The author would like to thank and acknowledge the assistance she received from the following people: Ms. Karol Ehler, Mr. Andy Lavarre, Ms. Connie Rose, and Mr. David Haviland for their insights into the effectiveness of telecommuting at Booz-Allen; Ms. Terhi Molsa, for the use of a telecommuting survey developed by her as the basis for the author's survey instrument; and from Ms. Josie Reja and Ms. Julie Dodd-Thomas, Pacific Bell, for their permission to use portions of Pacific Bell's Telecommuting Resource Guide for Appendix C of this paper, The Telecommuting Proposal.
[References, Bibliography, and Appendixes -- Survey Questionnaire, Analysis of Survey Data, and The Telecommuting Proposal -- are available upon request]
Requirements to comply with the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and a strong desire to attract and retain skilled employees have compelled many companies to implement telecommuting programs. The Clean Air Act will require companies near the Washington, DC, area to reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles being driven each day to the workplace by 13 percent. Additionally, as companies seek to reduce employee turnover, thereby reducing the high cost of recruiting and training new employees, they have become more willing to offer their employees more flexible work arrangements. Companies will not be given a choice as to whether or not to comply with the Clean Air Act; however, they will have choices as to how they will comply. The best, most cost-effective method will be one that also satisfies other corporate goals, such as employee retention.
The author investigated whether or not a telecommuting program would help bring Booz-Allen into compliance with the Clean Air Act and whether such a program would be accepted by Booz-Allen employees. Firmwide initiatives illustrate that Booz-Allen & Hamilton is committed to providing its employees a flexible workplace; for example, a policy allowing part-time work has recently been released. Employees participated in interviews and a pilot telecommuting study in conjunction with this investigation. The interviews served to assess the organizational climate and attitudes toward telecommuting; the pilot study served to test hypotheses related to the implementation of a telecommuting program.
The research fully supported the hypothesis that telecommuting would be a good business decision for Booz-Allen. As stated earlier, to comply with the Clean Air Act, a company must decrease the number of single-occupant vehicles being driven to the workplace by 13 percent. Based on an analysis of the data gathered through the employee interviews, it was concluded that Booz-Allen could exceed the 13 percent goal by 8 percent if 50 percent of its employees were to telecommute for 2 days per week. Additionally, the literature review, employee interviews, and pilot study, all indicated that a telecommuting program would be well-received and supported by Booz-Allen employees, and, therefore, would be likely to help bring Booz-Allen into compliance with Clean Air Act guidelines if implemented in a firm-wide program.
The author recommends that Booz-Allen give full consideration to implementing the telecommuting proposal she has drafted. This proposal explains why Booz-Allen is interested in telecommuting; the benefits to be gained through telecommuting by the firm and its employees; Booz-Allen's objectives for the program; a telecommuting policy based on Booz-Allen's Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements; an implementation plan; criteria for the selection of telecommuters; training topics; and program evaluation criteria.
This study will assess the feasibility of offering telecommuting to Booz-Allen employees and evaluate the desirability of implementing a telecommuting program from a corporate and employee perspective. If the data supports the premise that telecommuting would help bring the corporation into compliance with Clean Air Act guidelines, as well as promote other company goals, such as employee satisfaction, the results will be used as background information for developing a telecommuting proposal.
Booz-Allen & Hamilton is a privately held, international management and technology consulting firm. Founded in 1914, it employs a total of approximately 5400 employees in more than 50 offices worldwide, and is the 25th largest employer in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 require metropolitan areas located in pollution nonattainment areas to discourage unnecessary auto use, and to encourage efficient commuting. The goal of the Clean Air Act guidelines is to reduce the number of employees commuting to work in single-occupancy vehicles. As Booz-Allen is located in a serious nonattainment zone, it is not be required to comply with the guidelines until 1999; however, it is seeking to develop and implement programs in the Washington area that would bring the company into compliance before that deadline.
In order to reach its goal with respect to the Clean Air Act, Booz-Allen is assessing a number of possible options. Telecommuting is a formal work option at more than 500 large corporations (DuBrin, A.J.) in a number of cities around the country. As these and other corporations are compelled to comply with the Clean Air Act, telecommuting will become an increasingly practical option to achieve compliance.
