At Sun Microsystems, the iWork program allows workers to choose the arrangement that’s most appropriate for them. It resulted in 20 percent choosing home offices, about the same percentage as those who chose to work from an assigned workstation; the other 60 percent of program participants chose a flexible alternative, working from home or another location up to two days a week.²⁴

Providing such choice is key to both attracting and retaining employees and helping them be productive. Those at Sun who could choose quit at half the rate of those who weren’t given a choice, and they report “very high” productivity scores.²⁵ “Forcing someone to move who doesn’t want to jeopardizes their effectiveness, productivity, and relationship to the organization,” says Brower. “Choice is always preferable.”²⁶

Offer the Right Tools

Companies must ensure that their at-home workers have the tools they need to be involved and productive. Providing technology support—both equipment and training—is crucial and justifiable financially, considering the real estate and related costs that can be saved through a telecommuting program. The same can be said about furnishings that support technology and promote healthful work postures and practices. Chairs and surfaces that allow users to adjust them to their exact needs go a long way toward providing such ergonomic support.

When a company makes them available it sends a clear signal that the employee’s health and well-being are a top priority. That kind of a signal of appreciative and concerned management, however, isn’t an everyday occurrence. Although some companies may provide a one-time furniture-purchasing allowance for their at-home workers to spend as they see fit, others stay away from any involvement or support. Rather than being an indication of a lack of concern for their employees’ welfare, such resistance may have more to do with the practical, logistical difficulties involved with purchasing furniture on a significant scale for people with varying needs and differing expectations. It can simply seem like too big and potentially too expensive a puzzle to solve.

In response to this situation and the difficulties it poses, some furniture providers are striving to make that process simpler, more adaptable, and less expensive. One way to do this is to work directly with individual corporations, addressing their specific goals, assessing their needs, and developing a program that gives them control without bogging them down in process and gives their employees choice without expecting them to become furniture-selection experts.

One approach to offering choice without requiring expertise is by providing the company with an extranet site that presents the products that it’s decided to make available to its at-home workers. The workers themselves, within certain guidelines, decide what best suits their needs, and their homes. Special discounting, direct shipment to workers’ homes, and minimal corporate oversight requirements make this approach efficient, cost effective, and sustainable; the choice it gives to at-home workers reinforces the company’s trust in them and appreciation for what they do. At the same time, the company can be assured that its employees have access to healthful, ergonomically appropriate at-home work settings.

Whether furniture for at-home work is part of a corporate telecommuting program or not, it should be suited for use beyond the walls of a home office. With technology and those who use it expanding the definition of work and where it takes place in the home, there’s a growing need for “office” furniture that’s scaled for residential application, that’s attractive and comfortable enough for the living room. The right combination of ergonomic design and aesthetic appropriateness can help make each worker poised to make each workday productive