Workplace: Hiring Telecommuters Can Help Your Business

Technology is here to stay, and one of the benefits of technology is telecommuting. There are various ways for employees to telecommute. One way is total telecommuting, where employees and employers only communicate by computer and telephone. The other way is partial telecommuting which gives employees the opportunity to work in an office a percentage of their work week, and to work at home as telecommuters the other percentage of their work week.

The benefit of having employees who telecommute are:

* They work longer hours and are often more productive. Coming into an office takes more hours of energy exertion than just the hours in the office. Dressing, commuting, waking up an hour earlier for commute time allowance — all of this drains energy from workers who might telecommute without expending extra energy on just getting to an office.

* In their own environment telecommuters are more comfortable and therefore, more productive. Because telecommuters are in their own home office or home, they can break up their day by taking care of business at home, too. This may seem like a waste of energy to employers, but the stress it reduces from telecommuters allows them more productivity for work, rather than more time on site and less productivity.

* Telecommuters who work night owl hours will find each other and work together, on a more natural clock than office workers who are forced into a nine to five work schedule. This kind of work dynamic promotes more natural, productive work than a forced schedule.