When you hear that Jennifer is working from home, do you picture her burning up the computer in her home office? Or do you suspect she’s watching daytime TV in her pyjamas?

If it’s the latter you’re probably a bit envious, and more than a little resentful about picking up the slack for her.  It’s fair to be envious, but the resentment may be misplaced.  Savvy employers, including Catalyst Canada, recognize that work-life effectiveness—things like flexible schedules and working from home— can help organizations be more agile, boost morale and create a reputation as a great place to work.

My Catalyst colleagues and I won’t be in our downtown Toronto office this Wednesday.  We’re working from home to support the call for a National Work From Home Day.  (OK, full disclosure:  We may turn on CPAC for a few minutes to see Nova Scotia MP Mike Savage introduce the National Work From Home Day resolution in Parliament.)

Just like employees working in many Catalyst member organizations, our team has all the tools and technology we need to be able to work successfully and seamlessly from other locations, and  conduct a normal day’s work. Where we might have an advantage is our commitment to focus on what gets done, rather than where work happens.

When our team is productive—conducting research, planning events, and serving our members across the country—it really doesn’t matter whether we’re working from a house in the suburbs, or the office an hour’s drive away.

Catalyst’s research suggests that work-life effectiveness, including the option to work from home, can be so much more than an employee benefit.  Sure, employees can better manage other priorities in their lives when they eliminate travel time from their workday.

But giving employees control over when and where they work can also boost motivation and help them eliminate the distractions that they might ordinarily have to deal with in their office. Motivated and focused employees are likely to be more productive.  Senior leaders and employees can tackle the problems they face by launching creative work-life effectiveness policies that help both sides meet their goals.

And, if you need yet another reason to support National Work From Home Day, Workopolis will donate $10,000 to the World Wildlife Fund if their Facebook supporters reach 50,000 by November 24.  Join us from home!

What else will you do this week that could make workers happier and more productive, make business more agile and sustainable, and support a great cause?

Tags: business, change, inclusive workplace, policy, Work from Home, work-life effectiveness

This entry was posted on Monday, November 22nd, 2010 at 8:31 am and is filed under Inclusion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.