Research Triangle Park, N.C. – Last week, Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia signed an executive order creating a state office dedicated to encouraging public and private employees to telework, or work from home.
Gov. Kaine’s move reflects a growing trend among the nation’s employers, and Triangle employers are no different.
Dean Simpson, program manager for Wake County’s Economic Assistance Section, launched a telework program in 2002. Four years after rolling out teleworking, Simpson has almost 20 employees working from home.
Simpson, like other managers with “virtual staff”, has realized some unexpected benefits of teleworking. “A big plus is space. The second benefit is that staff produces 25% more work in a virtual environment than the in-office staff. They have fewer interruptions, flexible hours, and they stay away from office politics,” said Simpson.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 19.8 million Americans, approximately 15 percent of the total workforce, regularly work from home at some point during the workweek.
Alma Britton, an employee at National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) in Research Triangle Park has found similar productivity gains from teleworking. Britton, who typically works from home two days per week, said “I actually get more work done from my home than at the office.”
Dona McNeill, a manager at NIEHS says the success of their teleworking program depends on a few key strategies. “We have regular interaction by phone and by email. We also have regular meetings to ensure that we spend some time each month interacting face to face and being social. We also plan various celebrations to deepen that social relationship.”
A Triangle-wide public service campaign called SmartCommute Challenge, which runs through Sept. 30, encourages telework as one means of reducing area traffic. To date, more than 10,000 Triangle residents have signed up for the Challenge. Of those, more than 40% have promised to try teleworking as an alternative to driving to work alone.
According to last year’s Challenge data, only 9% of participants teleworked before Sept. 2005. According to post-Challenge follow-up surveys, the number has remained around 17%.
These numbers indicate a shift in corporate cultures and the SmartCommute Challenge’s
long-term, positive impact on teleworking in the Triangle.
Telework Tips on the Web:
About the SmartCommute Challenge Organizers:
The organizers of the 2006 SmartCommute Challenge are SmartCommute@rtp, Triangle Transit Authority (TTA), and Triangle Air Awareness.
About the SmartCommute Challenge: The SmartCommute Challenge is a non-profit public service campaign that uses prizes and special promotions to encourage Triangle commuters to explore transportation alternatives. In exchange for taking the online pledge, participants are entered into a drawing for a chance to win a free vacation or one of over 30 other prizes. Participants are also provided with a list of links to resources such as mass-transit schedules, a rideshare matching database, bicycle and pedestrian groups and more.
About SmartCommute@rtp: SmartCommute@rtp is the transportation management association (TMA) of the Research Triangle Park. Its purpose is to coordinate the transportation demand management (TDM) efforts of RTP employers and address common transportation concerns, reduce traffic congestion, and improve air quality. SmartCommute currently has 24 member employers. SmartCommute is staffed by the Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina, owner and developer of the Research Triangle Park.
About TTA - Triangle Transit Authority: TTA is a regional public transportation provider, offering a wide variety of transit and vanpool services to North Carolina's greater Triangle Region and outlying counties. Bus service is available to Apex, Cary, Chapel Hill, Durham, Garner, RDU International Airport, Research Triangle Park (RTP) and Raleigh. The Triangle Transit Authority also provides commuter resources and hosts GoTriangle.org, the on-line resource for the public transportation information in the Triangle.
About Triangle Air Awareness: The Triangle Air Awareness Coalition provides leadership that educates and mobilizes individuals both inside and outside of their organizations to be aware of the air quality forecast, to improve air quality by the choice of their actions, and to protect their health on bad air quality days. Triangle Air Awareness is funded by Triangle Tomorrow and a grant from the NC Division of Air Quality.
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