The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has new guidance for agency leaders to develop flexible telework policies. OPM recommends managers make most telework decisions based on job function and not managerial preference.
- Jeff Neal, former chief human capital officer at the Department of Homeland Security and now author of www.ChiefHRO.com, said he thinks there will be tension between people who want to telework and managers who do not prefer it.
- Neal said agency officials will need to take another look at necessary technology, as employees indicated in the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey that they generally needed better tech support than they got.
- Neal explained that telework involves working remotely at least part of the time, either regularly or situationally, whereas remote work is full-time telework; Neal said he thinks remote work will increase and agencies will use it as a recruiting tool.