Many companies are caught between employees’ desire for telecommuting and management’s fear of lost productivity and diminished team work. Here’s how one company found a compromise.

For some firms, it even reaches a point where top performers leave for competitors that offer a telecommuting option. That’s the situation HR manager and controller Tina Robinson was face with — until she found a way to solve the problem.

Her story:

When a few top performers announced they were leaving, we wanted to know why. Some said they were headed for employers that offered telecommuting, a benefit that fit well with the employees’ lifestyles (such as becoming new parents).

We had considered telecommuting for some positions and for employees who showed they could work independently, but not all of our managers supported the idea.

They felt the employees would become too isolated and out of touch with what was happening in the workplace. But maybe there was a compromise that would work.

Come in one day

On an experimental basis, we used telecommuting for a couple of positions – with the stipulation that the employee had to come into work one day a week.

That day was typically used partly for meetings and other tasks that normally worked better when done face-to-face. At the end of a set period, we evaluated the system and found that nearly everyone liked it.

The managers liked the keep-in-touch aspect, and employees didn’t mind coming in once a week.

Now, we’re ready to expand the plan to cover several other positions. Best of all, we’ve had no key employees leave for a company that offers telecommuting.

(Tina Robinson, controller, University Park, IL)

Tags: retention, Telecommuting