Telework Pros vs. Cons

The General Services Administration on Monday announced a groundbreaking new telework policy that presumes all GSA employees are eligible to telework. And according to a new report by the Merit Systems Protection Board, GSA and other agencies that embrace telework are on the right track to maintaining productivity and performance and boosting mission accomplishment.

The MSPB report, which is based on a 2009 survey of federal employees, supervisors and executives, found that the benefits of telework can occur while maintaining productivity and performance, provided agencies manage telework programs appropriately. For example, telework can benefit employees through reduced work commute and better work/life balance, the report noted.

Telework also can directly benefit agencies, particularly through continuity of operations plans and in reducing office space. The majority of routine teleworkers (82 percent) are aware of their responsibilities in the event of a local or national emergency, compared with just 68 percent of non-teleworkers, the survey found.

But those reasons do not necessarily make the business case for telework themselves, according to the report. Instead, agencies should look to the indirect benefits of telework and increased employee work/life balance, such as benefits in areas of recruitment, retention and employee engagement, MSPB found.

For example, 86 percent of routine teleworkers said their experience as teleworkers had a positive impact on their satisfaction with their job and organization, while 81 percent said that telework has a positive impact on their desire to stay in their organization, the survey found.

Still, the survey results indicated some challenges in implementing telework, particularly among supervisors who felt that support for telework has been given too freely without addressing telework concerns.

"The occurrence of such perceptions and of telework concerns in general underscores the criticality of ensuring that wise decisions are made about an appropriate approach to telework for a given situation and that employees are managed effectively within that approach," the report states.

MSPB recommends that managers and supervisors be flexible and open about telework and create a plan to identify and address technology to support telework. Organizational leaders also should ensure cultural and leadership preparedness for telework and that supervisors are prepared to manage teleworkers and nonteleworkers, and employees should engage in performance management with supervisors and abide by standards for responsiveness and availability when teleworking, MSPB noted.

"Organizations need to identify and weigh the pros and cons of telework for their situations and customize approaches that will maximize benefits and minimize challenges," said MSPB Chairman Susan Tsui Grundmann. "Telework does not occur in a vacuum, and organizations need to find the right balance."