| Telework: Bridging The Gap To Today’s Workforce |
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By Megan Zimmerman *
Telework requires businesses to shift their thinking around the way work gets done and where it is done. Forum panelist, Mark Lang, Human Resource Business Partner with TELUS, told the participants that it is not about pushing this new shift in thinking, because the shift has already happened. “The cube jungle just doesn’t make sense anymore, “said Lang. “Telework is about enabling work to happen when and where it is most effective and this will directly impact the triple bottom line.” Lang explained how acknowledging and embracing the work realities of today will significantly benefit the individual’s work-life balance, the company’s pocket book and the environmental impact left on the planet. In fact, the results of TELUS’ 2006, 10-month pilot program yielded some significant results. 13,865 hours of commute time were saved; $125,000 was saved on fuel and car maintenance; 114 tons of greenhouse gas emissions were reduced; air pollutants were reduced by four tons and 82 per cent of the participants said the program had a very positive impact on their desire to stay working for TELUS. Those kinds of results are hard for any employer to ignore. Granted, as a telecommunications company, implementing telework may initially be easier and more cost effective, but IT companies have a lot of knowledge and experience that others can learn from. IT companies can serve as a ‘telementor’ for others new to the initiative. Keynote speakers, Alain Verbeke and Robert Schulz, from the University of Calgary’s Haskayne School of Business, said the first step is to take a look at who is already teleworking in your company. The results may be surprising. Out of office meetings, teleconferencing and peak shifting, are all examples of flexible work arrangements already being implemented in many workplaces. Peak-shifting, which allows employees to work from home early and come to the office later, to avoid wasted time and productivity loss while sitting in rush-hour traffic, would have immediate impacts on Calgary’s transit system, even if it were adopted as a pilot project. “It’s not 100 per cent or zero, it’s about doing things like taking people off the transit systems during the peak hours, “said Schulz. “This will not only alleviate the transit strain and rider headache, but will increase productivity lost in the commute.” Ian Gover, the concluding keynote of the forum, has built his career on helping organizations design and deploy integrated work environment solutions to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the ‘new work realities’. “It’s not about giving people a laptop and sending them home,” said Gover. “It’s about access anywhere, anytime. Many organizations will fail to yield maximum results promised by the new work realities because they are in the information age with a work environment that was developed for the industrial age.” Forum speakers explained that the telework spectrum is very large. Employees can work from home or a third-party site the majority of the time, a portion of the time, or benefit from models such as peak-shifting. The key to implementing a successful telework program in any business is to lay the groundwork and do the necessary research first which includes a formal performance management system for tracking purposes. Businesses need to ask; what kind of product or service do we offer? How can engaging our staff differently impact our bottom line? How will it help us address the attraction and retention of talent for our business? Is teleworking already something our staff is doing? What systems can we put in place to ensure our employees are set up for success and will reach their performance objectives, while engaging in telework? What will a telework program look like in our workplace? Forum participants, such as Al Dhalla from Sunwapta Solutions, a local software developer, were enlightened by the information and research presented on Telework, seeing it as a win-win solution for business and the workforce. Panelists from TELUS, Axia NetMedia and Canadian Pacific Railway cautioned that a strong foundation is the key to the program's success. “I learned that you cannot implement telework in your company like letting your dog loose,” said Dhalla. “You need to make sure you conduct a thorough review of your employee's wants and needs and your organization's goals. For someone in the X and Y generations and beyond (born 1981-2000), the concept of telework is a no-brainer. The adoption rate will be slower for someone in my generation (mid-50’s) but with numbers and successes like we have heard today, the shift is an obvious one.” The benefits are numerous; improved attraction and retention of talent, lower real estate costs, enhanced productivity and flexibility, reduced transit and infrastructure strain, improved work-life balance, enhanced technology and support, increased decision speed, and reduced commute times, fuel costs and C02 emissions. As an integral part of modern day human resources management, the question is not why should we enable teleworking in our businesses, but rather, why shouldn’t we? *Megan Zimmerman is a marketing and communications specialist at the Calgary Economic Development (CED). This article was first published by the CED. Did you enjoy this article? Please share it!         |
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