A sound telecommuting strategy increases productivity, job satisfaction and work/life flexibility significantly, according to a recent survey conducted by a global Internet solutions company among its workforce.

Cisco employees spend about 63 percent of their time communicating and collaborating. The company realizes an estimated $277 million annually in productivity by allowing employees to work remotely, according to the company’s Internet Business Services Group. The company has adopted resources such as a virtual office and virtual collaboration tools for teleworkers.

When employees were asked about their time working remotely:

• 83 percent said their ability to communicate and collaborate with workers was the same, if not better, as when they worked on-site.
• 75 percent said the timeliness of their work improved.
• 69 percent reported higher productivity. Sixty percent of the time they saved via telecommuting they applied to work; the other 40 percent they applied to personal use.
• 67 percent of workers said the overall quality of their work improved.

. . . Telework has had a big impact on employee job satisfaction, Cisco found. Ninety-one percent of employees surveyed considered it somewhat important or very important, and 80 percent credited it with improving their quality of life. 

[However, telework is] a concept that raises issues such as safety and workers’ compensation, and is in need of greater reflection before employers extend its use to nonexempt employees, said Roger Bong, an HR professional at a nonprofit organization.

“Most telecommuting occurs at the employee’s home, and the employer has an obligation to provide a safe work area,” Bong told SHRM Online in an e-mail. “Unless you perform periodic safety inspections like you do at work, you run the risk of not being able to defend a questionable claim.”

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