by Brianna Crandall — May 7, 2012—Telework Exchange, a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework, recently announced the results of Telework Week 2012, the second-annual effort encouraging agencies, organizations, and individuals to telework during the week of March 5-9, 2012.
Sponsored by Cisco, the post-Telework Week 2012 report, “Bank on Telework: The Telework Week 2012 Impact and Year-over-Year Benchmark,” found that 71,324 Telework Week pledges collectively saved $5.6 million in commuting costs. As gas prices continued to surge to $4.00 a gallon nationwide, organizations reported increases in employee satisfaction, management support, and productivity gains through Telework Week 2012. To extrapolate, if all Telework Week pledges teleworked for one year, they would collectively save $282 million in commuting costs, says Telework Exchange.
Although facilities managers and personnel themselves generally need to be present at the job site to carry out their jobs, the trends highlighted in the report can certainly affect the design and layout of the facilities they work in, how space is allotted and managed, and how the building is operated and maintained.
Leading the way, the federal government represented 94% of Telework Week pledges. Federal participation increased by 97% from 2011—indicating strong interest and exposure to telework in the last year. Collectively, those participating with federal pledges avoided driving more than 5.9 million miles, gained back more than 235,000 hours, removed 3,022 tons of pollutants, and saved more than $5.1 million by teleworking during the week, says Telework Exchange. If all eligible federal employees teleworked two days a week for a year, they would save $5 billion in commuting costs, the organization calculates.
According to the report, productivity is seen as a top benefit from managers as well: 71% of organizations reported increased productivity, up from 60% in 2011. Three out of four participants noted they accomplished more while teleworking. With organizations looking to empower a more efficient and mobile workforce, demonstrating the benefits of telework is key to increasing adoption, says Telework Exchange. Organizations reported employee satisfaction, work-life balance, and increased productivity as top telework benefits.
Many organizations also leveraged Telework Week as a way to test and implement business continuity plans. According to the report, 71% of participating organizations noted improved continuity of operations as a main benefit of Telework Week—a 19% increase over last year. Organizations also saw a decline in challenges encountered during Telework Week pilots—only 21% reported issues, down from 32% in 2011.
Telework Exchange collected data from 71,324 Telework Week participants and executed a follow-up online survey with participating employees and organizations to capture lessons learned. The results of the full report, “Bank on Telework: The Telework Week 2012 Impact and Year-over-Year Benchmark,” are available for download from the organization’s Web site.
Telework Exchange is a public-private partnership focused on demonstrating the tangible value of telework and serving the emerging educational and communication requirements of the federal teleworker community. The organization facilitates communication among federal teleworkers, telework managers, and information technology (IT) professionals.
