William White
Technology and Public Administration
Professor Yueping Zheng
August 11, 2015
Is Telework right for federal government employees?
Telework has been a major topic of discussion over the last decade. “Teleworking, sometimes called telecommuting or flexiplace, is an innovative business solution that enables employees to do productive work away from the traditional office” (U.S. General Services Administration 2015). There are many pros and cons to teleworking. Some pros are that telecommuting reduces traffic accidents; telecommuting improves employee satisfaction; telecommuting reduces attrition; telecommuting reduces unscheduled absences; telecommuting saves employers money; telecommuting Equalizes personalities and reduces potential …show more content…
In 2004, they included telework and the flexible work arrangement request form into this policy. Booz Allen Hamilton is a privately owned company that has been in business for close to a century. It has been continuously named one of The 100 Best Companies to Work For, and Working Mother magazine has ranked the firm among its 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers (Commuter Connections/Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments 2008). “Booz Allen combines a consultant’s unique problem-solving orientation with deep technical knowledge and strong execution to help government agencies, institutions, and infrastructure organizations achieve success in their most critical missions; providing a broad range of services in strategy, operations, organization and change, information technology, systems engineering, and program management” (Booz Allen 2015). The first step in modifying the flexible work policy was to implement the telework program. Before this time, any one teleworking was participant in the program informally. Booz Allen rolled out the for telework pilot program in April of 2005. At that time, Booz Allen had a flexible workweeks, that included both 9/80 and 4/10 programs. The 9/80 program allows full-time employees to work eighty hours in ninth days and have the tenth day off. The 4/10 program allows full-time employees to work 10 hour days for four days and have the fifth day off. The …show more content…
The reason for their initial success is in my opinion, is because program was built upon a solid foundation. Their telework program was built out of a successful flexible work program. Some other organizations, such as Yahoo!, do not allow their employees to work from home at all. Their chief, Melissa Mayer, ended telework opportunities in the summer of 2013. “Mayer’s February 2013 memo argued that in order to become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side” (Pepitone 2013). In her opinion, this would increase employees’ productivity. Mayer came from Google; where productivity was declining, but telework and flexible work arrangements were increasing. This may be the wrong approach. “Not only does letting people work from home let companies extend their talent search beyond driving distance of the office, but there’s a growing pile of research that suggests people are both happier and more productive when they have the option to lead conference calls in a bathrobe at least part of the time” (White 2015). This is what Booz Allen is trying to capitalize on. Studies may change in the future, which will allow Booz Allen to further build upon their already sturdy platform of alternative work
Technology and Public Administration
Professor Yueping Zheng
August 11, 2015
Is Telework right for federal government employees?
Telework has been a major topic of discussion over the last decade. “Teleworking, sometimes called telecommuting or flexiplace, is an innovative business solution that enables employees to do productive work away from the traditional office” (U.S. General Services Administration 2015). There are many pros and cons to teleworking. Some pros are that telecommuting reduces traffic accidents; telecommuting improves employee satisfaction; telecommuting reduces attrition; telecommuting reduces unscheduled absences; telecommuting saves employers money; telecommuting Equalizes personalities and reduces potential …show more content…
In 2004, they included telework and the flexible work arrangement request form into this policy. Booz Allen Hamilton is a privately owned company that has been in business for close to a century. It has been continuously named one of The 100 Best Companies to Work For, and Working Mother magazine has ranked the firm among its 100 Best Companies for Working Mothers (Commuter Connections/Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments 2008). “Booz Allen combines a consultant’s unique problem-solving orientation with deep technical knowledge and strong execution to help government agencies, institutions, and infrastructure organizations achieve success in their most critical missions; providing a broad range of services in strategy, operations, organization and change, information technology, systems engineering, and program management” (Booz Allen 2015). The first step in modifying the flexible work policy was to implement the telework program. Before this time, any one teleworking was participant in the program informally. Booz Allen rolled out the for telework pilot program in April of 2005. At that time, Booz Allen had a flexible workweeks, that included both 9/80 and 4/10 programs. The 9/80 program allows full-time employees to work eighty hours in ninth days and have the tenth day off. The 4/10 program allows full-time employees to work 10 hour days for four days and have the fifth day off. The …show more content…
The reason for their initial success is in my opinion, is because program was built upon a solid foundation. Their telework program was built out of a successful flexible work program. Some other organizations, such as Yahoo!, do not allow their employees to work from home at all. Their chief, Melissa Mayer, ended telework opportunities in the summer of 2013. “Mayer’s February 2013 memo argued that in order to become the absolute best place to work, communication and collaboration will be important, so we need to be working side-by-side” (Pepitone 2013). In her opinion, this would increase employees’ productivity. Mayer came from Google; where productivity was declining, but telework and flexible work arrangements were increasing. This may be the wrong approach. “Not only does letting people work from home let companies extend their talent search beyond driving distance of the office, but there’s a growing pile of research that suggests people are both happier and more productive when they have the option to lead conference calls in a bathrobe at least part of the time” (White 2015). This is what Booz Allen is trying to capitalize on. Studies may change in the future, which will allow Booz Allen to further build upon their already sturdy platform of alternative work