In Daddy's home, with kids, by Meg Richards, Associated Press (Arizona Republic, Aug. 14, 2004), the gulf between the sexes is explored in terms of their use of telework and other flexible work options, and how the rest of the workforce perceives those that take advantage of these options.

On the plus side, men are beginning to recognize the value of balancing work and life, and companies are reaping benefits in terms of loyalty, according to anecdotal evidence.

These ideas are backed up by research from Catalyst, an advocacy group for working women: 'while flexibility often is seen as a women's issue, both sexes expressed a desire for a variety of formal and informal arrangements to help them balance their lives.... Of those surveyed, 51 percent of women and 43 percent of men found difficulty achieving such a balance.'

For employees, however, these benefits can come at a cost, and that cost may be even greater for men:

'A stigma persists for those who take time off for personal reasons, however. Just 15 percent of women and 20 percent of men said they thought they could use a flexible work arrangement without jeopardizing their career advancement. That negativity might diminish if more men start taking advantage of flextime policies. ... At this point, even taking time off for the birth of a child is seen as potentially career-damaging. It's a valid concern. A business professor at Wake Forest University found in a study that men who take time off for family generally are viewed more negatively than women who do the same.'

The take-home lesson for businesses: enabling 'working from anywhere' isn't just about getting the right technologies and processes in place, it's also about culture - changing habits and perceptions of the workforce, from employee to management to coworkers.

10:41:58 AM    
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The little banks that could BY Gregg Fields (Miami Herald, Sunday August 15, 2004) spotlights the challenges and opportunities facing community banks in southern Florida. Here's a clip relevant to the telework discussion (my emphasis added):

'Uniformly, community bank say their biggest challenge is attracting and retaining talent. And longtimers say it has become particularly tough since the demise of Southeast Bank, which had a highly regarded internal training program that inevitably produced managers for other area institutions.

[Sid] Spiro [president of Regent Bank] said one solution is to empower managers, so they get to make decisions that a bigger institution might decide by loan committee.

And he'll go to great lengths to keep key employees. When senior vice president Pam Brownlee said she wanted to move to North Carolina so her children could be near grandparents, Spiro let her telecommute.

''I halfway expected it to be temporary, but it has worked out beautifully,'' said Brownlee, who's been telecommuting now for several years.'

9:48:39 AM    
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