# Presentation: 263332

## Clair Krizov
AT&T Environment, Health and Safety Executive Director
Environment & Social Responsibility

Opinions and views expressed may or may not necessarily be 
the views of AT&T.

- AT&T Environment, Health and Safety Executive Director
- Environment & Social Responsibility
*Opinions and views expressed may or may not necessarily be *
*the views of AT&T.*

- Telework at AT&T

## Telework at AT&T

- Overview of AT&T
- My telework roles
- Telework at AT&T and the triple bottom line
- Managing the teleworker
- Conclusions and lessons
- Things to think about

## Overview of AT&T

- A premier telecom firm in the U.S, and the largest cable company
- Over 100,000 employees in more than 2000 staffed locations
- Undergoing a major technological shift
- Extremely rapidly moving, diverse, complex environment

## My Telework Roles

- Teleworker
- Since 1994
- Promoted twice since telework arrangement
- Manage teleworkers
- Managed remote employees for majority of work life
- Remote from my support manager
- Am not a human resource expert

## Telework at AT&T: Overview

- Decade-long history
- Estimated $150M in business benefit
- Multiple organizations involved:
- Property Management; ITS; Security; Human Resources; Purchasing; EH&S; Line  Management; etc.
- Internal and external research support
- Employees don’t seem to require formal *telework* training - need ‘Mgmt 101 for the 21st Century’ training

## Telework at AT&T: History

_**1989-90**_**: First AT&T Telecommuting Trial Programs (L.A. and Phoenix)**
_**1991-92**_**: Policy and Agreement adopted; cross-organizational team built**
_**1993-94**_**: Communications / training; yearly Employee Telework Day begins**
_**1995-1997**_**:  Co-Founder of Telecommute America Week; updated AT&T Corporate Telework Policy; continued progress**
_**1997-2000**_**:**
**Multiple pilot programs and summits**
**Groundbreaking research with ITAC**
**AT&T Telework Webguide (www.att.com/telework)**
***Development of telework as a ‘Triple Bottom Line’ initiative***
_**2001 to Present**_**:  **Updating policy

## Telework at AT&T: 2000 Employee Telework Participation

- 27% of managers once a week or more
- 56% of managers once a month or more
- 11% full time virtual office
- Consistent rise from 1992 to 1998, plateau in 1999, a rise in 2000
- Technology was the reason for the plateau... and the solution
- Remote communications technology to make location irrelevant
- Substitute for face-to-face communication

## Telework and the Triple Bottom Line

- The “Triple Bottom Line” is an approach to sustainability: meeting the needs of today without compromising the needs of future generations
- The triple bottom line adds to the traditional bottom line:
- Business performance
- Environmental performance
- Social performance
- Telework seems to be positive on all three axes of the triple bottom line
- It may be an important part of a sustainable future

## Telework at AT&T & the Triple Bottom Line: 2000 AT&T Employee Results

**Employees (Social):**
- 84% say balancing work and family is a major advantage
- 70% are more satisfied with job
- 77% say personal and family life has improved
- 78% say telework shows the company cares about them

## Telework at AT&T & the Triple Bottom Line: 2000 AT&T Employee Results

**Business (Economic):**
- Teleworkers report one hour additional productive time per eight-hour day
- Teleworker hours are more productive; a virtual office person is more likely to be rated in the highest performance category than the universe as a whole
- 67% of teleworkers receiving job offers cited AT&T’s telework arrangements as a significant factor in their decision to stay with the company
- Projected savings: $100M in productivity; $18M from reduced turnover; 25M in real estate costs

## Telework at AT&T & the Triple Bottom Line: 2000 AT&T Employee Results

**Communities (Environmental):**
- AT&T teleworkers
- Avoided driving 110 million miles
- Prevented from being emitted
- 48,000 tons of CO2
- 600 tons of CO
- 240 tons of NO

## Managing the Teleworker

- Manage the same way you manage a non-teleworker
- May use different skills to communicate
- Never had to really develop these skills in the past
- Don’t necessarily have to listen if you are face-to-face – could be biased based on physical expressions and body language
- Don’t listen, you don’t see
- Don’t see, you don’t hear

## Managing the Teleworker

- Manage the same way you manage a non-teleworker
- May require you to pay more attention
- Look for words
- Listen for tones
- Look for results more frequently

## Managing the Teleworker: The Basics

- Plan
- Need to know what your job is
- Contribute
- Need to understand how your job contributes to the big picture
- Satisfy
- Need to know how well you are doing
- Recognition
- Need to know that your work does matter
- Growth
- Need to know that you are valued

## Managing the Teleworker: The Plan

- Job definition
- What am I responsible for?
- Have you ever asked your direct reports?
- Did the answers agree with your preconceived answer?

