Employers considering introducing a work from home scheme need to be able to trust their employees if the plan is to stand a chance of success.

This is the view expressed recently by Dave Coplin, director of envisioning for Microsoft UK. Mr Coplin explained that many people can conduct their work from anywhere thanks to the growth of new technologies but that the business thinking behind these new possibilities is yet to catch up.

He observed: “For employers it is about having the confidence in their employees and for most employers it is about having the culture that measures on output rather than process.”

Clarifying his statement regarding output and process, the director added: “Good employers who do this well focus on 'what is the outcome of that activity?' rather than 'what are the steps that they are taking to do it?'”

Companies that can learn to relax and trust their employees generally see higher rates of success with home workers: “If you take that output focus, then actually you can relax a bit, you can pull back and empower the employee to be the professional that you employed them to be wherever they need to be to do their jobs.”