Telecommuting

Transitioning into Telecommuting
Research Paper 1
July 2010
What is Telecommuting? “Telework allows employees to work from off-site locations and to keep in touch with supervisors and coworkers through the use of computers, telephones, and other communications equipment. Most employees who telework work off-site for just some of their workweek; however, some people telework on a full-timebasis.” (Curley, 1)

According to the WorldatWork Telework Trendlines 2009 survey report, Telecommute is “to either periodically or regularly perform work for one’s employer from home or another remote location” and Telework refers to “perform all of one’s work either from home or another remote location, either for an employer or through self-employment.” (Dieringer, 4)
Some of the main findingsin this Survey, where 1,002 U.S. adults 18 years and older were interviewed, are:
• “More Americans, and a higher percentage of Americans (a two-year increase of 39 percent, and an increase of 74 percent since 2005), telecommuted in 2008.
• Occasional telecommuting is on the rise.
• The most common locations for remote work are home, car and a customer’s place of business. Restaurants andlibraries are becoming less common locations for telecommuting.
• Many workers not currently telecommuting think some of their job tasks might be suitable for remote work (38%), but they usually are unwilling to give up pay in order to telecommute (61%).
• Today’s telecommuters are often 40-year-old male college grads in a higher income household” (Dieringer, 3)

| “The use of telecommutingis valued in individualistic countries where people value autonomy but may not be valued in collectivistic countries |
|where people tend to give priority to strong social ties“ (Webber, 1) |

|So, regardless of the numerous opinions and beliefs about the benefits and challenges of Telecommuting, this is somethingthat is having an increased used by employers. Even the federal government is doing its first efforts to get into this practice since “Federal agencies would be required to establish policies that encourage more employees to work from home under a bill passed. The House bill, and a Senate bill approved in May, would provide managers and employees with more guidance on telecommuting, or “telework,”as the legislation refers to it. They would also require agencies to put an official in charge of telecommuting policies” (Torbati, 1)
Now the challenge for those private employers not practicing telecommuting, but willing to, is how to do it? Does it worth the investment? “Most organizations do not track telework’s ROI, whether the program is formal or informal. Fundamentally, metrics areoverlooked for three reasons: lack of measurement expertise/know-how, they are viewed as labor-intensive and lack of accountability regarding telework within the organization” (Verive, 6) So, for those looking for statistics on ROI, there isn’t much information.
There is no much information either about how to transition into Telecommuting, but after some research, I found some interesting resources.First one is the model “Strategize, Transform, Implement, Recalibrate (STIR) developed by ICF International to help businesses design and execute programs.” (Rodensky, 1) .
Rodensky (2010) sets the Model in 4 Steps which I summarize below:
Step One: Strategize
Demonstrating a compelling reason to establish a strong telework program will help to accelerate its acceptance and sustain theprogram. Each organization should consider carefully how telework can be a key element of its strategy. For some, the drivers for a robust telework program are a lack of office space or a need to reduce operating costs. For others, telework is a powerful recruitment and retention tool.
Step Two: Transform
Successful telework programs require all employees to communicate differently to ensure...