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Business & Tech

Teleworking boosts productivity and improves air quality

The second annual Georgia Telework Week runs through Friday.

Metro Atlanta is home to some of the nation’s most notorious traffic, so it’s no surprise that the region has had 40 code orange smog alerts this year alone. In response, The Clean Air Campaign (TCAC) with help from Gov. Nathan Deal is promoting its second annual Georgia Telework Week, Sept. 12 through Sept. 16.

The Clean Air Campaign is a not-for-profit organization that works with more than 1,600 Georgia employers, tens of thousands of commuters and more than 300 K-12 schools to encourage actions that result in less traffic congestion and better air quality. Brian Carr, TCAC’s communications director, described teleworking as “an arrangement that is put together by an employer for employees to work remotely.” This arrangement can mean that an employee works from home or at a remote location between home and work.

As part of Georgia Telework Week, TCAC is hosting a Telework Summit Thursday, Sept. 15 at the Loudermilk Conference Center so that employers can discuss telework strategies.

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TCAC reports that teleworking boosts employee productivity by 20 percent and that about 600,000 Georgia employees telework occasionally, up 20 percent since 2008. Carr said this adds up to big savings for employers.

“They’re able to get their employees plugged in and working when they don’t have to be sitting in traffic,” he said. “In fact traffic costs the metro Atlanta region’s employers a combined $2.7 billion a year in lost productivity simply because people are trying to get to their desks. They can’t arrive to their workplaces because they’re all competing for space on the roadways, so it’s a productivity boost.”

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TCAC has worked with about 250 Georgia employers to establish teleworking programs. Some Atlanta companies with teleworking programs include The Home Depot, IBM, Delta Airlines and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Smyrna's Jamie Hughes has worked for IBM for the past 10 years and teleworked for the past eight. The mother of two agrees that teleworking helps boost her productivity.

“It gives me flexibility, especially as a mother,” she said. “For me, I can get a lot of work done after the kids go to bed. I get work done on weekends. IBM actually gets a lot more out of me than if I was going to a traditional workplace.”

Hughes explained that teleworking does have some drawbacks. She said that networking with other employees is more difficult, but added that IBM has taken steps to address this like adding an employees-only social media platform similar to Facebook and holding annual employee conferences. Overall, Hughes said she doesn’t think she could transition back to working in a traditional office environment.

Some employers are apprehensive about setting up telework programs because they won’t be able to see their employees working. Carr said the keys to a successful telework program are trust and communication.

“That’s where a lot of the protocols and the guidance that we offer explains how to make this an ironclad arrangement that requires employees to check in either via phone or via email, or even chat in some cases, with their supervisors to make sure the supervisor knows they are at their home or at their work station and that they’re actually chipping away and getting work done,” he said.

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