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	What the difference is between a "standard" resume and a telecommute resume?

Why telework is great for recruitment and retention

One of the biggest challenges faced by today's employers is the recruitment and retention of skilled workers. In The War for Talent, McKinsey & Co. predicts that the demand for talented employees will rise by 33% over the next 15 years. It also predicts a 15% drop in supply.

A good example is the high-tech industry where the existing pool of qualified and available high-tech workers cannot meet the demand. As a result, qualified high-tech workers can cherry-pick the best jobs  Demographics will only make things worse, with the smaller workforce coming in to replace retiring baby boomers.

Employees value telework
Employees place an increasingly place a high value on telework. It helps them achieve work-life balance and reduces their costs and and stress.  This is proven by dozens of studies, many of which are outlined in this site.

Telework is not for everyone, for every job, or for every organization, but it can, and does, work well in many cases. Even if it it applies to only 10% of your employees and new hires, that represents a significant tool in your ability to attract and retain the "best of breed."  That's true even if they know they can only telework a day or two per week, which is the norm.

The list of organizations which use telework to help attract and retain qualified workers is growing every day.  Included are Nortel, IBM, Bell Canada, Digital Canada, AT&T (where 55% of the managers telework), Hewlett Packard, Xerox Canada, Intel, etc.

Get your HR resources globally
By bringing the work to their workers, rather than the reverse, teleworking organizations gain access to workers anywhere in the world - a nice feature considering the intense levels of global competition for talent. Depending on the situation, new hires might only need to visit the employer's premises occasionally.

Telework can also help to retain key employees who otherwise might leave the organization - thus helping to avoid the costs and time of recruiting and retraining replacements. For example:

• An employee who moves geographically due to a job change by another family member may still be available through telework.
• Some employees on maternity leave to continue doing some of their work from, and require less retraining when they return to work full time.
• Telework can also be a good option to attract and retain qualified staff who have disabilities;
• Single parents who need to be at home for the children; or who have responsibility for elderly or sick relatives.

In one specific case, computer engineer and CTA member Ann Cabot was happy teleworking for her Denver-based company. They even allowed her to continue working (via telework) when she moved to Oregon and Texas where she continued to be very productive for the company. Life was good until her new boss cancelled the arrangement. Seems the new boss was not comfortable with anything out of the ordinary. So Ann quit. "That's ok, she writes, because it is the way of the future and there are other daring managers who are willing to try anything to get good talent, and I am that."

Telework increases productivity which also eases recruitment and retention challenges
On average, teleworkers are 20% more productive.  That's like getting a free workers for every five teleworkers, which eases your recruitment and retention challenges.

Include telework in your employee surveys
Recruitment and retention is such a hot issue that companies regularly survey employees and potential recruits to determine which job features are most important to them. Most of these surveys  ask respondents to tick the appropriate box in an itemized wish list. Unfortunately, most such wish lists do not specifically mention telework. In some cases, telework may be mentioned, but it is blended into a catch-all phrase such as: "flexible work arrangements such as flexible hours, telework etc."

By not focusing on telework, surveys fail to capture how highly employees value this work option.  Conversely, companies that specifically canvass for telework in their surveys are surprised by the strong reactions of the respondents.

Your company doesn't telework? Consider a change
Companies that adopt telework programs demonstrate they are modern, flexible, caring and family-friendly. They recognize that employees need to balance work and personal time.

If your company employs knowledge workers, and you find recruitment and retention to be a challenge, think about starting a telework program. If you don't competitors from anywhere on the planet may end up with some of your potential recruits. Even worse, they may end up with some of your most valuable employees.