Posted May 4th, 2008 by Susan Gunelius in Work at Home/Telecommute
Ever since I left the corporate world in 2004 to be a stay-at-home mom to my triplets, I’ve wondered something. It’s not rocket science. In fact, this thought seems so simple to me, so obvious and makes such sense that it’s beyond my comprehension why more companies haven’t considered it. Ready for my genius? Here you go:
Why don’t more companies hire stay-at-home moms as consultants, freelancers or as telecommuting employees? Many of us have an enormous amount of experience and knowledge in our respective fields garnered from our years working prior to choosing to stay at home with our children, and if you let us work from home and make our own hours, we’ll probably be willing to work for a lot less money and produce superior results.
What? Mr. CEO says that he needs employees who are available to be in the office during business hours. I call bull!
What? Mr. CEO says that he can’t trust someone with kids around to complete work on time. I call major bull!
I could go on and on with the arguments against hiring stay-at-home moms to take on management and executive roles in companies from the comfort of their own homes, but I’d have a counterargument for every single one of them. It just makes sense to leverage the knowledge and experience of these women. What an incredible, untapped talent pool!
And I’m not talking about hiring assistants and customer service representatives here. I’m talking about hiring experts in their fields. The women who left their careers by choice when they were working in management and executive level positions in order to be at home with their children. Most of these women are very capabable of meeting the needs of a corporate position around their duties at home if given the opportunity to telecommute with a flexible schedule. I work until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning many nights each week to complete the necessary work for my business - the business I started to meet my unconventional schedule but that I run professionally and successfully despite my odd hours. Imagine what a corporation could get from me or other women like me if they let go of their traditional ways of thinking that work has to be done in the office during conventional business hours.
So again I ask, why aren’t more companies noticing this pool of talent available to them at a lower than expected price if they were willing to make some concessions in terms of telecommuting and scheduling? I just don’t get it.
Of course, there are some companies who are catching on. Check out this article from the Wall Street Journal to learn the details. It seems to me that the companies who tap into this pool of talent sooner rather than later will position themsevles quite well in the short and long term.
What do you think?
If you agree, please Digg this post, Stumble it, write about it and link to it. Do anything you can think of to spread the word!
About eight years ago a co-worker realized her special needs kid needed her at home to be more available when something came up (and it always seemed to come up).
She’s been doing contract work and consulting all this time, and really enjoys the hours, the flex time she can take for the kids if they need her, and the ability to walk away from toxic work environments, if they’re not worth the dollars.
She does great work, is very dependable, and is a pleasure to work with.
Great example, Eric.
I should mention, too that stay-at-home dads should be included in this untapped talent pool as well!
Great topic, Susan, and a work force more companies should take advantage of…whether as an off site employee or a contract worker who has her own at-home business. I’ll mention this post at Home Biz Notes.
Thanks for this post! With all that technology is changing about the way we do business, it only makes sense to change the way business is DONE. After all, we live in an increasingly small world where business take place at all hours, and in many forms. And it’s so easy to be connected to the office — from anywhere. But it will take a major shift in thinking before companies wake up and really realize the potential of what you have suggested. Although from that WSJ article, some already are.
Thanks, Mary Emma! I’m going to check your post out and get in on the conversation!
Miranda, You’re absolutely right. Until companies change the way they think, this huge pool of untapped talent and experience will go to waste (except for the many who become entrepreneurs or link up with the few companies who do get it). It’s just amazing to me that companies aren’t taking advantage of it!
I saw the article myself and thought it was a good start, but I emailed the author and told her that I think this kind of thing could set a precedent that stay-at-home moms should get paid less then their full time counterparts. Honestly, I think to get that kind of talen on such short notice should be worth more and not 1/10 of what their full time counterparts are getting.
It could also contribute to the wage gap between men and women who research has shown get paid differently despite having the same skills.
I think it’s a great idea and wonderful for the companies and the moms…let’s just make sure the moms aren’t getting the short-end of the compensation stick!
Aruni
That’s a great point, Aruni! My initial thought was about my own feelings and how I’d be willing to accept a lower pay to work from home and make my own hours rather than working at the company’s location during traditional business hours. However, you’re absolutely right. If the stay-at-home-mom (or dad) is doing the same work, then there really is no reason for the pay to be different.
I’ve been a WAHM since 1999 and have found that major companies (including ones that claim that they’re internet companies) are happy to offshore but are not willing to work with remote workers. It shouldn’t matter if we’re WAHM, WAHD, or just people who work better out of their home based office. It’s disappointing to be told that they want me to come onsite so I can be a part of the team.
As a consultant, my job is to solve a specific problem.
And, thank you, I was part of a great team more than once of people who lived all over the United States. It can be done.
As you said, we need to change the business model.
I was appalled when HP called in a number of their teleworkers a few years ago claiming that it was better for morale. Baloney. It’s cheaper for the bottom line to have telecommuters, and even cheaper than that to outsource to local telecommuting consultants (no need to pay for health insurance).
I have high hopes that the latest surge for “being green” will force companies to start working more with remote individuals and consultants. And that’s better for me.
Lara, I completely agree. I find it terrible that companies will offshore rather than hiring telecommuters. I understand it’s even cheaper to go offshore than to use telecommuters, but with the state of the economy in this country, you are absolutely right that it’s time for companies to change their business models!
Susan, I had no idea you had triplets!
This idea, to me, strikes at the heart of the difference between productivity and reward based on effort — vs. — mediocrity and reward based on “clocking in.”
In the school system where my son attends, I see how they start training kids, from an early age, that just showing up is enough. To me, an effective worker is someone who gets the job done efficiently. If it takes a student or worker 3 hours to do a task, then let them do the task and then let them go home! Don’t keep someone on board for another 5 hours. They get tired and unfocused.
Why would anyone want to stretch out time and create needless busywork just to fill up additional hours? Instead, I’m sure employers would want to have absolute focus on the task at hand.
Why would an employer want to pay for anything besides results? I certainly see the value of hiring workers who provide high value and expertise rather than someone who just clocks in and thinks their job is to spend time at the office.
Here’s to businesses like Flexperience and In Good Company who will lead the trend in collaboration and employment for work-at-home moms.
Well said, Monica. My husband always refers to the type of worker you refer to as ‘wasted space’ but ‘waste of money’ seems even more appropriate to me.