Kerry Fallon Horgan is a featured expert in this Sydney Morning Herald article on work from home by Mary Banfield

The corporate office of the future is right there in your own house.

In 2001 Major Deborah Weiss kicked off her army boots and squeezed into a pair of red high heels after leaving the Australian Army to accept a management position with United Energy. Today the shoes sit in the back of her cupboard, replaced by her latest work boots: a pair of fluffy pink slippers.

Her new employer, Gartner, paid for her to set up an office, from her home in Melbourne. The research director has no space at head office, not even a chair. That's no surprise, given her boss is in the US state of New Hampshire, while her team are scattered throughout the world.

Almost a quarter of all employed Australians did some work from home in November 2005, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics report, Locations of Work Australia. This figure - 24 per cent - was 4 per cent up on the 2000 rate.

More bosses will allow corporate workers, women in particular, to work from home according to Kerry Fallon Horgan, author and managing partner at corporate coaching group, Flexibility at Work.

"This growth is driven by Australia being in the middle of a workforce skills shortage and low unemployment, leaving women in a better negotiating position. Today we live in a global market where technological advances enable working from home," Fallon Horgan says.

Some companies, including IBM Australia, have embraced the work-from-home culture. Employees at IBM are encouraged to establish flexible work practices. Staff retention rates have skyrocketed.

"When I first started working from home, it was about managing my time," says Megan Dalla-Camina, director of strategy, who is among the 40 per cent of IBM staff who work from home and the office.

"I operate in different time zones working with the Asia Pacific and the US offices. It's not unusual to have phone calls at midnight then at 6am so it's great to work from home that day. It's about managing my workload."

In an old sandstone whaler's cottage overlooking Sydney Harbour, ANZ executive Jeny Reynolds lets the breeze flow through while she processes the daily transition of up to $12 billion in payments distributed to Australian exporters.

The head of clearing services and international payments, working capital services, approached her employer last year, seeking to work from home one or two days a week. It wouldn't hve been easy for the bank to replace such a high-level executive, so the question was not whether to accede but how to make it work.

It's a far cry from her previous job. Working in Asia as an international banker for JP Morgan, Reynolds logged 15- to 17-hour days and these took a toll.

"In the end I did start to get sick; you just got a bit distressed and cranky. You become overweight and unfit."

Today Reynolds runs her life very differently. On days she works from home, she starts the morning with a personal training session, before sitting down to work at 8.30am, her toy poodle Molly by her side.

In 2005, a Federal Government report, Telework for Australian Employees and Businesses, explored the growth in home-based work. It identified as one of the challenges the need for managers to trust their employees and come to terms with the idea that they couldn't constantly look over their subordinates' shoulders.

When home offices work the rewards can be great. Fallon Horgan says: "Research has clearly shown that the minimum productivity increase for companies is 20 per cent when people work from home. Some places found increases as high as 70 per cent."

Then there are the cost savings, not only for the company in terms of reduced office space, but for the employee, particularly where there are child-care expenses.

Weiss, a single parent of two young sons, no longer has to fork out for nannies, after-school and vacation care.

However, it took some time for her family to settle into the routine of her work. In the first few months there were tears and arguments as her children, Tim and Stuart, adjusted to their mother being home.

"Sometimes it's harder for them. When I'm at home, Stuart would say, 'But you never do anything with us, mum; you're always working.' So even though I was there, I was there to work and not to play."

Now that the boundaries are established, she can occasionally break the routine and take the family out for an afternoon, knowing she'll work late into the night to get the job done.

Companies reaise that a little flexibility will help them retain talented women

Reynolds says she would find it hard to go back to working full-time in an office.

"I think with home-based work, we are going forwards not backwards. Do we want to go back to the 1950"s?" she says, "I [was] feeling a bit burnt out when I was in my mid-30s.

"Today I've got this great balance and can contribute to a business but still work in a way that I'm not killing myself."

For advise on how to implement and manage flexible work arrangements contact Kerry Fallon Horgan on telephone (02) 9402 4741

Our leading edge workshop "Creating Flexible Workplaces & Getting Balanced" will be held in Canberra on 23 May 2008. To run this program at your workplace contact Flexibility At Work on (02) 9402 4741.

Lots more tips and strategies are available in Kerry’s book “Time On, Time Out! Flexible Work Solutions to Keep Your Life in Balance”. Hard copies have sold out but this 300 page book is now available as an e-book for only $27.00. To order your copy click here

"Time On, Time Out! Outlines strategies to minimise competing commitments using case studies of real people, with real babies and real jobs. It proposes solutions that reflect the broad range of experience and consultation the authors bring to their research, as well as optimism and enthusiasm for achieving a balance between work and life." New Workplace Magazine Further reviews at www.flexibility.com.au

Our personal life coaching sessions can give you the breakthroughs, insights, motivation and strategies you need to reduce the symptoms of stress, make the most of your precious time and achieve the life you want.
Contact Kerry Fallon Horgan on Tel: (02) 9402 4741 or email kerry@flexibility.com.au for your first coaching session, which includes a free copy of the 55 minute MP3 audio program “Flexibility At Work: The Opportunities & Challenges”.

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