Currently, Booz-Allen is compiling data collected from an Employee Commute Options (ECO) survey. The purpose of this survey was to assess employee attitudes towards a number of flexible commuting options that would help bring Booz-Allen into compliance with Clean Air Act guidelines. Although telecommuting was not directly addressed in the survey questions, a number of respondents provided information concerning their opinions on telecommuting.
As further incentive to the company, the investigation will assess the potential for telecommuting to further other corporate goals, such as improving employee satisfaction, work performance, and retention. With respect to employee satisfaction, Booz-Allen recently implemented a Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements, which "recognizes that because of commitments outside the firm, some individuals may require an extra degree of flexibility in their work hours. Therefore, the firm fully endorses flexible work arrangements where they are mutually beneficial to the individual and to the firm and is committed to making such arrangements work."
By developing this policy, the firm has shown its commitment to addressing "quality-of-life" issues affecting its employees; therefore, the author believes that incorporating this element in the investigation will serve to further persuade the firm that implementing a telecommuting program would be a positive step -- bringing the company into Clean Air Act compliance while simultaneously improving employee morale and welfare.
Sources of material for the feasibility assessment will include the a literature review, employee interviews, and a pilot study.
One of the proposed steps defined in the Clean Air Act as a means of reducing so-called "greenhouse gas" emissions relates to transportation proposals (Lee, G., 1993). Within this proposal, in addition to such suggestions as offering cash allowances in lieu of subsidized parking, increased parking fees, and transit subsidies, is a suggestion to allow employees to telecommute in greater numbers. Carol Levin (1994, February) states that telecommuting will assist companies in satisfying the Clean Air Act requirement that corporations in nonattainment areas increase the number of riders per car from 1.3 to 1.5 -- this translates into a reduction of 13% in the number of vehicles driven to the workplace. Levin estimates 1.5 billion gallons of fuel would be saved and 3.5 million tons of carbon monoxide would be prevented from polluting the air by 2000. Because of the nature of the work performed at Booz-Allen, employees often work irregular hours. This causes the majority of workers to drive their own cars to work, by themselves, rather than carpooling. Additionally, workers sometimes must make unexpected trips to their client sites, further encouraging them to drive their own cars to work. These problems have been acknowledged within the ECO survey, and management has attempted to offer alternatives such as shuttle buses, with minimal success.
Dove-tailing with the need to reduce emissions is the Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements that defines guidelines for implementing non-traditional work environments. The policy is part of the firm's "diversity initiative" to enhance the attraction, development, and retention of high-quality staff from the diversifying population and in the face of shifting lifestyle profiles. Within the policy, salaried employees are authorized to work at home, depending on the nature of the work to be performed, although telecommuting is not specifically mentioned.
Part of its efforts to comply with Clean Air Act guidelines is the development of ECO Plans based on the survey results. These plans are intended to encourage Booz-Allen employees who currently drive alone to choose an alternative commute mode. In developing the plans, Booz-Allen will follow the protocol established by the Maryland Department of the Environment for regulated companies operating in Maryland. This protocol was selected because of its general likeness to other ECO regulations. The essential steps of this protocol include: surveying employees at the work site; analyzing the survey results to establish the work-site commute profile; developing a feasible ECO Plan based on these survey results and the requirements of the firm; and implementing the plan.
At the federal level, the Clinton Administration has taken an active role in promoting telecommuting programs throughout the country, especially for its own workers. President Clinton believes that "the federal government should be viewed as a model employer in the availability and flexibility of quality worklife programs..." On September 7, 1994, his Administration released, The Information Infrastructure: Reaching Society's Goals, a follow-on report to Putting the Information Infrastructure to Work, released this past May. Reaching Society's Goals considers three principal forces behind telecommuting: the environment, economics, and quality of life. It recognizes the difficulty many cities are having in meeting the requirements of the Clean Air Act, notes the negative impact of rush-hour traffic on the local economy, and emphasizes the changing social forces that are causing workers to demand more flexible work schedules. Reaching Society's Goals offers important governmental recognition to telecommuting as a benefit to workers. These improvements include "increased job satisfaction, reduced commuting time and transportation costs, diminished stress, improved quality of life, and improved family functioning."
