Originally published at the GenerationShift blog
Results from Virginia’s Telework Day were released this week. Some of the statistics that stood out:
– Teleworking one day per week equates to a $2,000 raise for each employee
– 69% of participants indicated that they accomplished more while teleworking
– If all interested employees engaged in telework, it would remove nearly 400,000 tons of pollutants from the environment
– 74% of participants indicated that their employers are more open to telework
– Biggest reported benefits of teleworking: #1 work/life balance, #2 productivity
– Most important factor in successful teleworking: leadership is on board
Check out the slides below to get the full picture.
To learn more about the push for telework in government and beyond, please see the Telework Exchange. If you’re looking for training that is designed to move managers off the fence, check out this 3-hour course I created in coordination with the US Office of Personnel Management.
That is what I am talking about! Hard numbers that support telework.
We employees can say the same things over and over, but until there are hard numbers to support what we are saying, the people who make the decision are not going to move farther. I would like to throw one more number out into the ring to see if anyone has tried to count the statistics. Did anyone count the number of dollars saved in the VA state buildings? More computers off, lights off, less water used; these must have saved VA state some money.
Here is what is important, compared to the idea from the Mayor of Chicago, the people are not taking two weeks off and not receiving their income, they are tele-working, which should save the state money, yet keep the income of the employees the same. They will still have income to spend in the economy, yet they also saved the state some money.
Like I have said before, I would even be willing to take a pay cut to work from home. That would save the government more money. If some people would be willing to go on a different pay scale to work from home, I can’t even imagine how much money the Government would save. I used the price of fuel, wear and tear on my vehicle, against the amount my utilities would go up, and I could still take a small pay cut and be in exactly the same status I am right now, but, with more productivity.
Here is another bonus for companies who support tele-work. Their employee net just became world wide, instead of local. Let’s just say someone wanted to work for a company in CA, and they were the perfect employee for that company. The company knew they needed this person, and they wanted to hire that person. Well, the person lives in NC, and they really do not want to risk moving, finding a new home, selling their home, etc, etc., just for a new job in this chaotic market. But, if the company in CA encouraged tele-work, they would have a great employee who fit the job perfectly, and the employee would be able to work in something they loved. On the flip side, their may be someone in CA, who really wants to work for a company in NC. CA would not be losing jobs to NC. More jobs would be open all over the US if more companies encouraged telework, and employees would not have to risk moving to apply for the job they were qualified for.
If the Government could look at their employee workforce like this, then they could see the talent they are losing because of strict outdated thinking. I know of someone this very second who really wants a job on USA JOBS, but this person would lose too much time and money driving the distance to accept the job. If the job was a tele-work job, they would have a great employee, and the employee would have a job they really love. This is just one example. There are many more.
One more thought – with the new administration pushing for more “green energy”, and the number of “green” ideas floating around. Telework should be at the top of everyone’s list! I think a companies “green” score should now include the % of people they allow to telework. If they do not allow anyone to telework, this number should be added into their carbon footprint score. Maybe a company could even get credit on their score for really pushing the telework initiative. — Now, if we can just get the Government to buy into this as an initiative they wish to push.
DISA (www.disa.mil) has been working hard at making telework work its employees. From the daily chatter around me, telework is just part of the culture — people forward their phones, but up signs on their cubes, notes on their calendars, etc. More and more meetings have dial-in options without asking, and with the impending BRAC to Ft. Meade, imho, telework will be critical to the transition. One of the goals here from the beginning was to make sure that the option was given to every employee, with a few exceptions, and created a telework focus group made up of a DISA employee cross section to aide in implementation, a sounding board or ideas, feedback. I think the open encouragement really helped, and DISA continues to be successful because of it.