Arkansas Testing Telecommuting

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- In an effort to quantify the actual benefits of telecommuting to a state agency, the states Department of Information Services is kicking off a telecommuting project in June. The idea for the pilot project came out of DIS senior staff looking for a way to bolster recruiting, state officials said.

The project, a pilot program that will run until the end of the year, will allow DIS employees to telecommute two or three days per week, said Mike Kemp, DIS director of communications. "All state agencies are keeping a close eye on this project because there is a lot of interest in it," Kemp said. "There is such competition for IT workers. If this project is successful -- and we dont think theres a reason it wont be -- it could substantially enlarge the recruiting pool."

The projects goal is to produce some usable data on telecommuting, said Penny Rubow, project manager of the DIS Telecommuting Implementation Project. "What were hoping for is that when the pilot is over, well be able to roll it out to other state agencies," Rubow said. "The goal is to collect hard evidence that we can make telecommuting work. We have a series of surveys that well give right before the group of workers start telecommuting. Well give those surveys to the manager, the person who will be doing the telecommuting, and to coworkers of the telecommuter."

The surveys will then be repeated three months into the pilot project and at the end of the pilot, Rubow said, adding that approximately 30-35 DIS employees have applied to participate in the pilot, which works out to about 10 percent of DIS total employees. "Because were an IT department, a lot of our jobs are suitable for telecommuting," she said, adding that programmers, computer support and help-desk positions and those people who handle contracts are the ideal candidates for telecommuting.

Kemp said the state will foot the bill for outfitting the telecommuting workers homes as the needs of the workers dictate. "I have one person in my division whos going to be telecommuting, does a lot of Web work for us, and were putting in an ISDN line for him," Kemp said. "If employees need an extra phone line, were putting it in. Its something that we feel will actually save us money in the long run. In some instances, it will greatly increase efficiency. It allows employees the opportunity to work around things they might have going on at home. If we have people telecommuting full time, that will reduce the need for office space."

Kemp and Rubow acknowledge that telecommuting means change in the state work place. "As a manager, I have to overcome that feeling or need that I have to be able to walk down the hall and see people doing work," Kemp said. "There is a need for us all to adapt and embrace the tools and different conveniences that technology brings in order to take full advantage of the opportunities."