The government also addresses the need to more fully incorporate telecommuting into the lives of federal employees in its accompanying report to the National Performance Review on reinventing human resources management. In that document, the General Services Administration and the Office of Personnel Management were tasked to develop a legislative proposal to allow flexiplace and telecommuting arrangements for all federal employees.
The literature review also included searches of technical and business books and periodicals to gain insight on current information on telecommuting, including employee attitudes toward telecommuting, effects of telecommuting on employees and organizations, and the practical application of telecommuting policies. Reagan Mays Ramsower (1985) analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting, and corporate experiences related to telecommuting, as well as presents a research model and related hypotheses. Additionally, Ramsower presents a research approach to assessing the effects of telecommuting on workers, illustrates how to perform data collection and analysis, and provides the results of that research. Although the research did not take the requirements of the Clean Air Act into account (the amendments were not passed at the time the book was published) the author believes it provides valuable information about the "human" factors related to telecommuting.
Dan Minoli (1994, January) believes that as the economy becomes more information based, the trend towards telecommuting will continue to grow -- probably at a rate of about 20% to 30% per year. He states that since information products can be transported both quickly and cheaply, those individuals who work to produce that information can be relocated outside the traditional office. Minoli notes, however, that although the telecommuting trend is accelerating, there are also retarding factors that corporations must take into account when considering such an option.
Minoli's article specifically names the Clean Air Act as the most significant "driver" of telecommuting. He notes government support for such plans for the purpose of reducing traffic congestion, air pollution, and neighborhood crime (by increasing the daytime population), conserving energy, and creating employment opportunities for the disabled.
The two other drivers mentioned are employers' needs to adapt to the changing human resource environment and changing employee life styles. With respect to the first item, Minoli states that employers are adopting telecommuting policies to increase the productivity level of their employees; to recruit and retain valuable employees; to reduce office space costs; to offer employment opportunities to disabled workers; and to allow quicker recovery from natural disasters by using telecommuters' homes as alternate work sites. Concerning the second item, Minoli explains that employees, when offered telecommuting as an option, use the opportunity to spend more time with their families; save money on commuting expenses; increase productivity by working with fewer interruptions in more comfortable surroundings; and to reduce stress and exposure to air pollution. Minoli states further that the greatest obstacle to telecommuting is not technical feasibility, rather it is the difficulty in convincing many firms that telecommuting would be beneficial and not impede productivity.
The literature available demonstrates that companies across a variety of industries are implementing telecommuting for a number of reasons: conforming to the Clean Air Act, offering valued employees additional work options, and decreasing office overhead costs.
Another key element in the literature review was research concerning the successful implementation of a telecommuting program. Pacific Bell's Telecommuting Resource Guide provided the author her primary guidance in this area. Mr. Jack Robertson, Pacific Bell Telecommuting Manager, recommends the following five steps to successfully implement a telecommuting program:
The author began by: meeting with management to ensure a consistent understanding of the study goals; developing a notebook to organize and reference research materials; performing an extensive literature review; identifying candidates for data collection surveys and interviews; developing the research instrument; and designing a one-week pilot study.1
The author then conducted the data collection surveys and interviews with identified personnel; performed the pilot study with one of her employees; analyzed the data gathered through the literature review, surveys, interviews and pilot study; and developed conclusions and recommendations from this analysis. The surveys served to assess the organizational climate and attitudes toward telecommuting. The pilot study served to test hypotheses and possible options to be included in the final report. An important aspect of the pilot study was an assessment by both the employee and the author of the success of the study in terms of productivity. As the perceptions of management as to the productivity of telecommuting employees must be considered when deciding whether to implement such a program, the pilot study, although short in duration,was considered extremely critical to the author in her assessment.
The author then evaluated this information with respect to implementing a telecommuting program at Booz-Allen. An important aspect of this effort was gauging the likelihood of (1) employees using the option in a manner that would benefit both themselves and the company, and (2) management acceptance of a telecommuting proposal.
