Telecommuting Increases Employee Engagement, Productivity, and Overall Happiness! 

By Amanda Gonzales, Process Improvement Intern

April 4, 2016  

Employee motivation has long been a topic of keen interest to most leaders.  Some leaders ask: How do I motivate my employees to be more productive? Other leaders ask: How do I motivate my employees to be more committed to the organization? And yet others ask: How can I help my people enjoy their work and their lives?

Research demonstrates that when employees experience more organizational commitment, productivity increases, turnover decreases, and a mutually beneficial relationship is formed between the employee and employer.  So, the big question is: how does a leader help increase employee organizational commitment? 

It is on this foundational question that David Johnson, the Colorado Department of Transportation's (CDOT’s) Oversize/Overweight (OS/OW) Permits Manager, developed and implemented a telecommuting program for his people, enabling employees to work from home.  He states, “When people see the organization is making changes to make their lives easier, they are appreciative of that.  Their loyalty increases and they show mutual respect.” 

David describes his unit’s responsibility in the following way: “The purpose of the CDOT Permit unit is to provide safe and timely routing of oversize and overweight truck traffic, so as to continue the movement of interstate commerce while protecting the State's infrastructure and the traveling public.”  David has taken advantage of the opportunity to measure the effects of telecommuting on productivity, savings for employees, retention and the overall employee mood.  Through this process, he answers why it is important to implement a telecommuting program and how to ensure it is successful.

Increased Productivity

A natural reservation that some leadership teams may have when it comes to telecommuting concerns its possible effect on productivity.  If an employee is at home doing work, how much work are they actually doing? 

To address that, David has created a measurement to assess productivity among his team members, and he has compared productivity for work from a CDOT workstation vs. working from home. From that measurement, it is clear that working from home is at least as productive as working in the office, and for some situations may be more productive, Comparing working from home to working in the office during several months in late 2015 and early 2016, here are the results for David’s team:

• The number of Oversize / Overweight Permits issued was slightly higher (0.50%) when working from home;

• Turnaround times were 48% faster; and

• The number of phone calls handled was 5 % higher.

Mr. Johnson explains how to effectively use a production measurement system for the telecommuting program, stating, “Make sure metrics are measurable, attainable and in a system that is easy to use”.  Using this system for his work team has also provided another platform for employees to demonstrate their top performance levels. 

Saves Time and Money

As the cost of living continues to rise, even satisfied employees are interested in finding ways to have more money on hand.  However, within the government sector, the ability to have pay increases and other monetary incentives is often quite limited.

Thus, telecommuting provides an excellent offering to employees as a non-pay, cost-saving incentive.  According to “The Benefits of and Challenges Faced by Worldwide Federal Governments in Implementing the Telework Program”, “The average federal employee would save $5,878 a year in commuting costs by teleworking three days a week” (Thye, et al., 2012).  While this data is for federal government employees, similar savings are possible wherever telecommuting is used. Translating these numbers to David Johnson’s telework program, each of his team members is saving roughly $2,000 per year in commuting costs: significant savings! 

In addition to monetary savings, employees are also saving time.  Research suggests “… an average US resident … spends 264 hours on the road” commuting every year (Thye, et al., 2012).  By avoiding time spent in traffic, not only are David’s employees able to begin work right on time – with less stress – they are also able to end work right on time.  Ending their day at home allows them to spend extra time with family, or tend to other priorities after work – exercising a strong work/life balance.  A strong work/life balance has been linked to the next benefit, too: increased retention.

Increased Employee Retention

According to recent research studies, almost half of employees feel that their commute is constantly affected.  Two-thirds of employees say they would take another job just to ease their commute.  By providing a telecommuting alternative, surveyed employees believe they have more flexibility and – even more importantly -- they trust that their employer is addressing their concerns in a creative and effective way. 

David’s team has already expressed positive feedback towards the telecommuting program and he anticipates increased employee retention will result from this in the future.

Increases in Employee Happiness

David’s unit has using telecommuting since late 2015, and he states that the best benefit of the program is that “Employee happiness is higher”. The happiness of employees is not only good for their own fulfillment, but it is also good for the group and Team CDOT as a whole. 

According to research, employee happiness is highly indicative of whether or not employees will stay with an organization. Incentives such as telecommuting appeal to many people. When the people in a work unit or department are happier, it becomes a more enjoyable work environment for all. 

Rob Medina, a Permit Writer in David’s team, explains a practical benefit of telecommuting: “It allows the office’s staff members the flexibility of not coming into work during adverse weather conditions and still maintains a high level of commitment to the trucking industry”. 

Telecommuting has helped to improve the “mood” during snowy days when most permit unit employees can work effectively from the safety of their homes.  Telecommuting has many benefits and is very well received by David’s work unit.

Since telecommuting is an employee benefit, it must be managed well, just like any other employee benefit. 

Quick Guide to Telecommuting

To that end, David has created clear expectations for his team regarding telecommuting.  Additionally, he has tailored the program to meet the needs of his work team.  His approach aligns with research regarding how to successfully implement telecommuting programs.  Research suggests, “The implementation of the telework program…needs to be further refined and customized in order to meet the specific needs of every federal government agency. All departments or work units cannot apply the same telework policy. The telework adoption among workforce should be tailored according to the position and duties of employees involved.” (Thye, et al., 2012).  When recommending telecommuting to other work units/departments, David stresses the importance of modifying each telecommuting program to fit specific needs of various work units. 

The experience of telecommuting in his group suggests four factors to consider when implementing and managing a telework program:

1)    Set and communicate clear expectations regarding telecommuting.  David outlines working hours for employees, productivity requirements, and maintains constant communication regarding performance.

2)    Introduce an easy-to-use measurement for performance.  David Johnson has created a system that is easy to use and he suggests, “Metrics should be measurable, attainable and easy to understand.”

3)    Be patient with the team; and, telecommuting may not be for everyone.  Performance issues may arise, and these should be handled individually – as opposed to taking action against the telecommuting program. Telecommuting may not work for everyone, so be patient and understand that.

4)    Understand that as technology continues to advance, this is the right direction to be going.  Telecommuting will increase the ability of the organization to be competitive in the job market, making jobs more appealing and potentially attracting newer talent to government agency positions.  There are many benefits to telecommuting.  It is crucial to understand how the benefits assist employees.

There are clearly some jobs that cannot be accomplished through telecommuting; however, for jobs where telecommuting is an option, research indicates that it can help increase productivity, higher retention, and higher employee happiness. Within CDOT, the telecommuting program in David’s unit clearly demonstrates these benefits.  When it is well-managed, telecommuting yields great benefits for both the employee and organization. 

Gary Vansuch, Director of Process Improvement, adds “David Johnson has used a new and exciting approach to address the “Our People” Peak of CDOT’s strategic direction.  By focusing on his internal customers – his Team CDOT employees – he has helped his Team as well as his external customers in the trucking industry. This is definitely an example of telecommuting done well and is another step on our journey to becoming the Best DOT in the Country.  Great work, David!” 

Additional information about improvements to CDOT’s process for issuing Oversize/Overweight Permits is available oversize overweight (os/ow) permits and customers for oversize/overweight permits.