The following article was written by friend and colleague, Paul Lima, and reprinted here by permission.

Special to The Globe and Mail – October 20, 2008
All around the world, workers in branch offices use the latest technology tools, from e-mails and instant messaging to Web portals and video conferencing, to get their jobs done. Even employees in the same building – often on the same floor or in adjacent cubicles – use these and other communication tools to collaborate.

So why do so many people, especially those in information-based industries, still make the physical commute to and from the office, when they could just as easily use these tools to work from home and cut gasoline consumption and greenhouse gas emissions?

The answer is complicated, says Dave Senf, director of security and software research with Toronto-based IDC Canada. Many companies still have an Industrial Age mentality in which managers believe they can’t manage what they can’t see.

But technology has made it easier than ever to telecommute and also to oversee the work of employees, and many businesses are starting to look at it more seriously, he says.

A recent survey by Washington-based human resources consulting firm WorldatWork found that rising gas prices, improved technology and a general desire for a better work-life balance has led to an increasing number of Canadian and U.S. employers offering teleworking.

The survey of 2,700 organizations found that 40 per cent of them in Canada offer employees the option of working from home or a remote location, up from 25 per cent in 2007. In the United States, 42 per cent said they offer telework options, up from 30 per cent last year.

While businesses are aware that telework is good for the environment – with thousands fewer cars making the daily commute, cutting tonnes of greenhouse gases – companies that set up such programs are not motivated mainly by environmental concerns, according to IDC surveys.

“Companies are very pragmatic. Cost reduction is the primary reason for setting up telecommuting programs,” Mr. Senf says.

However, the environment also benefits when people work from home.

Cars, minivans and SUVs accounted for about 45 per cent of Canada’s transportation emissions for 2005, according to Zerofootprint, an organization that devises ways for communities, businesses and organizations to contribute to a low carbon world.

Canada must reduce its transportation-based greenhouse gas emissions by 25 per cent by 2012 to meet Kyoto targets, and telecommuting can contribute to the reductions, says Peter Howard, director of climate change services with the Zerofootprint group of companies.

For every 4 million workers who telecommute, 840 million gallons of gasoline are saved annually, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. That’s the equivalent of removing 2 million vehicles from the road every year, according to the association.

Commuting can make up a significant portion of the carbon footprint of a business, says Deborah Carlson, climate change campaigner with the David Suzuki Foundation. In addition to introducing telecommuting options, employers can support the use of public transit, carpooling, walking and cycling to work.

Ikon Office Solutions Inc., a distributor of office equipment and document management services, is implementing a telework plan, says president Sean Smith. The Ontario-based company has 1,400 employees in Canada, spread over 40 offices, with the largest centre in Edmonton where its call-centre staff and most of its administrative and accounting staff are located.

Ikon’s 800 field staff work in the offices of the companies that Ikon supports, so they can’t telework. But about 250 sales staff work from home when they are not making sales calls, and 25 of the employees in Edmonton telecommute or are on flex plans that let them work at home several days a week.

At the start, Mr. Smith says, there were some concerns that teleworkers might not be fully engaged in their jobs while in their own homes, which proved unfounded. “We had the fear before we started the program. It is no longer a fear at all. Most are more productive at home.”

When Mr. Smith, who works in the Mississauga head office, wants to talk to his marketing representative in Whites Lake, N.S., he doesn’t care whether she is at home or in the regional office. Because they use an instant messaging system, he can see her IM status on his computer and knows whether she is available to chat online or take a phone call.

Ikon did not introduce its telecommuting program to save the environment or even save money, Mr. Smith says: “We did it for retention and productivity. The environment is a nice byproduct.”
Patti McDougall, telecom services manager for Reliance Protectron Security Services in Mississauga, Ont., agrees that telecommuting can make for a more productive work force and save money, too.

Reliance has about 800 employees in head offices in Montreal and Edmonton as well as in branch offices across Canada. Staff in the field and in the central security response centre are not able to telecommute, but 150 customer service and call-centre staff qualify for the company’s program.
In Alberta, where Reliance competes against larger call centres, this has helped the company recruit new staff from areas outside Edmonton and has helped it retain veteran employees who might otherwise be tempted to look for other jobs. Internal surveys found that the telework program helped Reliance retain “55 [staff] years of knowledge and experience” that might have gone elsewhere if the program did not exist, Ms. McDougall says.

All phone calls to and from Reliance teleworkers go through the company’s Avaya Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone network. Parties who call those employees do not realize their call is being directed to a home phone line, and when the teleworker makes an outgoing call, the recipient sees the Reliance name on the call display.

“It’s all seamless to the customer,” Ms. McDougall says.Although the program was established to boost recruitment and retention, she says it has cut the company’s expenses (about 50 per cent per teleworker) and is also helping the environment. Some employees cut more than an hour of daily commuting from their workday, saving time and cutting fuel consumption as well.