After completing the previous steps, the author: identified the requirements of a telecommuting proposal by reviewing and evaluating existing plans2, studies, and related documentation; and drafted an initial telecommuting proposal based on Pacific Bell's Telecommuting Resource Guide. The guide suggested the following elements be included in the telecommuting proposal: an executive summary outlining the proposal; an introduction explaining why the organization is interested in telecommuting; a definition of telecommuting; the history of telecommuting; evaluation of competition -- illustrating if and how industry competitors are implementing telecommuting programs; the benefits of telecommuting to the firm; adjustments necessary within the organization to make telecommuting a success; program objectives; the telecommuting policy; an implementation plan; telecommuter selection criteria; an outline of training topics; focus group participation guidelines; program evaluation criteria; and a recommendation for implementing the program. The author considered the recommended format and content of the telecommuting proposal as outlined in the guide and tailored it to suit the needs of Booz-Allen.
This study was limited by the number of employees who answered the survey and the extent to which the author was restricted in her ability to conduct the pilot study by higher management.
The purpose of the Literature Review was to gather information on (1) the Clean Air Act; (2) Booz-Allen's Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements; (3) the ECO survey and draft plan; (4) government initiatives to encourage telecommuting; (5) the attitudes of employees toward telecommuting; (6) the effects of telecommuting on employees and organizations; (7) the practical application of telecommuting programs; and (8) methods to ensure the successful implementation of a telecommuting program.
The data gathered in the Literature Review supports the hypothesis that telecommuting would help Booz-Allen satisfy the Clean Air Act requirement that corporations in nonattainment areas decrease the number of single-occupant vehicles by 13%. The author will demonstrate in her discussion of the Employee Survey results that even a nominal decrease in the number of cars being driven to work each day would make a significant contribution toward satisfying the Clean Air Act guidelines.
The two other drivers discussed in the Literature Review are employers' needs to adapt to the changing human resource environment and changing employee life styles. With respect to the first item, the author found that employers are instituting telecommuting programs to increase the productivity level of their employees; recruit and retain valuable employees; reduce office space costs; offer employment opportunities to disabled workers; and allow quicker recovery from natural disasters by using telecommuters' homes as alternate work sites. Concerning the second item, the author found that employees, when offered the opportunity to telecommute, use the opportunity to spend more time with their families; save money on commuting expenses; increase productivity by working with fewer interruptions in more comfortable surroundings; and to reduce stress and exposure to air pollution. Further, the greatest obstacle to telecommuting is not technical feasibility, rather it is the difficulty in convincing a company that telecommuting would be beneficial and not impede productivity.
Finally, the Literature Review provided information on how to successful implement a telecommuting program. Pacific Bell's Telecommuting Resource Guide provided the author the basis and significant content for the construction of her Telecommuting Proposal. .
Although this review provided significant anecdotal evidence that telecommuting would help Booz-Allen conform to the requirements of the Clean Air Act, as well as achieve other important corporate goals discussed earlier, the author believed it was necessary to assess the particular likelihood of the success of such a program at Booz-Allen. In order to do so, the author surveyed and interviewed a number of Booz-Allen employees -- three of whom now telecommute -- and performed a pilot study with one of her employees.
The author electronically mailed a questionnaire to 35 employees to assess employee opinions concerning telecommuting4; of these, 20 were returned.5 Of note, the author interviewed 3 employees who now telecommute from Rhode Island, North Carolina, and Texas. These employees provided extensive personal comments concerning their overall support for telecommuting, and their concerns about its potential drawbacks.
Mr. Andy Lavarre, a data communications engineer for Booz-Allen, telecommutes from Rhode Island. Mr. Lavarre began telecommuting in 1992, "working out of his sailboat using a single phone line and Zenith Z-note 325Lc laptop computer." He has since moved to a larger home and set up a more "telecommuter-friendly" environment, including two phone lines and cable TV feeds. He has access to the Internet using a SLIP account through a local provider, costing $75 per month plus long distance charges. In order to access the Booz-Allen Washington, DC, local area network, Mr. Lavarre uses ReachOut software.
