Technologically savvy companies do better in recruitment and retention of workers. That's what a study by Ceridian Employer Services, a Minneapolis-based provider of outsourced payroll and employer-services says. Their results show that 50% of employees say that working in virtual teams and telecommuting attracted them to join a company. And 66% said these work methods gave them an "excellent" reason to stay with an organization.

Small companies slow to capitalize Perhaps the most surprising result was that smaller companies have been slow to capitalize on these two important technological work techniques. Just 40% of the small companies surveyed permit telecommuting survey, while only a third assign workers to virtual teams for workers. In big companies, however, (more than 5,000 employees) 90% permit telecommuting, while 52% use virtual teams.

"Potential employees today, particularly younger ones, are so sophisticated in the use of PCs and the Internet, they can question the commitment to the future of an employer that ignores the use of these tools to increase productivity," says Brian Regan, a Ceridian vice president.

Regan says smaller companies have to create "boundaryless" work arrangements, so workers can thrive and produce without traditional boundaries of place and hierarchy.

One reason for smaller companies reluctance is money and resources, says Regan.