Life Meets Work Blog

Continuing our ‘telecommuting in a snowstorm’ theme, the city of Baltimore banned traffic on city streets. Only emergency vehicles, authorized snow plows and power crews are allowed.  Even hospital staff have been ordered to stay put.

Be prepared for any disaster.  Set up an infrastructure that allows workers to login from home.  And don’t wait for an actual disaster to put those systems to use.  You need to test your system through regular use, in order for it to be effective in a disaster.

Moreover telecommuting will benefit your organization year round through increased employee engagement—that means higher productivity and greater loyalty.

A recent study found that those employees who could work from home even one day a week tended to work longer and with greater intensity.

And more about snowstorms, telecommuting and the federal government in yesterday’s Washington Post, and how telecommuting ruined snow days in USA Today.

Update added Feb. 17:  Federal offices closed a total of four days (and operated on a late start two subsequent days) during the ‘Snowmageddon’ that hit the D.C. metro area between Feb. 6 and Feb. 16.  Midway through, OPM Director John Berry issued a statement indicating the $100M/day cost estimate was no longer accurate as emergency personnel were still on duty and some employees were telecommuting.

Original Feb. 9 post:

Taxpayers lost $200,000,000 over the last two days because of the blizzard in Washington DC.

According to news reports, when the government shuts down for a day, it cost tax payers $100,000,000 in lost productivity.

And it looks like this winter’s been costly since federal agencies were closed in December 2009 for a day as well.

$300 million in lost productivity that could have been saved with a telecommuting program.

Last April, the same Office of Personnel Management that closed federal agencies this week due to snow, announced a new telework plan for federal employees in response to swine flu.

“It calls for a council of program managers to develop standards for telework, and requires agencies to submit telework policies to that council for review. It also asks agencies to designate a telework managing officer and create an appeals process for employees who are denied permission to use the work arrangement. Additionally, it would establish training programs to prepare employees to telework and curb managerial opposition. OPM would be in charge of providing technical assistance.”

And to support the telework plan two bills were introduced in Congress: HR1722 and S707. HR1722 is stuck in subcommittee. And S707 has made it out of subcommittee and needs to be voted on by the Senate

They already offer training programs for managers and employees on their website www.telework.gov

So what went wrong (or what do they need to do instead?)

First, the telework plan announced last year involved standards and policies and an appeals process. All good first steps, but not enough. Even if they completed those steps by now (which seems unlikely given the massive federal shut-down), they’re not enough. There needs to be clear direction from the top, a mandate if you will, that this is a new way of working, not an accommodation.

Consider this. In answer to an FAQ (on their website) about how to apply for telework:

In general, you should be prepared to make a business-based proposal for your arrangement, rather than one based on personal considerations.. At the very least, in addition to describing logistics like location and frequency, you should be able to discuss how you will accomplish your work without adverse effect on your organization and/or co-workers.

With $100,000,000 in daily lost productivity on the line, it’s time for the Federal government to further their steps toward true implementation of their telecommuting program.

OPM Director John Berry needs to determine which jobs are eligible for telecommuting based on the nature and confidentiality of the work.

• Someone (President Obama?) needs to send a memo to the heads of all Federal Agencies mandating that telecommuting be made available to those employees.
• Purchase laptops for everyone that’s eligible.According to my rough math, if there were 300,000 eligible workers in the Washington DC, VA and MD area and the government spent $3000/employee on a laptop, VPN connection, etc., it would cost taxpayers $10million to enable them to telecommute.
• Have their telework coordinators track the numbers and report them back to the Heads of each agency and have OPM consolidate a report that goes to the White House. Track the number of workers who worked from home each month and set goals to increase the numbers.

It’s critical to our public safety and our pocketbooks that the Federal Government get this right before there’s another blizzard, or H1N1 outbreak, or terrorist attack on Washington DC.

As children head back to school, swine flu discussion is resurfacing. Apparently the flu did not subside during the summer months, as expected, but continued to proliferate—in places like children’s summer camps and sports teams.

The Associated Press reports that schools are gearing up to become vaccination headquarters, while other media outlets are advising parents on warning signs and treatment advice.

Guidance from the CDC says sick children should be allowed to return to school 24 hours after the fever is gone. However, symptomatic children should be removed from others immediately.

And in Phoenix, Arizona, public health officials are teaming up with local transit leaders to provide a series of employer-focused webinars on telecommuting.

The goal: teach businesses how to successfully implement telecommuting programs so that employees can stay home when they or their children are sick.

The four part series covers issues such as legal concerns, training and expectations, home office environments, and evaluation.

Organizers are encouraging employers to begin preparing now. “In most cases, telework doesn’t happen overnight,” says one transit official.

