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This article explores the benefits and limitations of telecommuting on individuals and organizations within the Department of Defense. Telecommuting is linked to increased employee satisfaction with the employer, reduced employee turnover, and increased employee productivity. However, the authors also identify the limitations of telecommuting, such as employees feeling isolated from their coworkers and managers' concern about decreased productivity among telecommuting employees versus those in the traditional office setting. The authors present findings from a review of the research on the benefits and limitations of telecommuting. Additionally, a case study of telecommuting in a Department of Defense organization is presented to show a tangible cost-benefit analysis of telecommuting to an organization.
Keywords:
Telecommute, Telework, Recruit, Retention, Motivate, Productivity, The Department of Defense
Telecommuting has gained considerable attention in recent years. This is due in part to organizations, both in the private sector as well as the public sector, using telecommuting to accomplish organizational goals and to affect the organization's "bottom-line" results. This can be seen in such organizations as AT&T, IBM, and Sun Microsystems. Within AT&T, one-third of the company's managers are not bound to a particular worksite (Conlin, 2006). Similarly, 40 percent of IBM's workforce has no official office (Conlin, 2006). The tangible benefits of telecommuting are enormous. Sun Microsystems allows half its employees to work anywhere they want, and by so doing, estimates that it saves $300 million a year on real estate costs (Conlin, 2006).
The federal government has also made some significant progress in implementing telecommuting. Some agencies have fully embraced telecommuting with positive results. For instance, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is recognized as a pioneer in the area of telecommuting. It has established two very successful telecommuting programs. The "Trademark Work-at-Home" program has 86 percent of the total number of trademark attorneys working from their homes the majority of the week, and going into the office one day a week where they share office space. Similarly, the "Patent Hoteling" program has 1,000 patent examiners participating in the telecommuting program. In total, the USPTO has 40.7 percent of its workforce in telecommuting arrangements (Byrne, 2007).
The United States Congress has been actively involved in promoting telecommuting throughout the government. Starting as far back as the...