## Managing the Teleworker: The Contribution

- Does your job actually contribute to the larger organization’s mission?
- Why is your job needed?
- How does what you do make a difference?

## Managing the Teleworker:  The Satisfaction

- Define goals / objectives
- What am I going to do in order to contribute?
- What - tactics
- How did I do it?
- How - behaviors

## Managing the Teleworker: The Reward

- Recognize good (and bad) work
- Talk it out
- Sometimes attention is the biggest reward
- Poor performance may be due to:
- Poor job match
- No growth opportunities
- Lack of attention
- Competition in personal life

## Managing the Teleworker: The Growth

- Focus on what makes an employee tick
- Invest in an employee
- Ask employee to invest in him / herself

## Conclusions and Lessons: Critical Mass

- Very first teleworker had a very lonely and difficult time
- Communication channels and organizational norms shift, telework becomes much easier and productive
- Critical mass of teleworkers must be in place to ensure a sustainable program
- Like internet users, each new teleworker receives more benefit than the one before

## Conclusions and Lessons: Critical Mass

- As participation increases, problems decrease
- 				_1999_		_2000_
- Participation:		49%		56%
- Major Problems:
-   Reduced visibility	27%		16%
-   Loss of camaraderie	28%		15%
-   Isolation			23%		15%
-   Loneliness		13%		7%

## Telework at AT&T: Things to Think About

- Does telework simply force managers to do what they should already be doing?
- May have to develop new and / or refine old skills
- See with your ears and hear with your eyes!
- Will telework redefine the *manager*?
- Can you be a functional manager and a people manager?
- Can you really treat everyone *equally*?

## Telework at AT&T

- Thank you!
- www.att.com/telework

## Frequency:  All AT&T vs Atlanta

- 1 time a week
- or more

- At least 1 time a month
- but not once a week

-  _Frequency of Teleworking_

- 66

- *

- *

- 49

**Frequency:  All AT&T vs Atlanta**

## Commute Time:  All AT&T vs Atlanta

**Commute Time:  All AT&T vs Atlanta**

- 1 hr
-  27 min

- 1 hr
-  58 min

- 1 hr
- 32 min

- 1 hr
- 59 min

- 1 hr
- 22 min

- 1 hr
- 54 min

- *

- *

- *

## Quit or Go Back to Office:  All AT&T vs Atlanta

- _% saying would:_

- Quit or look for another
- work at home job

- Go back to office

**Do something else**

**Don't know**

**<3**

**<3**

- *

## Productivity:  All AT&T vs Atlanta 

- _% saying productivity is:_

**3>**

- Higher than in office

- Same as in office

- Lower than in office

- *

## Could Telework:  All AT&T vs Atlanta 

-  _**% of time could work from home without interrupting critical tasks**_**.**

## Much More Satisfied with Personal Life:  All AT&T vs Atlanta

- % Rating Satisfaction 8 - 10 on a 10 Point Scale;
- 10= _Much more satisfied than before working at home_

## Much More Positive about Career:  All AT&T vs Atlanta

**% RATING SATISFACTION 8-10 ON 10 PT. SCALE: 10=**
_**Much more satisfied than before working at home**_

## Advantages:  All AT&T vs Atlanta 

- Helps improve** ****environment**

- Helps improve **productivity**

- Makes employee **feel trusted**

- Helps the company **attract and **
**keep the best people**

- Makes employees feel
- respected by their co-workers

**Reduces stress** in general

- Shows the **company cares** about employees and their families

_**% SAYING MAJOR ADVANTAGE**_

**AT&T**

**Atlanta**

- *

## Advantages:  All AT&T vs Atlanta

- Can spend **more time with spouse**

- Helps employee **care for their kids**

- Can spend **more time with children**

- Can provide **more supervision and support to children**

- Children can get to me faster in **emergency**

- Lets employee **balance work and **
**family** needs better

- _Personal Considerations_

- Reduces stress in performing
**household tasks**

**Saves money** on clothes
- and transportation

**More personal time** by reducing commuting time

_**% saying major advantage**_

- AT&T

- Atlanta

- *

- *

## Disadvantages:  All AT&T vs Atlanta 

- Produces **overwork** and burnout

- Loss of** camaraderie**, sense of being
- part of the team

- Don't have needed** ****equipment**

- Lower** productivity of support staff**

- Lower** productivity of teleworkers**

- Reduced **visibility/less recognition**

**Isolation ** from business, sense of being out of touch

_**% saying major disadvantage**__ _

- Less** communication** with supervisor

**Technology **such as slow or faulty** data connections, equipment, etc.**

- AT&T

- Atlanta

- *