How to make teleworking work: widespread adoption of telecommuting programs is often hindered by non-technical factors

Communications News, Dec, 2008 by Shane Yu

Teleworking, broadly defined, is the ability to work from a home or remote location for all or part of the work week. Companies have been implementing large-scale teleworking programs for close to a decade, following a trend that had its root in contact centers. Use of home-based agents became a popular business strategy because of the clear, measurable results proven out by rigorous performance metrics, and the reduction in employee churn typical of many contact center operations.

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In recent years, improvements in technologies have led to a wider adoption of teleworking as an accepted work situation. Technology advances, such as high-speed Internet, IP telephony, e-mail, instant messaging, Web conferencing and videoconferencing, can streamline communications and collaboration among remote workers, enabling them to function as if they are in the same office.

The rise in teleworker programs makes a strong case for enterprises to consider the use of unified communications (UC) and may be the driving force leading to much wider deployments. The basic tenant of UC-communication and collaboration from anywhere, anytime-is demonstrated in the teleworker and mobile worker situations.

The federal government, as well as many state and local governments, are instituting telework programs. With some organizations considering four-day workweeks as an answer to rising energy costs, teleworking offers the benefits of a compressed workweek along with increased productivity, but without 10-hour days or the loss of service to customers for a full business day.

Organizations need clear, measurable goals before undertaking a teleworker program. Increasing employee flexibility and retention, cost savings, environmental concerns, and government incentives or mandates, for example, are among the top concerns of companies exploring teleworking programs.

Telecommuting programs allow organizations to hire new employees in remote geographies to take advantage of scarce skill sets or lower-cost labor. Some companies have used telecommuting to support their acquisition strategy. One particular company retained the best executives in newly acquired companies by not forcing them to relocate.

Telework programs often result in productivity gains, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Transportation, which reported improvements of from 10 percent to 20 percent, and as high as 40 percent. Cost savings is the second most-often cited justification for teleworker programs, specifically in real estate and facilities. The ability to close or reduce offices or to refrain from expansion saves on real estate and the facilities requirements to support them.

Another factor supporting growth in teleworking is related to environmental concerns as either part of a "green" initiative by the organization or as regulations or incentives from the government. One study showed that, on average, commuting five days a week releases more than 51,000 pounds of carbon dioxide into the environment and uses almost 400 gallons of gas per year.

Many governments are instituting tax incentives or regulations to encourage "greener" behaviors. In particular, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties in California provide a $500 tax credit to companies instituting telework programs. Georgia gives up to $20,000 in tax credits to conduct feasibility studies and up to $1,200 credit per teleworker, and Virginia grants a tax credit up to $35,000 credit per company.

In a telework program initiated in 1989, Arizona required 20 percent of its own workforce to work from home. Some cities like Seattle have mandates, including the Commute Trip Reduction Law, that can be met by instituting teleworker programs. Several cities are considering legislation that would require a percentage of employees in the city to work from home on "ozone alert days" to avoid loss of federal subsidies.

Widespread adoption of telecommuting programs, however, is often hindered by non-technical factors. These concerns vary by affected group, ranging from supervisors, human resources, IT and corporate security officers, with supervisors being the most vocal in their concerns.

Supervisors want to know how to measure productivity of those they cannot see, how to maintain team cohesion and collaboration or how to adjust their management style. Human resources executives worry about potential changes to employment contracts and policy enforcement procedures. IT managers worry about support and training of remote employees. Information security has also been cited as a major concern, especially for financial companies and government organizations.

There is no "one size fits all" answer to these concerns. In most cases, management techniques, training programs, policies, employee contracts, security procedures and technologies have been changed to ensure a program's success. The approach taken by many companies with successful programs has been to treat them as major change initiatives rather than solely technology deployments.