NCC Members have free access to this Guideline on the Principia website.

Over the last few decades the way business has been conducted has changed radically. The decline in large scale manufacturing has meant a significant move from traditional industries towards the provision of services, such as finance, insurance, retailing, entertainment and leisure. At the same time many companies have developed operations at both a national and international level.

One major impact of these changes is that rather than employing staff at a single location or in regional offices, more companies now have a wider spread, often with many employees based at home or regularly travelling between customer sites. The term 'e-workforce' has been coined to describe this category of employees who work outside the normal confines of a company's premises and are managed remotely. Note that the terms 'teleworking' and 'telecommuting' are often used to denote the ways in which staff work remotely.

This guideline looks at the business, operational and technical issues associated with establishing and supporting an e-workforce. It also considers both the benefits that can be delivered by an effective e-workforce and the potential problems that need to be addressed. Finally, it briefly looks at the practical experiences of some organisations who have gone down the e-workforce route.