Telecommuting – a Win-Win Option in Public Relations

Telecommuting offers advantages to both employers and employees. Photo credit: Tina LawsonWhen weather forecasts predicted that Juno would dump 24 to 30” of snow on New York and New England this week, many employees worked from home. (Most couldn’t get to work anyway; Connecticut and Massachusetts closed all highways and New York shut down the subway system.) Employees liked not having to commute to work in snow; employers liked that most professional workers completed a full day’s worth of work from home.

Weather advisory firm Plananalytcs estimated that Juno had a relatively minor negative effect of $500 million on the economy because so many workers telecommuted.

At Glean.info (fomerly CyberAlert) during the storm, all home-office employees (except one who reached the office in a monster four-wheel-drive vehicle) telecommuted from home and completed all their work successfully. Phones were forwarded to home numbers for sales and customer service; all employees had access to the company intranet from home; technical employees had access to servers from home computers. Glean.info also has many employees who work remotely from home every day including sales representatives, media measurement analysts, and graphic designer.

PR – Ideal for Telecommuting

Surveys often cite public relations as one of the top telecommuting jobs. AKCache.com ranked PR among the Top 10 telecommuting jobs. The ideal telecommuting job uses computers and/or telephones, performance can be easily measured, and work doesn’t usually require access to resources at a central work site. PR clearly fits that profile.

PR firms have successfully employed remote workers for many years.  AKCach.com cited San Francisco’s Hi-Tech Public Relations as one PR firm that lets account managers work from home. The firm has found that having telecommuters can be an advantage when making new business pitches to potential clients, especially among technology firms.

PR entails many job responsibilities that can easily be performed remotely, such as writing and media relations, research and social media administration. Most any organization can benefit by enabling PR staff to work from home.

Twenty-two percent of people in PR work sometimes from home, according to a PR Daily survey. Out of those who telecommute, 47 percent work from home once a week and 27 percent telecommute five days a week.

Questions for Businesses to Consider

Weather issues aren’t the only impetus for employers to adopt telecommuting-friendly policies. Telecommuting can produce measurable benefits for both employees and employers.

Employees save time and avoid the stress and costs of commuting; somewhat surprisingly, employers get more productive employees with better morale, according to numerous studies. By hiring remote workers, companies can also attract talent outside their geographic area.

Before PR departments and agencies jump on the telecommuting bandwagon, staffing services firm The Creative Group urges them to consider these questions.

Are you ready? Companies in a state of transition or experiencing internal communication struggles are better off limiting telecommuting.

What’s in the job description? While jobs like copywriting can be performed remotely, work that requires face-to-face contact or access to equipment and materials at the office are not good telecommuting candidates.

Should you limit telecommuting days? In-person interactions can improve camaraderie and creativity. Consider limiting remote work to one or two days a week. Encourage staff members who live far away to make office visits on occasion.

Do you have the right tools? Consider tools like Skype and instant messaging to keep remote workers connected. A centralized calendar that reports where employees are working can also improve teamwork. Centralized work tracking can also benefit both employee and employer.

Have you covered all the bases? Check with your human resources representative or legal counsel before you implement a new work policy.

Bottom Line: Telecommuting is an increasingly popular option for many firms, including those in public relations. Many PR functions, such as research and writing, lend themselves well to telecommuting. Telecommuting – even part time – makes happier and more productive employees.