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Work At Home Policy Benefits Sure Fit and its EmployeesBy Michele HollowWhen Liz Mandracchia applied for the vice president of marketing position at Sure Fit, the leading manufacturer of slipcovers, she negotiated to work at home one-to-two days a week. Fae Guerin, Internet marketing specialist, and Jeanie Monroe, creative director, arranged a similar deal. And Dawn Chavar, assistant to the chief executive officer and chief financial officer, broke her leg and worked from home for six weeks-effectively convincing management that working from home is possible. Chavar underwent reconstructive knee surgery that kept here out of the office for six weeks. "I opted to attempt to continue some of my duties-not so much as an attempt to show management that it was possible," she notes. "That turned out to be an unexpected bonus. I worked at home to spare the company the additional expense of hiring a temp in my absence, to spare my already over-taxed co-workers the additional burden of carrying out some of my duties and to spare my sanity. If I didn't have some work to keep my mind occupied and maintain a sense of connection with the company, six weeks of daytime TV surely would have had me climbing the walls." "Aside from the obvious and personal benefits-no need for make-up, working in sweatpants and slippers, increased flexibility in scheduling my day-I did find that without the usual daily distractions of a busy office environment, I was able to accomplish more work in a shorter period of time at home." Chavar's life line to her company was via phone, fax and e-mail. "It was the next best thing to being there," she says. On the negative side, she missed the camaraderie of her office buddies and at times felt a bit out of the loop. Her situation was a temporary one. She now works in the office full time. However, a large number of Sure Fit employees work from home. Many have negotiated the work from home policy during their interview. Mandracchia has a letter from Sure Fit stating that she can work from home at least one day a week. Mandracchia starts her day sometimes as early as 5 a.m. "I work on things that require no human contact like writing, computer work, answering and sending e-mails, and developing presentations," she explains. "My day then flows around my child's daily needs. Interaction work gets done before and during school hours and then after my child's bedtime. Essentially, a work at home mom's day begins with the rooster and doesn't end until the wee hours of the morning. Eating Wheaties and being hyper organized are necessities for work-at-home-moms." As vice president of marketing Mandracchia manages several people. "I am fortunate that the people I manage are responsible, capable and independent employees," she says. "We have quick check-ins with each other periodically throughout my days at home. If a situation requires my attention, they have a hotline to me at all times and I can help them with whatever is going on. It works successfully with my group." Upwards of 50 million Americans work from home in some capacity, according to the American Internet Users Survey. Of that number, more than 13 million Americans work from home full time. Forty-five million Americans, or 35 percent of all U.S. households, work out of home offices. At Sure Fit, the work-at-home policy started with Liana Toscanini. "I began as a full time employee working in the New York office for three to four years before moving to Massachusetts," she explains. "I actually went freelance and started working from home for a year before I moved to Massachusetts. The desire to have one's own business usually stems from needing a certain amount of freedom in decision making. In my case, I thought I had a marketable skill that was easily transferable to a home office environment. It's all writing, faxes, e-mails and calls." Sure Fit didn't want to lose such a valuable employee. The company president hired Toscanini as vice president of Insurgence. "Insurgence means challenging authority," says Toscanini. "I am more of a creative type, a guerilla marketer-I end up challenging the corporate view a lot. I am part of a strategic management team. My responsibilities include web, catalog (direct marketing) and public relations." She travels to New York once a week for face-to-face meetings. The rest of the week she works at home as early as 6 a.m. to as late as 10 p.m.-with breaks in the day. "I take breaks during the day to get some exercise or do errands or have meetings for my volunteer work," she says. On average, I work about eight to ten hours a day for Sure Fit." She oversees a staff of seven. "All have reported to me at any one time from home," she says. "It works out well. I need people at a certain level of independence, maturity and intelligence since I'm not there to watch over them." "By working at home I get more work done. Writing requires quiet and no interruptions. I also find that I am in better health because there is less stress and I have the ability to fit exercise in." "The only negatives are not getting the face-to-face time in the office for brainstorming." Monroe, Sure Fit's creative director, has that face-to-face time once a week. "The group I manage is in Allentown, PA, and Newfane, VT, so it doesn't matter if I'm home or in New York City (Sure Fit's headquarters)," says Monroe. "I actually am able to touch base with them better when I'm home because there are no distractions. I have a bimonthly staff meeting in the Allentown office." Monroe is in charge of producing Sure Fit's catalogue and web site. She works 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. without any interruptions. "I'm a happy employee because of this schedule, so I work harder for the company." Guerin agrees. She works from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. "I prefer to stick to a routine," she says. "I do phone work as late as 7 p.m. I'm on the web all of the time. I have several Internet accounts for Sure Fit. A lot of my co-workers work from home. We get more done because there's none of that water cooler talk or idle chit chat that goes on as part of the office environment. My greatest benefit is saving time commuting. I also save money on gas and lunch. Sure Fit gets more back from me because of my productiveness at home." The majority of Sure Fit's work from home employees are in its customer service division. To work from home all one needs is a phone and a computer. Sure Fit has 20 customer service agents working from home right now. Five of them work full time and the rest work part time. "We started this program about two-and-a-half years ago," says Lynn Monek, director of Customer Service. "By allowing the reps to work from home, we have been able to retain excellent customer service reps who would have left our employment due to pregnancy's or child care issues. A good percent of them have small children and want to be at home with them rather than using a day care center. They have flexible hours. By utilizing at home staff we have freed up seats in the call center and were able to hire more people in house." One of those workers is Lori Schlemmer. She puts in about 30 hours each week. The work from home schedule allows her to spend more time with her two small children. "Sure Fit is a family oriented company that really supports the needs of their employees," says Schlemmer. "Which in turn, I believe makes the employees more loyal and more productive."
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