Cisco Study Finds Telecommuting Significantly Increases Employee Productivity, Work-Life Flexibility and Job Satisfaction

Increased Productivity Due to Telecommuting Generates an Estimated $277 Million in Annual Savings for Company

Today, Cisco announced the findings of its Teleworker Survey, an in-depth study of almost 2,000 company employees. The study, conducted to evaluate the social, economic and environmental impacts associated with telecommuting at Cisco, revealed that a majority of respondents experienced a significant increase in work-life flexibility, productivity and overall satisfaction as a result of their ability to work remotely.

As the modern workforce continues to evolve and globalize, more companies are evaluating a telecommuting strategy to save costs and lower carbon emissions as well as to retain top talent. For these companies, Cisco's survey highlights the gains that a sound telecommuting strategy provides for employees and employers alike.

Cisco is achieving new levels of efficiency and effectiveness by enabling people to work together no matter where they are located. In fact, according to Cisco's Internet Business Services Group, the company's global strategic consulting arm, the company has generated an estimated annual savings of $277 million in productivity by allowing employees to telecommute and telework. In addition, with the steady adoption of enterprise-class remote connectivity solutions like Cisco® Virtual Office, the recently announced Cisco OfficeExtend, and virtual collaboration tools like Cisco WebEx^TM, Cisco anticipates that employees and employers will continue to see a rise in the benefits associated with telecommuting.

Cisco's Next-Generation Workforce

• Cisco employees spend about 63 percent of their time communicating and collaborating.
• 40 percent of Cisco employees say they are not located in the same city as their manager.
• The average Cisco employee now telecommutes 2.0 days per week.
• 60 percent of the time saved by telecommuting is spent working and 40 percent is spent on personal time.

Key Findings/Highlights

• Cisco conducted the survey in late 2008 to evaluate a number of telecommuting topics, including commuting patterns, technology barriers, work quality and productivity, environmental impacts, and advantages and disadvantages of the flexible lifestyle, as well as overall employee satisfaction.
• 1,992 Cisco employees across five regions (Asia Pacific, emerging markets, European markets, Japan and U.S./Canada) participated in the study.

Productivity and Collaboration

• Approximately 69 percent of the employees surveyed cited higher productivity when working remote, and 75 percent of those surveyed said the timeliness of their work improved.
• By telecommuting, 83 percent of employees said their ability to communicate and collaborate with co-workers was the same as, if not better than, it was when working on-site.
• 67 percent of survey respondents said their overall work quality improved when telecommuting.
• An improved quality of life through telecommuting was cited by 80 percent of survey respondents.
• Telecommuting can also lead to a higher employee retention rate, as more than 91 percent of respondents say telecommuting is somewhat or very important to their overall satisfaction.

Going Green

• In 2008, Cisco teleworkers prevented approximately 47,320 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the environment due to avoided travel.
• The average distance for round-trip commutes varied among global regions: employees in U.S. and Canada reported on average a 30-mile round-trip commute; Asia Pacific employees cited a distance of about 14 miles; Japanese employees cited a 26-mile commute; employees in emerging markets commute an average of 16 miles; and European employees reported a 46-mile commute.
• Cisco employees report a fuel cost savings of $10.3 million per year due to telecommuting.

Supporting Quotes

 

• Rami Mazid, vice president, Global Client Services and Operations, Cisco

 

"In the age of a global market, time and distance separates people and workspaces. Cisco has long recognized that telecommuting and collaborative technologies are effective in breaking down separation barriers and enabling the transition to the borderless enterprise. In addition, as demonstrated by our recent study, a properly executed program for telecommuting can be extremely effective at unlocking employee potential by increasing work-life balance, productivity and overall satisfaction."

 

• Carina Reyes, manager, Operations, Cisco

 

"As a working mother of three children, I know firsthand the benefits of Cisco Virtual Office. Through high-quality voice and video, I remain engaged and able to lead global teams and programs with ease and avoid back and forth trips to the office. The seamless transition from work to the home has given me the flexibility to choose the schedule that best fits my work and my home.  Juggling early-morning Europe calls, midday doctor's appointments and evening Asia meetings, I move with ease from one place to another. My family and I feel fortunate that I work for one of the best companies today that enables true work-life navigation."

Source http://www.Cisco.com

My last blog focused on how Unified Communications (UC) can empower the contact center by directing nontraditional call center calls to the center.  Most people think of UC as a way of combining multiple contact points for one person to a single point of contact (thus John Smith’s office phone, cell phone, email, IM, etc. can all be directed to “ring” on his cell phone).  This is the common way UC is explained, and it can be very valuable — but it can also result in TMI (too much information).