Corporate imperatives of reducing costs, boosting productivity, and retaining talented professionals are driving many organizations to consider telework - that is, working from home or some other remote, non-office location - for at least some employee segments. While the technology issues related to secure remote access to corporate networks and information systems present a challenge, corporations are now realizing that the biggest challenges are cultural - gaining corporate acceptance of telework, defining the processes to select and approve telework candidates, and designing the operations to successfully manage a tele-workforce.

Over the past decade, AT&T has developed one of the largest and most successful Telework Programs in the country. AT&T Professional Services makes this extensive experience and skill sets available to our clients through a suite of project-based, value-added professional services. These professional services help our clients rapidly target key short-term improvement opportunities, while laying out a longer-term roadmap of strategically sound technology-related initiatives that reinforce and build on the momentum of those initial improvements. And since AT&T Professional Services is an integrator of best-in-breed products, our clients can be confident that our recommendations are business solution-driven, not product-driven.

Project Telework Survey Service Description:

The Texas state employee teleworker survey is based upon the analysis conducted annually of AT&T's employee teleworkers. AT&T has been conducting statistical research into its population of employee teleworkers since 1992, improving and modifying the survey instrument each year.

AT&T applies the outputs of the survey for a variety of purposes including project justification, process improvement, benefits quantification, barrier identification and executive reporting. The AT&T survey data has been used in forums ranging from small, local organizations implementing telework to Testimony before the U.S. Congress, including reports to the AT&T Board of Directors and AT&T's public Environment, Health and Safety report.

The instrument and methodology are based upon a deep knowledge of telework and research sciences. Many AT&T organizations have contributed to the development of our telework research tools and knowledge/intellectual property, including Human Resources, Property Management, Legal, Marketing Sciences/Employee Research, Information Technology Services, Security, Procurement/Purchasing and Finance.

The survey for Texas State employees will build upon this intellectual property to create a customized telework benefit analysis tool. The outputs from that tool serve to illustrate the value of telework as an employee productivity, organizational efficiency and air pollution improvement strategy at specific agencies within the State of Texas government. By applying our experience and actual employee survey instrument, AT&T will design and implement a survey tool that will enable the following data to be collected and collated online:

• Demographics: Data to allow program administrators to understand the relationship between telework and organization, location, age and gender will be gathered. Position and classification information will allow such salary-driven benefits as additional productive hours to be tied to bottom line dollar impacts.
• Participation: The frequency and type of telework arrangement will be gathered, along with telework tenure, which can be useful in understanding the drivers behind new teleworkers.
• Energy / Environmental Benefits: The AT&T Environment, Health and Safety organization has played a large role in a societal understanding of the environmental benefits of telework. (Many of the environmental awards won by the AT&T Telework program have come from environmental organizations.) The same questions and calculations will be used for the Texas State version.
• Office Space Savings: Reductions in office and parking space because of telework will be captured.
• Productivity Benefits: Additional productive hours in a normal workday because of telework will be calculated, as well as avoided days of sick leave. Organizational-specific productivity metrics might also be included.
• Satisfaction and Retention Benefits: Satisfaction with personal/family life and career will be measured. Estimates of the dollar savings resulting from employees who have turned down job offers because of telework will be produced. Teleworkers will also be asked to rate the advantages of telework as a way of understanding the drivers behind such arrangements.
• Increasing Participation: Is there pent-up demand for increased levels of telework? Why do people start telework, and what are the barriers to increased participation? Such data is very useful for increasing the benefits of telework with little extra cost.

Project Telework Survey Pricing:

Rates will be $75-$400 per hour depending on scope of work. AT&T will submit expenses for reimbursement of actual travel and living expenses for each project.