As telework initiatives spread, managers interested in adopting the flexible work model must set use policies, deploy enabling technologies and establish employee goals to guarantee their telework initiative is a success.

All indications point to the number of teleworkers increasing in U.S. companies. A recent survey of about 200 HR managers by talent and outsourcing provider Yoh found that 81% of companies have remote work policies in place and 67% of respondents said they expect telecommuting will increase in the next two years.

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According to WorldatWork, a Scottsdale, Ariz., nonprofit professional association focused on human resources issues, about 12.5 million of U.S. employees take advantage of telework today. The association defines employee teleworkers as full- or part-time employees who work from home at least one day per month. Contract teleworkers, those self-employed individuals who work from their homes, brought the total number of U.S. teleworkers in 2006 closer to 29 million, about a 10% increase from 2005. The number is expected to grow as more companies realize the benefits of telework.

“Telework programs typically start with one employee coming forward making a request to work out of the office for a day or two per month, and from there, telework can grow like a weed within an organization,” says Rose Stanley, the work-life practice leader at WorldatWork. “The workplace is not going to look the same; it's going to be vastly different. And managers need to start establishing policies to enable telework, because the new workforce is going to demand it.”