ROI on telecommuting

Next time you, advocate of change in the workplace, find yourself faced with the withering challenge, "What's the ROI on..." -- fill in the blank: telecommuting, flex time, virtual working, collaboration -- instead of hauling off and punching the person, take heart! At least as regards telecommuting, Suite Commute's gathered up a bunch of statistics and pithy conclusions worth the look:

• Sun Microsystems [which we've reported on before] expanded its Telework policies after the 2001 terrorist attacks. Presently 56% of 34,494 employees work without an assigned office, either at home or a satellite office. Nearly 3,200 employees work from home at least four days a week. (Tech News World, 05/07)

• SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management)-2008 Benefits Survey Report (Society for Human Resource Management, 2008)

• 57% of HR Professionals indicated that their organizations offered some form of Telecommuting
• 47% of HR Professionals reported that their organization offered Telecommuting on an ad-hoc basis
• 35% on a part-time basis
• 21% on a full-time basis

• A new national study commissioned by the Consumer Electronics Association shows that using electronics to telecommute saves the equivalent of 9 to 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year — the same amount of energy used by roughly 1 million U.S. households every year. (Tech Journal, 2007)

These are just a few on their list. And there are lots of other lists out there. Should you happen across one, let me know or post it to your blog or your Facebook status or your forehead...

Comments

[e-Patient Dave]

Okay, so those are pithy statistics, but I don't see ROI in there, do I?

Signed, your loyal gadfly
(Actually I don't think I bite)

[Jessica Lipnack]

Correct, you do not see the ROI, which is meant as my wry comment on that irritating question. When people ask about the ROI on collaboration or virtual working, my latest response is, "What's the ROI on not collaborating?" Who calcs that?