A TELECOMMUTING INITIATIVE FOR

CARRINGTON COLLEGE

MARMO, ANDREW
PREPARED FOR: CEO J OHN PRESI

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY/LETTER
The cost of real estate is becoming more and more expensive for
companies looking to start up, expand or maintain locations. Space is also a
concern when it comes to finding proper work spaces for employees to
handle day to day business without the feeling of cubical lifestyles. The
answer isnt in cheaper leasing options or bargaining better real estate deals.
The answer lies in telecommuting of employees that are able to do their
everyday day to day responsibilities in the comfort of their own homes.
This report will show how we can save the company costs in real estate
and improve overall employee engagement and production.
Thank you for your consideration in this work from home proposal.
Sincerely,

Andrew Marmo
Assistant Director

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CONTENTS

PAGE
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
1
INTRODUCTION
3
Project
Description
3
Scope of
Study
..3
Report
Format..............
..................3
WHY IMPLEMENT A TELEWORK
COMPONENT.......................................................3
EMPLOYEE
ENGAGEMENT...............................................
...........5
WHO IS INVOLVED..
............................................................6
IMPLEMENTATION AND TRACKING
........................................................................6
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
..7

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REFERENCES...................................................................................................
................................9

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To: John Presi CEO

From: Andrew Marmo
Subject: Proposal to implement a telecommuting initiative for
Carrington College
Date: August 7, 2016
INTRODUCTION
Purpose: The purpose of this memo is to explain the benefits of creating
and implementing a fully functional telecommuting option for employees
with-in our company.
Description and background: Roughly 42 percent of all American
companies have some type of work from home program in place, this is
according poll by Olsten Corporation in 1996, (Girard, 1997a). Eleven million
U.S. workers now telecommute compared to four million in 1990. What was
realized that fueled such a growth was the overall benefits of telecommuting,
coupled with an increased, more efficient use of the internet and computer
applications. (Telecommuting Facts, 1997).
Scope: The quantifiable advantages will discuss increased employee
productivity, monetary savings as it pertains to company real estate costs,
and environmental reductions in automobile emissions, and the companys
carbon footprint. Other benefits will include stronger more positive employee
engagement in the areas of quality of work life balance, greater flexibility,
and less stress for employees. Limiting factors will include, how
telecommuting is not right for every employee, possible technology
challenges that could arise, interaction and team camaraderie with
coworkers, and finally some legal parameters. However, telecommuting is
becoming more and more prevalent in American companies. The time has
come to implement such a program to increase production, employee
engagement and reduction in the areas of costs of real estate and the overall
carbon footprint of the company.
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WHY IMPLEMENT A TELEWORK COMPONENT

According to Jack Nilles who is considered the modern day father
of telecommuting, Telecommuting moves the work to the worker,
rather than the worker to the work, said Jack Nilles (June 1990). The
world is connected either by cell phones, computers, tablets or lap
tops. The internet has made it more possible than ever before to allow
for a telecommuting program to have a chance of success. It allows
employees to have the opportunity to work from home but more than
that, improvements in technology also allow companies to closely
monitor those employees who are working from home.
So why implement a going green initiative? From a talent pool
perspective, employers that have a telework option benefit by being
able to attract and retain good employees. They are also able to hire
from a greater distance than that of those that can only pull from
workers that live with-in a commutable distance from the office. This
increases the pool of talent to an unlimited area. This would help
enhance the competitive status of the organization. The savings on
real estate, facilities and overhead costs are greatly improved since
less space and resources such as desks pens paper etc. (Boyd, 1996).
Since 1991, AT&T was able to save 550 million in cash flow by
eliminating offices and reducing related overhead costs (Apar, 1998).
Telecommuting also improves employee productivity because of the
elimination or reduction in commute times (Johnson, 1994; Boyd,
1996). Concurrently, this was be caused by improved employee
morale which almost always has positive effects employee production.
Telecommuting also keeps retention rates low because companies with
happy, engaged, productive teleworkers opt to stay with those
employers rather than looking to other companies to see if the grass is
greener on the other side. The push for companies to have more
community awareness and interaction has always been important.
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Companies that are sensitive to the environment show they care as

much about people as they do profits. Telecommuting allows a
company to boast on its efforts to the community in the areas of
conservation of energy, preserving of the environment through
reduced carbon dioxide emissions, and reduction in traffic congestion
and traffic related hazards (Johnson, 1994). California has some of the
worst air quality in the country due to the emissions of workers who
are in bumper to bumper traffic each day. Telecommuting is ever
growing in California as a result. The figure below shows states that
have the most telecommuting jobs (Telecommuting news, July 2016).