Mr. Lavarre said that, "the technology has been something of a challenge. But the real challenge has been convincing people that it could be done and dealing with the bureaucratic issues." For example, Booz-Allen has a very complicated time-charging system. Employees must charge their time to individual contract tasks using "charge numbers" and must record the location in which the work was performed for tax purposes. Mr. Lavarre said that a "significant issue is time accounting. I'm very sensitive to the appearance of impropriety, so I've got a pretty elaborate time accounting process to prove what I do with my time, should anyone ask." He has written a computer program using Visual Basic to link projects, billable accounts, and elapsed time; he then imports this data to Microsoft Excel, where the data is tabulated and formatted according to the Booz-Allen timesheet format.
Mr. Lavarre also expressed health-related concerns. He says he is "beginning to suspect a syndrome similar to that of children entering kindergarten for the first time. Telecommuting keeps you at home and out of physical proximity of others. Airport and office environments expose you to a huge array of assorted microbes." He says that over the past few months, "every time he goes on a business trip he comes home with some sort of ailment or another, just like the kids who get sick the first time they go off to school." When asked if he would do it all again, however, Mr. Lavarre is unequivocal: "Absolutely. I think I work a lot harder now than when I was in a conventional office, but I really enjoy it more."
Regarding the survey, Mr. Lavarre only disagreed with two statements: (1) Feeling of isolation...are not inherent in telecommuting, and (2) Physical absence from the workplace does NOT disadvantage the telecommuter's prospects for promotion. He was unsure as to whether Booz-Allen should pay for the telecommuter's equipment and related costs. Overall, Mr. Lavarre's answers to the survey indicate he strongly supports telecommuting as an option for Booz-Allen employees.
Ms. Karol Ehler, a member of the Telecommunications Practice who telecommutes from North Carolina, travels to McLean occasionally for client meetings. She strongly believes that telecommuters can continue to provide a high level of support to clients "with the commitment of the employee and the firm to make it work" and that telecommuting would be an asset to Booz-Allen. Ms. Ehler believes that "the most important criteria is the impact on the quality of service offered to clients...having the backing of the client for telecommuting arrangements is imperative. This is particularly important in my situation because I am in North Carolina. My clients understand and accept that I cannot be available for meetings for meetings without sufficient notice."
She agrees that telecommuting increases job satisfaction and decreases absenteeism. She notes that she charges less sick time because of the flexibility she has to do her work on her own schedule. Additionally, she strongly agrees that telecommuting makes it easier to combine work and family responsibilities.
Ms. Ehler's primary concerns revolve around her feelings of isolation and her uncertainty about her future promotion prospects. She believes that it "may not be possible to work effectively from outside the office and accomplish the milestones needed to be promoted; however, this is becoming less of an issue with changes in appraisals and promotion requirements."
Ms. Connie Rose, also a member of the Telecommunications Practice, telecommutes from Texas; she, too, travels to McLean occasionally for client meetings. She believes that "telecommuting would be appropriate for some individuals. The person must be familiar with what is expected of them -- have an established work ethic -- and be able to work on their own with little to no direct supervision." Additionally, she says that maintaining a high level of client satisfaction is dependent on whether the telecommuter can be reached easily.
Ms. Rose says that the most difficult aspect of telecommuting for her has been the lack of social interaction. "I like having people to talk to and go to lunch with." She has also experienced difficulties coordinating with coworkers on projects.
Ms. Rose commented that telecommuting can only be successful if Booz-Allen has a good communications system. She said that the Booz-Allen local/wide area network is very good for calling in and accessing electronic mail; however, it goes down often, making it difficult to send and receive files to and from colleagues. She said there have been a number of times that she was working under time pressure to complete a project and was unable to do so because of system difficulties. In spite of the difficulties she has encountered, Ms. Rose strongly agrees it is possible to provide a high level of support to her clients while working from a remote site. She also agrees that telecommuting increases employee job satisfaction, and strongly agrees that it decreases absenteeism, and makes it easier to combine family and work responsibilities. Overall, she agrees that telecommuting would be an asset to Booz-Allen.
