Despite high gas prices, the availability of mobile productivity tools and favorable interest among credit executives, the use of telecommuting within the business credit community is far below the national average. As much as anything else, the challenge appears to revolve around perceptions rather than physical obstacles.

Technology has made telecommuting not only possible but convenient. When credit executives go on business trips it's relatively easy to not only stay in touch with the office, but to also keep up with much of the work crossing their desks. Cell phones and the Internet are the great enablers.

This survey investigated the current use of telecommuting within the credit community. To better understand the credit profession's interest in moving further down this road, we also asked questions about readiness in terms of technology, infrastructure and perceptions. There were 157 people who responded to the survey.

It is estimated that over 26 million Americans now telecommute on a regular basis. That works out to nearly one out of every five workers. With gas prices going through the roof, one would assume that telecommuting will be growing more attractive. In terms of the credit community, however, that is clearly not the case.

We found that credit executives have been slow to adopt telecommuting as a standard operating procedure. Only 10 percent of the participants in our survey indicated they telecommute regularly, and most of those (64 percent) only one day per week. When we asked whether other credit department coworkers telecommute, the number only rose slightly to 13 percent, and similarly 65 percent of those only telecommute one day per week. Furthermore, only 8 percent indicated their companies were planning to either implement or expand employee telecommuting opportunities. Based on these figures, it would appear that the use of telecommuting within the business credit community is going to remain well below the national average for the foreseeable future. The question then is why?

Telecommuting Is Viewed Favorably
Only 3 percent of the credit executives felt telecommuting was 'definitely not' beneficial while just a few more (14 percent) thought it 'probably not' beneficial. Conversely, 83 indicated a positive impression of telecommuting. That is an overwhelmingly favorable response, and therefore not likely to be the reason the credit community has been slow to adopt telecommuting. To a large extent the survey participants who were not telecommuting wished they could. For example, John Smith, Collection Manager at Bunge North America, wrote, "Telecommuting is part of the future. We, as credit managers, need to work on making the tools work for us regardless of location."

Dealing with Distractions
The issue of distractions, however, is one of the objections raised by those who don't think telecommuting is appropriate in a credit environment. There are "too many distractions in a home environment," suggests John Culbert, Vice President of Credit Management at Ferguson Enterprises, Inc.

While that can certainly be true in some instances, and therefore deserves consideration when considering whether an employee should be granted the opportunity to telecommute, it does not have to be the case. "Depending on what my day looks like, I will telecommute because I feel I can accomplish more because I have fewer interruptions" insists Rob Richardson, Credit Manager for The Corken Steel Products Company.

"I work from a home office and my days are more productive because I am able to work long spans of time without interruptions," claims Sonya Griffin, Credit Manager at Petzl America, who works 5 days per week from home. "I believe the credit department is one of the easiest departments for telecommuting. As long as you have a phone, Internet access, and access to the customer files, it is possible to work from anywhere," she adds.

The Infrastructure Is in Place
Another factor that can restrict telecommuting adoption is lack of support structure in terms of the IT and telecommunication infrastructure. However, that does not seem to be the case. A large majority (82 percent) report having access to the Internet, just over half can forward business calls to another line, and nearly one third can dial into their company computing systems. In other words, many more credit departments operate in environments that can readily facilitate telecommuting than those that actually permit telecommuting.

The top ten enabling technologies reported by the survey participants include Access to Credit/Collection Software (18 percent) and Virtual Credit Files (15 percent) also garnered significant responses. Other enabling technologies reported were mobile smart phones and fax capabilities.

These capabilities compare favorably with the remote accessibility tools reported by the credit executives who are telecommuting. They all reported access to either a laptop (80%) or a desktop PC (20%) at home, and most also had printers (73%), scanners (67%) and faxes (60%). Also, it was interesting that three out of four reported that they had not installed a separate business phone line or set up a dedicated office for primarily business use. The bottom line is that access to enabling technologies and infrastructure does not appear to be a major hindrance in regard to the adoption of telecommuting.

Concerns
Since the survey did not turn up any concrete metrics to explain why telecommuting adoption rates for the credit profession lag the national average, the comments related by our participants bear close examination. Despite the favorable attitude toward telecommuting in general, there were some persistent concerns raised in the areas of security, logistics and personal interaction.

"If I allowed my employees to perform credit research from home, I would question the security of customer credit information and would be highly concerned about confidentiality. Not knowing who has access to the information may expose the company to risk due to identity theft or breech of confidentiality," writes Robert Simmons, CCE, Credit Manager at Western Milling, LLC. He also notes, "While I may dream of telecommuting, there is no substitute for being in the office. I believe my position as a credit manager requires my being in the office most of the time to facilitate day-to-day activities where decisions are made quickly."

Access to information and people are obviously critical and technology is the great enabler, not just in terms of information, but also communications. Online conferencing and PC desktop presentation tools have proven effective in bringing remote workers together. Even so, there are vital connections that need to be made in order for telecommuting to be practical. "The hold up is our IT department not giving people access to our ERP system. remotely," explains Bill Edgar, Credit Manager at Zippo Manufacturing Company.

The social aspects of work cannot be ignored either. They just involve a different type of connectivity. According to Steve Seko, Manager of Credit & Collections at Clipper Express, "Cross team working relationships cannot be deeply developed via telecommuting. It is more difficult to develop and build departmental common values, norms, and operational skills with staff working in telecommuting environment."

Conclusions
"Twenty years ago or more, flex-time was a way to attract employees and accommodate personnel in many office environments," recalls Allen Vickers, Corporate Credit Manager at A&K Railroad Materials. "It sent a message that it was possible to have a workable marriage between labor and management. Telecommuting today is not only a more viable option due to technology advancements, it is also more viable due to factors like traffic congestion, parking expense, office space costs, as well as ever increasing fuel costs."

If you want to telecommute, you are going to have to convince management. "The onus is on us 'middle managers' to sell the program to the upper levels of management. We must show how performance issues can be measured to ensure that management is getting a 'days work for a days pay,'" says Mark Constantine, Corporate Credit Manager with Fulton Paper Company. "I believe that it will be a very tough sell, but I would expect that we will have some sort of plan in place by the end of the next quarter."

If more credit executives would follow Mark's proactive approach to telecommuting, we're confident acceptance levels would rise significantly. What are you going to do?