Figure 1. States with the most available telecommute jobs in 2015.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

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Nationwide, tendencies are trending in the areas of improving

quality of work/life balance, while still enhancing worker production,
conservation of company resources, and reducing the companys
carbon footprint, have been at the forefront of deciding to switch from
working from the traditional office environment to the home of the
employee. Company after company have implemented pilots groups to
study the effects of telecommuting. JALA Associates, Inc. piloted a test
called The California Telecommuting Pilot Project. This was actually
done from 1985 to 1990. This was before the internet was even
prevalent in todays society. In the test many state agencies provided
an estimated 150 telecommuting employees with a work from home
option. They ranged in several areas of employment Ages of these
employees averaged 41 years of age. The goals for the project as it
pertained to work effectiveness either met or exceeded the hopes of
the states initiative. They found that telecommuting actually
enhanced the quality of work life for those employees. Significant
benefits to the overall carbon footprint were also discovered which
included reduction in traffic, air pollution and energy consumption. The
benefits to the employees were also interesting (Johnson, 1994).
Teleworkers were able to be closer to their homes and families which
created more involvement in their everyday lives. Workers were found
to have less stress because they did not spend a majority of their time
commuting and therefore could develop a life that is more balanced
between family and work. The sense of balance it created made for the
employee feeling more in control of their lives and careers and
therefore gave them higher job satisfaction and engagement. Overall,
telework employees were happier individuals.
WHO IS INVOLVED
If approved we will need to discuss how to implement the
program. Certain conditions will have to be met. Referring to
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Californias Telecommuting Pilot Project conducted by JALA Associates,

Inc. (1997), the key components were decided to be upper
management support, employees who would be willing to participate in
the work from home project, and of course training of all involved. A
key department involved with the entire process should be the IT
department. Being able to assess the technological needs of the work
from home employee is important throughout the entire process. IT
will need to ascertain the right internet provider, internet speeds,
applications, software and hardware needs. The IT department will
need to have contingency plans in place in order to be prepared for
any challenges that may arise. Including but not limited to a mobile IT
technician to respond to IT needs in the employees home.
IMPLEMENTATION AND TRACKING
Working from home needs to have a different type of relationship than
that of the typical manager employee connection. It is imperative that the
manager be ever connected as much as possible to the employee who is
telecommuting as to not have the employee feeling disconnected from the
office. Including those employees on meetings and other office functions
such as trainings, to help keep the employee in the loop. Many managers
are hesitant to run a telecommuting division because they are concerned
about being held accountable for employees they do not see on a regular
basis or in person.
In order for the manager to be effective they need to fully
understand the employees work functions, their abilities, and they
amount of supervision each individual employee needs. Selection of
telecommuting employees is also important. Selecting trustworthy
employees who fully understand their day to day job functions is
primary for success. Training must be a required area for the work
from home employee and the manager who both will need
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understanding the skills necessary to implement a successful

telecommuting division. Training for the telecommuter will include the
understanding that they need to designate an area at home that is
specifically designated for work. They need to train in how to organize
their workdays, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of the
telecommuting measures. If the work from home employee is properly
trained and managed it helps to maximize success. Clear expectations
and priorities are a must to keep those employees independent from
an immediate access to a supervisor. Regular communication between
employee and manager should be scheduled each day. This also helps
to keep the employee connected and have clear expectations.
Not all individuals will be a good fit for a work from home
process. A deliberate and highly scrutinized screening process should
establish which employees will meet the criteria to become a work
from home employee. This too holds true for jobs that are qualified to
work from home as well. As for startup costs, work from home
divisions more than pays for itself after startup costs are covered.
Benefit to cost ratios could reach more than 20:1 (Niles, 1990).
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A work from home option will benefit the employee, enhance the
employers public standing by reducing their carbon footprint, and help
the company be an employer of choice in the market. This study
presented information to support that claim. We believe if given an
opportunity to implement, a telecommuting option for employees will
be a valuable option that the company can utilize to not only increase
the talent pool but also retain the current employees. By retaining a
workforce that engaged, happy and committed to the success of the
organization, our company will gain a strong competitive advantage
nessasary to compete in to the market. With increasing focus on a
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work/life balance for employees, environmental responsibilities,

telecommuting provides the company another option than the
traditional office working environment to deal with such challenges. I
believe the company should consider this proposal for a work from
home initiative to move us into the future and ensure the success of
the organization.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The final recommendation will be to not only show a benefit for a
work from home process from the companys point of view, but the
employees as well. The recommendation will be to get at least a pilot
program going to start with a few employees to then move later to
entire departments. We will closely monitor the data from the view of
production and overall impact on the company through cost savings
and ease of implementation. We will also remain in close
communication with those employees who are in the pilot and get their
feedback on the program. With good communication, departmental
cooperation and employee participation, this looks to be a very
successful venture for the future of the company.

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REFERENCES
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Program. Available:
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Johnson, R. P. (1994, September). Ten Advantages to Telecommuting: In the

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