Of the 20 respondents, 17 of whom now commute to the office alone, 80 percent "strongly agreed" or "agreed" that a telecommuting program "would be an asset to Booz-Allen." Four respondents were "unsure" and no respondents "disagreed." Additionally, 18 respondents either strongly agreed (5)6 or agreed (11), or were unsure (2) about the statement, "Telecommuting increases worker satisfaction." Only 2 disagreed. Based on the answers to these two questions, the author extrapolated that a significant percentage of employees would telecommute if given the opportunity, and, therefore, necessarily reduce the number of single-occupant vehicles being driven to Booz-Allen each day. Table 1 illustrates the mathematical calculations supporting this hypothesis.
******************************************
Number of cars driven by respondents to work each week:
17 cars x 5 days/week = 85 cars/week
If 9 people who now commute alone to the office were to stay at home 2 days each week, 18
fewer cars would be on the road each week:
9 cars x 2 days/week = 18 cars/week
This translates to a 21% reduction in automobile use:
18/ 85 = 21%
If 9 people who now commute alone to the office were to stay at home 3 days each week, 18
fewer cars would be on the road each week:
9 cars x 3 days/week = 27 cars/week
This translates to a 21% reduction in automobile use:
27 , 85 = 32 %
******************************************
The two questions that had the highest number of negative responses were, "Feelings of isolation...are not inherent in telecommuting (12)," and "Physical absence from the workplace does not disadvantage the telecommuter's prospects for promotion (9)." It was significant that a high number of respondents -- eight -- answered "not sure" to this question. It will be important to the success of a telecommuting program to mitigate these concerns.
One solution to the first issue would be to limit the number of days per week an employee may telecommute. This concern would likely decrease significantly if an employee were to telecommute only one or two days per week. Additionally, appropriate training for telecommuters will be important in teaching employees what to expect when they begin telecommuting. Among those employees currently telecommuting, each noted this as a drawback of telecommuting. These responses strengthen the hypothesis put forth by the author that limiting the number of days per week out of the office would solve this problem: each of the telecommuters is geographically isolated from the office, eliminating the possibility of interaction with others.
In responding to the second issue, it will be important for the telecommuting policy to include a statement to counter employee concerns. Booz-Allen's Policy on Flexible Work Arrangements addresses these concerns with respect to part-time employment, stating, "Working part-time may or may not slow...career advancement...The rate of career advancement depends primarily on individual performance as measured against established standards." This statement is compatible with and easily translatable to a telecommuting policy. The author believes that this question highlights an important aspect of telecommuting -- allaying the concerns of employees as they seek promotion within the firm. These concerns MUST be addressed to successfully implement a telecommuting program.
The pilot study was conducted with one of the author's subordinates for two purposes. First, as the author already had first-hand experience with telecommuting from the subordinate's point of view (herself), she believed it was necessary to assess telecommuting from the manager's perspective. Also, she believed it was necessary to assess the feasibility of telecommuting in a controlled environment. During the study, the author also spent a half day working from home to evaluate any problems that might arise under those circumstances. Overall, the pilot study was a success. After the pilot was completed, the subject, Mr. David Haviland, and the author discussed both the positive and negative aspects of the study.
On the positive side, the author did not have any significant communication problems with Mr. Haviland while he worked from home. He was always available by telephone and checked his electronic mail, as well as on-site voice mail, frequently, replying to clients and the author in a timely manner. In fact, the client was unaware that Mr. Haviland was not working on site.
As the study was short in duration and the timeframe was chosen so as not to interfere with any meetings or other events that required "face-to-face" time, the author believes there was not enough time to fully assess the negative impacts of telecommuting. There were a few incidents that required flexibility on the author's part, and she believes there will managers who will not be willing to exercise the flexibility on the few occasions it is required. The pilot study highlighted the requirement that managers of telecommuters be fully supportive of their workers' participation in a program.
Additionally, when the author worked the half day from home, she experienced significant difficulties caused not by telecommuting, per se, but by the software provided by Booz-Allen for remote access. She found it to be counterintuitive and not user friendly. These problems were not experienced by Mr. Haviland as his at-home computer is a Macintosh, which is more fully supported for remote access by Booz-Allen. (The author was using a PC.)
