For the last 15 years I have been a huge fan of “work from home”
programs.  They are good for the employee, good for the employer and
good for business.  I remember the first time I really considered
having / letting employees work from home.  Our business was growing
like a weed, and we were cramped for office space.  We decided one of
our three AP / AR people could work in the office full time.  One could
work Monday, Wednesday and Friday in the office and Tuesday and
Thursday from home.  The third person would work Monday, Wednesday,
Friday from home and spend Tuesday and Thursday in the office.

I have to say that the only person who was unhappy with this
arrangement was the person who didn’t get to work from home!  Everyone
else was ecstatic about the arrangement.  The supervisor was very happy
with the way things went.  The employees were happy.  You should know
that those who were working from home were women.  We agreed they’d
work eight hours in a day, but that those eight hours could come
whenever they wanted.  One worked early in the morning, and by the time
we all got to the office, her work for the day was done.  That made it
much easier on the rest of us — no waiting.  The other worked at night,
so the result was the same.  The employees both had the middle of the
day “off” to be with their children and they loved it.

From there we expanded into other departments.  We found it worked
great.  By the time we were done, we were looking for a smaller office,
not a bigger one.  Our productivity was up.  Our errors were down.  Our
morale had gone through the roof and we were enjoying even more success
than ever before.

From that time forward, I decided that wherever possible, all
employees who wanted to, could work at least part of the week from
home.  I’ve never regretted that decision.  It’s something you have to
see to believe.

Over the years I’ve talked to many business owners who don’t see
things like I do.  They’re concerned about productivity, accuracy,
access, etc.  My response is always the same.   1)  Try it for one
month.  Prove to yourself that productivity will go up (and watch
morale rise with it.)  You won’t be sorry.  2) If your employees don’t
function well in this environment (they can’t seem to focus, get things
done, maintain accuracy, etc.,) then you have the wrong employees.

I know some CEO’s think they have to keep their finger on every
employee, or they won’t get anything done.  My thought on that is if
you have employees like that, shame on YOU.  You should have replaced
them with hard-working, trustworthy employees long ago.  If this is
you, stop reading right now and write an ad for the replacement of any
employee like that.

Working from home is a huge perk for many employees.  They get (what
amounts to) a raise on the gas they aren’t putting in their cars to get
to the office.  They get (what amounts to) a raise on time they used to
spend tied up in traffic that is now quality time doing what they
want.  And they get a boost in morale, knowing their supervisor trusts
them enough to get the job done wherever they are.  That’s powerful
medicine for any organization.

Let your employees try the 30 second commute today.  Give it a month and you’ll wonder why you didn’t start sooner.