Promotion on the webinar registration page highlights multiple benefits to employers, employees and the community at large…

“At Valley Metro, we strive to assist employers with choosing the most effective trip reduction alternatives for their employees. Telework is one option that has proven to be successful at companies of all sizes and industries.”

And keeping sick riders off the bus doesn’t hurt either.

Posted by Jaime Leick

For a long time in the work life field, Sun Microsystems was the go-to example to demonstrate the real-life business case for flex.  The technology behemoth had not only been running a strong telework program for years, but they were aggressive about tracking the costs and ROI.

Now we can add Cisco to our list of proof-positive case examples.  In late June, the company released the results of a global telework study, examining the impact of telework on nearly 2000 employees.

First the big number: $277 million.  That’s what Cisco calculates its telecommuting program has saved the company in terms of worker productivity.

Many of the results are to be expected:

• 69% of the employees surveyed cited higher productivity
• 67% of survey respondents said their overall work quality improved
• 80% reported improved quality of life
• and 91% said telecommuting was important/very important to overall satisfaction

One big surprise, according to the Cisco blog, is how much saved travel time employees were willing to give back to the company: 60 percent of the time saved by telecommuting is spent working and 40 percent is spent on personal time.

What may also come as a surprise is that participants didn’t feel communication or collaboration was challenged. By telecommuting, 83 percent of employees said their ability to communicate and collaborate with co-workers was the same as, if not better than, it was when working on-site.

Just like Sun, Cisco calculated the environmental benefits as well, reporting 47,320 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions saved and $10.3 million in fuel costs saved in one year due to avoided travel.

Posted by Jaime

Twenty-one Milwaukee schools and one daycare center are closed this week as school officials react to growing cases of the H1N1 flu (aka swine flu) in the city.  Houston is also facing multiple school closures.

The closures obviously put a burden on families. With officials asking students not to congregate outside of school, one wonders how many parents are throwing caution to the wind and arranging childcare pools this week.

I’ll watch Evan, Susie, Lisa and Sam on Monday if you can take them Tuesday…and so on.

Are the area’s business offices prepared to operate during wide-spread school closures? Again, telecommuting offers one logical response, keeping many business offices operational as schools close and as employee themselves begin to present symptoms.

U.S. business went through a surge in disaster planning following the SARS outbreak in 2003. This recent outbreak is a chance for some companies to test those plans, and a reminder for others to develop contingency strategies.

Disaster planning is certainly not limited to flu pandemics. Telework tools help maintain productivity in the face of snowstorms, floods and other natural disasters.

Posted by Jaime

The federal government is expected to expand teleworking opportunities for federal employees.

John Berry at the Office of Personnel Management has announced plans for an expanded federal telework policy. Reportedly, he has support from President Obama.

The plan would create an advisory group, require agencies to submit telework polices for review, encourage agencies to appoint a ‘telework managing officer,’ and provide training to reduce management resistance.

“I was raised in the D.C. metropolitan area, so I know a little something about the traffic congestion that frustrates commuters and saps them of energy even before they get to the office,” Berry said in a press release.

The new policy is based on provisions in two telework bills introduced in 2009: the Telework Improvements Act (H.R. 1722), introduced by Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., and the Telework Enhancement Act (S. 707), introduced by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii.

Timing is right to push the new initiative as many in both business and government look to telecommuting as a way to maintain essential operations during a flu outbreak.

The initiative is also designed to make the federal government a more attractive employer and to support President Obama’s work-life objectives.

Posted by Jaime

The U.S. declared a public health emergency over Swine Flu yesterday. In New York, where more than 100 school children are likely infected (following a recent trip to Mexico), Mayor Michael Bloomberg told citizens to stay home if they feel even slightly symptomatic.

Stay home if you feel sick – it’s not really meant as “take care of yourself and get well” kind of advice. It’s a serious mandate meant to prevent a flu pandemic.

As a nation, we’re not accustomed to staying home for a measly sore throat. So what does that mean in the face of a potential swine flu pandemic?  How will we maintain productivity and essential services when a few achy muscles are supposed to keep us away from the office?

Flu outbreaks don’t have to be disabling if companies are set up to telework. The federal government has long incorporated teleworking in its business continuity plans:

“By helping support a distributed workforce, telework is a tool for emergency planning at all levels - from snowstorms that close offices in a region for a day or two, to pandemic influenza that may affect operations over the course of weeks or even months.” (Source: telework.gov)

Even in the face of a global flu pandemic, business CAN continue if your employees are equipped to log-in remotely.  To be successful, your company should have a telework program with as many staffers as possible equipped to work from home. The best way to test your system is to use it as a routine course of business, to ensure all tools are operational.

Get more tips to prepare your business for a flu pandemic from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management at telework.gov.  Tailored workplace flexibility plans are also available from Life Meets Work.

Posted by Jaime