In light of the favorable data gathered, the author determined that a telecommuting program would be well-received and supported by Booz-Allen employees, and, therefore, would be likely to help bring Booz-Allen into compliance with Clean Air Act guidelines if implemented in a firm-wide program
The purpose of this study was to determine if telecommuting would be a positive corporate decision for Booz-Allen: a useful tool for bringing the company into compliance with Clean Air Act guidelines, while at the same time increasing employee welfare, morale, and retention.
Referring back to the Literature Review, where Levin stated that a 13 percent decrease in the number of vehicles being driven to the workplace would satisfy the requirements of the Clean Air Act, it can be concluded that if 50 percent of employees were to telecommute for as little as 2 days per week, the company would exceed the 13 percent goal by 8 percent. Even if the total decrease were only 10 percent, however, it is still clear that telecommuting should be a significant element in any corporate effort to reduce the number of employees commuting to work.
The survey results also support the findings of the Literature Review that telecommuting increases worker satisfaction. As discussed earlier in the data analysis section, 18 respondents either strongly agreed (5) or agreed (11), or were unsure (2) about the statement, "Telecommuting increases worker satisfaction." Of those employees currently telecommuting, each agreed (2) or strongly agreed (1); the participant in the pilot study strongly agreed with the statement.
The final step was for the author to draft a telecommuting proposal to submit to Booz-Allen management. This step consisted of assessing each of the elements suggested in the Telecommuting Resource Guide, determining their applicability to the needs of Booz-Allen, and writing the actual proposal.
The research has fully supported the hypothesis that telecommuting would be a good business decision for Booz-Allen: Good for the firm, good for the environment, and good for the employees. The author recommends that Booz-Allen give full consideration to the telecommuting proposal included in Appendix C.
Not everyone has an immediate positive response to the idea of telecommuting. Managers and workers alike expressed reservations in their comments about how a telecommuting program would affect them. Some of these fears were justifiable whereas some were caused by a lack of understanding of what "telecommuting" is or can be.
One fear of management was that employees will not be motivated when no "boss" is around. A simple way to allay this concern would be to carefully select only those employees trusted by management to do their work with little to no supervision. Managers need to be given the power to select the participants in the program based on a set of company-approved criteria. Also, some managers believed that "telecommuting" meant that the employee would never be in the office. Again, this fear is alleviated when they are told that most people telecommute only two to three days each week.
The author found, however, that the majority of management concerns were caused by a "process vs. product" mentality. This issue is related to the "no boss, no work" concern discussed earlier; however, the author does not believe this concern is justified. The fact is, many managers do not believe work is being done unless they see an employee at his or her desk 12 hours per day. This is simply not the case. This issue does require a change of mindset to be overcome. For a telecommuting program to succeed, managers must trust their employees to get their work done. As with the earlier issue, managers should be reassured that employees who do not perform can be removed from the program quickly.
The author was surprised to find that it was not only management that had reservations about telecommuting -- non-management "workers" had their own concerns, mostly in the area of promotion. These workers, too, fell into the "process vs. product" trap. This concern can be reduced by management support for product-based appraisals.
The author found that those employees most knowledgeable about current available computer and telecommunication technologies believed most strongly that telecommuting could work for them and for Booz-Allen. The author concluded that this was due to the fact that those workers, in general, had more trust in technology and would be more willing to rely on it in their day-to-day performance of their duties. Therefore, training of employees about technologies that can support them when they telecommute is very important to the success of a telecommuting program.
In closing, the author strongly believes that a telecommuting program would benefit Booz-Allen. As with any new way of doing things, there will be those who oppose any change and those who want change to take place too quickly. If Booz-Allen chooses to implement the proposal outlined by the author, it will be incumbent on the telecommuting program manager to see that change takes place at an acceptable pace. The key to success will be training. All employees -- managers, telecommuters, and non-telecommuters -- must have training prior to implementation of the program.( People naturally fear what they do not know and will resist change.) To gain acceptance of the program, the firm must inform its employees about the benefits, as well as the possible disadvantages, of telecommuting.
Return to Patty
Lewis' Home Page
You may contact me until August 4, 1995, at: