Telecommuting In Financial Services Is Here To Stay
Like many financial institutions, BNY Mellon's wealth management department equips most employees with laptops and secure tokens so that they can dial into the network and work remotely. BNY Mellon has also started enabling remote workers to have video capabilities, namely through a product called Vidyo, which offers high-definition videoconferencing. Anthony Perkins, CIO for wealth management at BNY Mellon, says video will also facilitate more team-building and camaraderie across all offices. Staff members can typically work from home once a week or a couple of times a month. "All of our employees have the opportunity at any given time after a discussion with their manager," Perkins says.
Steve Neff, enterprise CTO of Fidelity, contends that the concept of being able to be highly productive regardless of where you are, which in large part has been driven by the consumerization of IT, has changed the definition of working remotely. "In the past we used to think about remote work as meaning working from home, but today we have many IT associates who are constantly on the move, and working remotely has a much broader meaning," Neff says. "Remote can mean impromptu work in the cafeteria with some colleagues or connecting with teammates half a world away over video while at home in the evening."
Neff points out that Fidelity's IT workforce is generally highly mobile. "We work closely with our partners in real estate to ensure that we have options in place to make it easier for our associates to be fully productive regardless of where they're sitting. This includes pervasive video and self-service IT support models," he says.
Still, most technology leaders believe that when it comes down to working remotely on a regular basis, the energy that's created when employees are in the same location can't be duplicated through telecommuting. Part of the problem with telecommuting, says BNY Mellon's Perkins, is that human nature dictates that people tend to multitask when they're on a phone call. He calls it "corporate ADD."
[Related: Unlike Yahoo, Financial Services Companies Are Right To Embrace Telecommuting]
"So you don't get the same level of energy, people aren't involved in what they're doing [with their] heart and soul," Perkins adds. "With instant messaging and emails, people have the tendency to lose their concentration. So it's really important to get people together strategically when you kick off a project. Even just to get people together to socialize."
Ultimately, Rubinow notes that remote working needs to be allowed on a case-by-case basis. Not everyone is suited to telecommuting, he argues. Further, the benefits of telecommuting depend on the type of project you're working on. If the work is highly interactive and involves other team members, remote working won't work. On the other hand, if employees work on their own, telecommuting is less of a hindrance. Rubinow says he generally doesn't let people he has never worked with before telecommute.
"When you have worked with a team member and you understand each other, there's chemistry and an established relationship," Rubinow says. "If they then say, 'You know what? I need to work more from home,' that's better. You know the person."
Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio
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