Lawyers can be available anywhere

Telecommuting allows flexible schedule, increases productivity, reduces turnover and saves firm money
	By donalee Moulton November 09 2012 issue

Woman by Jo Ann Snover / Dreamstime.com, man by Monkey Business Images / Dreamstime.com Click here to see full sized version. Comments? Please contact us at comments@lawyersweekly.ca. Please include your name, your law firm or company name and address. Going to the office used to mean putting on a well-pressed outfit, hopping in the car and battling traffic. Today, for many lawyers, it means slipping on a pair of comfortable jeans, grabbing a coffee from the kitchen and walking a few paces to a home office. Telecommuting is becoming more common. One survey found that 25 per cent of Canadian companies offered this work arrangement in 2007; a year later, this number was 40 per cent. The pros clearly outweigh the cons--a reality most law firms now accept. “Firms don’t need convincing. They recognize if a lawyer can generate the hours from home or a car or wherever, it’s fine,” said Warren Bongard, vice-president and co-founder of ZSA Legal  Recruitment in Toronto. Recent research indicates companies can do more than meet billing expectations with telework programs — ​it can actually save them money. A report prepared last year for WORKshift Calgary, a federally funded initiative to create a model for a regional telework program, found that organizations can save more than $10,000 a year for each two-day-a-week telecommuter. According to the authors of WORKshift Canada: The Bottom Line on Telework, the primary financial benefits for employers come from increased productivity, lower absenteeism and turnover, and reduced real estate costs. Telework increases productivity in two ways: It reduces time spent on the road, and it gives lawyers flexibility over their day. “People are more efficient. They can maximize productivity by working when they are most effective,” said Nicole Belson Goluboff, a New York-based lawyer who has written two books on telecommuting. “It eliminates distractions,” she added. “In the office, there are endless distractions.” Increased efficiency can translate into cold, hard cash. The WORKshift study, conducted by the Telework Research Network, a consulting and research firm based in San Diego, Calif., reviewed numerous studies and concluded companies could experience a 20-per-cent increase in productivity on telework days. Telecommuting, a term coined by a former rocket scientist in the 1970s, can be a carrot for existing and prospective members of the legal team. “Providing lawyers and other legal professionals with more control over their work schedules can be a powerful incentive,” said John Ohnjec, division director with Robert Half Legal in Ottawa. “Telework tends to build loyalty,” said Goluboff, author of Telecommuting for Lawyers. “It affords the flexibility many workers need.” It also means fewer offices may be possible. “The need for massive real estate may be reduced,” Bongard said. “Firms may go to a plug-and-play system.” The WORKshift study held up Sun Microsystems (now Oracle America) as an example of how real estate and related expenses decline with telecommuting. In testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2007, the technology company said it saved $68-million a year in real estate costs, $3-million in reduced power consumption, and $25-million in IT expenditures with its flexible work options for 17,000 employees. Of these, 2,000 primarily work at home full time and 15,000 work at home up to two days a week. Effective telework arrangements don’t just happen, however. They need to be planned and managed. It starts with finding common ground, Ohnjec said. “One of the keys to making these arrangements successful is to ensure both the employer and employee have a clear understanding of each other’s expectations.” For management, that often means letting go of mistrust--what the WORKshift report calls the “traditional barrier to telework.” “Most law firms would historically argue: ‘How do we know you’re working?’ Who cares as long as [lawyers] are responsive to their clients and colleagues,” Bongard said. The parameters of that responsiveness need to be understood by both sides, Ohnjec said. “Telecommuters may keep non-traditional hours and reaching them for an urgent project or impromptu meeting may be more challenging. Managers should know when employees are available and the best ways to reach them.” Concern is often expressed as well about being out of “site” and, therefore, out of mind. “There is a benefit to being face to face that technology cannot replace,” Bongard said. “As much as lawyers are expected to go out and generate work, when you are in the office, you are cross-selling your services within the firm.” The solution for many firms and many lawyers is part-time telecommuting. “This is the more typical scenario,” Goluboff said. “There is a place for in-person interaction and having a place to convene,” she said. “For some people, telework is absolutely wrong, but for many, there is no reason to go to the office simply because it’s Tuesday.” http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&volume=32&number=26&article=5