Corporate America's Move to Remote Work May be Limited by Heavy Workloads and Face Time Cultures

Cross-industry findings by WFD show that access to technology is not the key barrier to remote work

Watertown, Massachusetts, November 6, 2001 - WFD, a Boston-based human resources research and consulting firm, reports that as U.S. companies seek to reduce travel and facilities costs and move towards an increasingly dispersed workplace, they may find their way blocked by heavy workloads and the barrier of their own face time culture.

"WFD has been tracking the trends in workplace flexibility and remote work for over 10 years. Although access to technology is often viewed as the key ingredient of an increasingly dispersed 'any time, any place' work environment, our research shows that workplace attitudes and management practices - such as measuring employee performance by long on-site hours or 'face time' - can be greater obstacles to remote work" observes Karen Noble, a senior consultant with WFD. "In our experience, many of these attitudes and management practices can also contribute to another key barrier - heavy workloads that include a lot of low-value or unnecessary work."

The data paints an interesting picture of the current barriers to remote work. Since 1997, concerns about the nature of the job and company culture have significantly decreased, whereas concerns about workload and career impact have stayed consistently high. An emphasis on face time is the fastest growing barrier to remote work. Concern that technology is a significant barrier to remote work has remained low over the last six years.

Diane Burrus, a senior consultant with WFD specializing in developing and implementing remote work strategies, explains that traditionally companies have invested heavily in the technology aspect of remote work, but ignored the management practices and cultural changes necessary to support remote work. "Strong commitment from senior management to promote and encourage remote work is essential to any program's success. Remote work has to be viewed as a creative business solution in a changing work environment rather than an accommodation to a few workers."
WFD is the thought leader and architect of the workplace of the future. Over the last 20 years, WFD has partnered with Fortune 500 companies in over 26 countries to improve the quality of their work environments. WFD's services include human resources strategy, global work-life and flexibility strategies, remote work planning and implementation, workplace measurement, and women's advancement and retention.