues by reducing stress breaking away from their long-established as working parents or caregivers, to and boosting employee morale. Not only Many leading industries and rising corporate structures and policies. join their teams while maintaining their are telecommuters happier with their startups have moved beyond geographical family commitments. Being open to employers, they are less stressed and are boundaries in the recruitment process. Today’s insurance industry is continuously telecommuting is a crucial step toward nearly 20 percent more satisfied with their In fact, 43 percent of Americans were challenged by an aging workforce and overcoming the mounting talent crisis. jobs than their office-bound counterparts.4 Moreover, offering WAH opportunities has In addition to influencing an employer’s helped organizations reduce employee ability to recruit talent, telecommuting turnover and decrease job attrition rates options have a positive impact on by more than 50 percent.5 employee engagement. Challenges such as long commutes and lack of work-life Some insurers are already familiar with balance plague modern professionals and the importance of WAH programs. Many 44 ©© 20192019 TheThe JacobsonJacobson GroupGroup 77 percent of candidates consider “flexible work arrangements a major benefit to consider in evaluating job opportunities. ” 6 © 2019 The Jacobson Group leading property and casualty insurers and Fortunately, modern technology provides health carriers, for example, have been organizations a number of tools to keep open to remote employees in response employees connected. Virtual meetings to seasonal demands, such as major CAT through video conferencing programs, such events and open enrollment periods. They as Skype, WebEx, and GoToMeeting, now leverage temporary WAH professionals to allow managers to recreate the in-person help mitigate these planned and unplanned experience and facilitate strong teamwork. workload fluctuations. In fact, 87 percent of remote workers report feeling more connected through the DEBUNKING WAH MYTHS use of face-to-face video meetings.8 It is Many commonly associate a telecommuting important that insurers strategically invest program with excessive spending. For in upgrading their telecommunications leaders already committed to huge technology and video conferencing software technological investments to pursue to support enterprise WAH programs. innovation agendas, establishing and maintaining WAH programs may seem Others have not actively engaged in like an additional financial burden. But on the remote revolution due to concerns the contrary, instituting a telecommuting about managing employee performance. program is an opportunity for immense cost Obviously, no one is physically present to savings. Thanks to telephone routing, VPN monitor remote employees during their networks and cloud computing, the cost of work hours. Many leaders are convinced implementing a WAH program is minimal, employees would be sidetracked and saving $11,000 per year for each remote not provide their best work. They also employee.6 Some companies even reported worry internal communications will be up to a 30 percent reduction in overhead less efficient, slowing down progress on after instituting a WAH program.7 collaborative projects. Insurance leaders also worry remote In contrast, providing telecommuting employees will not have access to the options also helps employers improve connectivity and comradery that arise employee engagement rates. When offered from face-to-face interactions. They are flexible work arrangements, employees are concerned remote employees will feel more satisfied with their jobs and are likely isolated from their teams and organizations, to show improved productivity. The message resulting in reduced productivity and is simple: instituting WAH programs is an engagement. Many insurers also harbor opportunity to gain a formidable advantage the long-held belief that creativity can only in employee satisfaction and engagement, flourish from in-person interactions. As ultimately resulting in a competitive a result, some employers prefer to offer advantage in today’s business market. relocation assistance for their new hires instead of providing WAH options. EMBRACING THE REMOTE REVOLUTION When instituting a WAH program, it is 8 © 2019 The Jacobson Group important that insurers set well-defined person events allow professionals to learn policies in regards to remote employees’ more about each other, improve rapport work environment and hours. Granting and develop more personal connections. telecommuting opportunities does not Quarterly lunches, off-site meetings mean employees can work wherever or annual company retreats allow the they want, whenever they want. Rather, workforce to remain engaged and maintain, employers should set workspace guidelines or even increase, productivity regardless of to ensure their staff can provide consistent their locations. performance and engagement. At the same time, managers and employees must come As remote working becomes a crucial to an agreement on their expectations and element of successful talent management, set specific goals for each project to best insurers should embrace the trend and manage individual performance. By setting open doors to remote professionals in realistic guidelines on when and how certain order to overcome today’s talent crisis. tasks should be completed, managers can Telecommuting programs create a greater supervise effectively without constantly talent pool and increase employee watching over employees’ shoulders. retention and engagement rates. Carriers should revisit their talent management Improving corporate culture is a significant strategies and ensure their corporate opportunity for insurers to boost rapport culture incorporates the remote workforce and encourage connections between in- to attain greater business benefits. office workers and remote employees. Many Today’s employees are no longer confined tend to focus on tangible perks, such as in- to brick and mortar spaces and insurers office Ping-Pong tables or free snacks, when must not overlook the importance of they think of culture; but culture ultimately establishing and maintaining a sustainable describes how well employees work and virtual workplace. interact with others. Organizations need to ensure they have communication platforms Sources where remote and in-office employees can ABOUT THE AUTHOR: come together for informal conversations. 1 7 Big Statistics About the State of Flexible Work Arrangements (2018). Zenefits.https://www.zenefits.com/ Through virtual connections, WAH Taylor Dever is a client advisor blog/7-big-statistics-about-the-state-of-flexible-work-arrangements/. employees can stay engaged in their work for The Jacobson Group’s life 2 The State of Telecommuting in the U.S. in 2017 (2017). 1