Telework
Telework, or telecommuting, is a flexible work option utilizing today's technology to eliminate the twice daily commute. It allows employees to work at a location other than their main office. 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 in Maricopa County.
Employer Advantages
- Reduced real estate costs
- Improve productivity
- Improve air quality
- Improve employee recruitment & retention
- Improve employee morale & loyalty
- Reduce employee turnover and absenteeism
- Continuity of operation & business (emergency preparedness)
- Increase competitiveness (service hours, decrease overhead, improve employee effectiveness, etc)
Employee Advantages
- Reduce commuting stress
- Help balance work & personal needs
- Reduce commute time & expense
Community Advantages
- Reduce traffic congestion
- Reduce pollution
- Cars off the road means safer roads
Why Train Teleworkers?
Telework training for managers and teleworkers can help refine current work processes, thus eliminating inefficiencies. To learn more about why you should train teleworkers and managers and to access online training tools, please click below:
Teleworker Questions
Our Innovative Work Options e-mail newsletter asks and answers common telework program questions. To sign up for the e-newsletter, please
click here.
Q&A for telework programs:
1. True or false? When the supervisor can’t watch them, employees are likely to slack off and waste time.
False – if you doubt this response it could be due in large part to the culture inside your organization. It takes leadership to overcome a culture that believes if employees are out of sight, they aren't working. Watching employees will not tell you about the quality or quantity of their work, it only tells you how "busy" they are. The selection of teleworkers is a key to ensuring a program’s success – view the “Sample Selection Criteria” document in the right margin to learn more. Employees who possess both the personal and professional characteristics of a good teleworker are your strongest potential candidates for a successful program.
2. True or false? Most employees can be trusted to identify what needs to be done day to day if the supervisor is not there to tell them.
True – but for employees to take this type of ownership in their day to day responsibilities it’s important to set performance standards in advance. To manage remotely you’ll need to institute a standard of performance. Without standards, it is hard to manage people in the same office. It's important not to confuse working hard with results. Establishing standards of performance for each employee starts with setting mutually agreed-upon goals. Standards help to measure success:
- How many?
- How often?
- By what deadlines?
- What defines excellence?
- Who needs to be satisfied?
- How will you define satisfaction and excellence?
Once you have established standards, the next task is to devise and implement a system that tracks performance against the standards set. Such systems (often on-line) will tell you more about an employee's performance than personal observation, which will only tell you if the person appears busy. For more on this subject, read our paper titled
“Why Train Teleworkers?”
Links
Agencies across the nation are studying telework programs, and a wealth of information on successful programs is available at your fingertips. Below are just a handful of links -
please be aware that each of these will direct you away from Valley Metro's website:
General Information
Public Telework Sites
Telework Listservs
Telework Consulting Services