Image by Woodley Wonderworks
Every year on Earth Day, companies talk about saving the planet. They talk about how they’re saving the planet through recycling initiatives, low-energy lighting and waste-reducing production methods. They talk about how employees can help by shutting off their computers at night and putting recyclables in the appropriate bins.
If you really care about Earth Day, you should consider telling your employees to stay home.
Don’t get me wrong – recycling and energy-saving are great initiatives. I’m surprised that some organizations still don’t recycle or ask employees to shut off their computers at night (I’ve even seen one organization that recommends you leave it on at night – what!?).
But if you want to really make an impact, you should be looking into telecommuting for all of your employees. I’m hesitant to say “as business allows,” because I think that with the exception of manufacturing plants, call-centers and retail shops, almost every job in every organization can be just as successfully completed anywhere that’s not the office.
Think about what a positive impact letting all or most of your workforce telecommute would have on the environment:
- Reduced emissions – think about how many road hours your employees log every week.
- Reduced noise pollution – fewer cars on the road means fewer rumbling engines.
- Reduced emotional pollution – fewer cars means less congestion means less road-rage.
Of course, the solution isn’t as simple as just drafting a telecommuting policy. There are a lot of issues to consider, and almost all of them center around culture and perceptions about what work is and what it looks like. But if you think about what you’re really paying people for – their results and outcomes – you’ll probably find that with modern technology, most jobs can be done from pretty much anywhere with a phone and wifi connection.
I used to work in a gov’t building, and everyone had to leave computers on overnight or get in trouble for not following the rules. Hundreds of desktops spinning away for ~12 hours without anyone there. Hmmm…
I’m not into the whole “green” thing, but I AM more than happy to save the companies (or myself) some money anywhere it’s feasible. There’s a good post on HR Bartender today on this topic.
I would love to do some telecommuting, but my last job made it very difficult. I’m hoping this new one will allow me some freedom to work how/when/where I work best, because it will not only help me, but my employer will also get the benefit of my top-shelf work. :-)
@Ben – I hear you. I worked for a company that told everyone to leave the computers on, too. They ran updates at night, so they wanted the computers on. Of course, they didn’t run updates every night, or even every week, so… That’s a lot of wasted electricity.
Good luck with telecommuting at your new job (I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!).
Great post Chris, I know from your writings that you are a proponent of ROWE as am I, and I hope that more and more organizations will stop taking the easy way out (taking attendance and counting hours) and start focusing on results. If that happens, then we can drop the silly conversations about ‘telecommuting’, and talk about outcomes. Treat people like adults, be a manager, not a kindergarten teacher, and measure results. That is all.
@Steve Boese – Well said!
“with the exception of manufacturing plants, call-centers and retail shops, almost every job in every organization can be just as successfully completed anywhere that’s not the office.”
Hm, telecommuting bricklayers? Telecommuting bus drivers? Telecommuting surgeons? Telecommuting tour guides, janitors, policemen, plumbers, pilots, kindergarten teachers, mail carriers, railway traffic controllers?
I suspect you have a very broad definition of “manufacturing plant” and/or “retail shop” …
@Henning – Fair enough. Perhaps “almost every white collar job” would have been more accurate. Thanks for your comment!