????而金融服務公司State Street Corp（STT）則正在努力維系一個更大規模的群體，即它的全球雇員。上周，這家金融服務公司推出了全球Flex員工網絡（Flex Employee Network），公司的全球雇員自然也可以舉行虛擬會議，比如討論最佳的遠程工作實踐。這個項目屬于該公司實現更靈活工作模式的新方案的一部分，這個方案還包括遠程辦公的技術支持，跟蹤生產率的在線工具，而當遠程辦公人員來公司上班的時候，該方案還能為職員預定共享的辦公空間。

????STT發現，遠程辦公人員很高興自己擁有更多意外的契機和同事進行面對面的交流。Flex項目辦公室的副總裁馬亞?熱爾曼對此解釋說，因為當他們在辦公室時，他們可能會被分配到某個辦公區域，而此時坐在旁邊的人，他們以前并不認識。但是，某個團隊最近在同事的節慶日向他贈送禮物時猛然意識到，他們忘了讓其他在家工作的同事參與進來。他們決心永遠不再犯這樣的錯誤。

????“關于虛擬團隊和如何加強無形的紐帶，我們學到了很多知識，”熱爾曼說?！拔覀円呀浟私饬撕芏嗟男枨?，它們將是我們2012工作的重心?！?/p>

有些工作無法在家完成

????那些在家工作三天的人在這三天內都效率極高，但當他們來到辦公室時，他們更看重能否與同事進行現場互動。盡管如此，“某些工作確確實實無法在家完成。某些金融服務的工作需要利用只有在組織中存在的技術才能完成，”她說。

????斯坦利建議，當遠程辦公行不通時，雇主應該尋找其他的辦法，以便員工能夠照樣擁有靈活度。例如，STT提供了五種靈活的工作安排：彈性時間（日常工作時間表是靈活的），彈性場所（工作地點是靈活的），壓縮工作周，減少工時，工作分擔（與搭檔分擔工作職責）。

????斯塔克贊同：“如果想為某個職位找到最佳人選，靈活性比金錢更重要?！?/p>

????譯者：聶傳炎

????State Street Corp. (STT) is trying to unite an even bigger group: its global work force. Last week, the financial services company launched a global Flex Employee Network with, naturally, virtual events for employees around the globe such as a talk about best practices in telework. The initiative is part of the company's new approach to flexible work, which includes technological support for telecommuters, online tools for tracking productivity, and the option to reserve shared office space for those days when virtual workers are on site.

????State Street has found that telecommuters enjoy having more moments of serendipitous in-person connection with colleagues because when they are in the office, they may be assigned a space next to someone they previously didn't know, says Maia Germain, vice president of the Flex Program Office. But when a team was recently giving a colleague a gift for a life event, they realized they forgot to pass the collection hat to the people who were working from home. They resolved never to make that mistake again.

????"We've learned a lot about virtual teams and connecting the intangible things," Germain says. "We've been able to come up with a lot of needs we'll be focusing on in 2012."

Some jobs cannot be done from home

????People who work three days at home are very productive on those days, but they value even more the ability to interact with colleagues in person when they come to the office. Nonetheless, "some of the jobs really, truly can't be done at home. Certain financial services roles can only be done with technology that only exists within the organization," she says.

????When telework isn't possible, employers should find other ways to be flexible with their workers, Stanley suggests. State Street, for instance, offers five types of flexible work arrangements: flex time (your daily work schedule is flexible), flex place (where you work is flexible), compressed workweeks, reduced hours, and job sharing (you split the job duties with a partner).

????Stark agrees: "Flexibility is worth more than money if you want to land the best person for a position."