Page 51 - Managing the Mobile Workforce

30 � mAnAgIng the moBIle workForCe

in relation to people’s expectations when they come into or-
ganizations and how they play that out in the context of their
day-to-day work.”
The mass career customization program evolved from
initiatives to improve retention of women at the firm, she
told us. Their research helped them understand the impor-
tance of workplace flexibility. Today the results benefit all of
the organization’s employees. “I absolutely believe that tele-
work helps facilitate work–life fit as we call it for individuals
within our organization.” Does telework give the company
and its employees more opportunities for customization?
“With telework, it ties in very appropriately with the whole
notion around flexible work options and how and where
people work,” says Sharon. “The telework concept is what,
in so many ways, facilitates our process around enabling
mass career customization.”

Virtual work environments are opening up the floodgates for con-
sidering organizational structures that wouldn’t have been dreamed of
before. One of the primary worries of employees who are considering
telework is that “out of sight, out of mind” will hurt when it comes to
career progression. Leaders who are considering telework worry that
key employees who aren’t tethered to an office will fly to other organi-
zations that promise rapid career progression. Sharon Allen and De-
loitte have capitalized on the opportunities that telework provide to
do the opposite—keep great employees who have very high employee
satisfaction.
Have you thought about how your mobile workforce paradigm
could be limiting your business potential?
Ten to fifteen years ago the world seemed much rounder; in busi-
ness it seemed to revolve around and around with standard telephone
calls, handwritten messages, some voice mail, and of course snail
mail. Face to face was the most important business communication