SUSTEL
IST–2001-33228
Sustainable Telework
– Assessing and Optimising the Ecological and
Social Benefits of Teleworking
www.sustel.org
SUSTEL Case Study UK-04
Word Association
Peter Hopkinson and Peter James
Contact Dr. Peter Hopkinson at [email protected]
Department of Environmental Science, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire BD7
1DP.
SustainIT, UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development, Suite 1, Priestgate
House, 3/7 Priestgate, Peterborough PE1 1JN.
Project funded by the European Community
under the “Information Society Technology”
Programme (1998-2002)
Sustainable Teleworking
Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY................................................................................................................... 3
PART A – THE TELEWORKING INITIATIVE AND ITS CONTEXT ........................................ 4
A.1 BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE CASE STUDY COMPANY................................................... 4
A.2 CURRENT TELEWORKING ACTIVITIES AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT .............................................. 5
A.4 TELEWORKING AND INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES .............................. 6
PART B – EVALUATION ................................................................................................................... 7
B.1 KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS ......................................................................................................... 7
B.2 CHANGES OVER TIME ................................................................................................................. 11
B.3 EXAMPLE OF WIDER INTEREST ................................................................................................... 11
B.4 NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS .................................................................................................... 12
B.5 POLICY IMPLICATIONS ................................................................................................................ 12
B6: TECHNICAL RESOURCES ............................................................................................................. 12
B7: OVERALL SD AND TW ............................................................................................................... 12
PART C REFERENCES AND APPENDICES ................................................................................ 12
Case UK-04: Word Association
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Sustainable Teleworking
Executive Summary
Word Association is a marketing, media relations and web design company employing 9 full
time staff. Established in 1992 the company has grown rapidly and now has around 50 client
accounts. In 2001 turnover increased by 43%. The decision to introduce full-time home
teleworking was taken by the founder and Managing Director of the company in 1999 . This
decision was taken as result of a number of factors, which came together around the same
time that led to the realisation that developments in technology and the nature of the
business meant there were significant business and employee benefits from shifting to the
new work style. These factors included: the desire to reduce overheads; the services offered
did not require a fixed office location and changes in technology which offered the
functionality and capability to allow home working whilst retaining the same or improved
image and service quality to clients.
This case focuses on the experiences of Word Association with home working over the past
3 years. The case is interesting for a number of reasons:
Firstly the drivers for the introduction of home teleworking reflect some of the core interest
to SUSTEL, notably space savings, communications, work life balance issues and
performance.
Secondly this is a successful SME where part of the growth of the company has been due
to services developed as a result of the skills set and understanding from virtual working
practices.
Thirdly the home working has been in place for over 2 years meaning there is a good time
scale to evaluate changes.
The home working solution has been very successful for the company and for individual
employees. The company no longer has a fixed office base saving around £7,000 per annum
as well as avoiding the need for new, larger offices as the company expanded. Work
performance and productivity have been enhanced. These benefits have more than offset
higher than expected set up and initial running costs. The company also believes that recent
growth may not have been as fast and would have been far harder to manage without the
shift to home working.
Staff save on average 5 hours and 50 miles per week commuting to and from the office. Most
also report an improved work-life balance. Several staff have amended their working hours
around caring duties, and home working is now regarded as an important tool to attract and
retain skilled employees.
Structure of the Case
Part A provides factual information about the subject of the case.
Part B discusses the case’s relevance to the core SUSTEL research questions (see
www.sustel.org for the conceptual paper which identifies these questions, based on a
literature review).
Part C provides references and any appendices.
Case UK-04: Word Association
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Part A – The Teleworking Initiative and Its Context
A.1 Background Information on the Case Study Company
A.1.1 The Organisation and its Environment
Word Association is a small fast growing media, marketing and web design company
formerly based in Coventry but now operating from employees’ homes under the direction of
Mark Thomas the Managing Director.
Mark founded the company in 1992. At the time of writing the company has 45 client
accounts including both public and private sector companies. The company converted to a
limited company in 2001. The company was awarded the Investors In People (IIP) award in
1999 - at about the time the company moved to home-based working. According to Mark the
IIP was instrumental in helping to create the framework for performance indicators (see
below) which have been significant in making the transition to home working such a success.
The IIP standard is a UK National scheme that aims to audit and improve the management of
people within an organisation
The company employs nine staff including a graphic artist, a marketing strategist, a
copywriter, a photographer and a web designer. All the employees have a range of creative
and media skills and have had a number of years experience prior to teleworking with digital
media and ICT enabled systems.
A.1.2 Management and Human Resources
The company operates on a very flat, team based management structure through a standard
client account approach. There are two account directors including Mark Thomas. Mark has
overall management control, although the running and management of the business is led by
a series of performance indicators that are used to assess and evaluate performance against
higher-level business goals.
The company maintains face-to-face contact in the following ways:
Weekly contact at the Monday morning production meetings that set out priorities, review
current jobs and plan work. At times these meetings involve suppliers to keep employees
up to date with new developments in their specialist areas.
Monthly business meetings that examine performance against business objectives and
review marketing.
A 6-monthly away day to reflect on the past 6 months and set new targets.
The PIs devised in 1999 during the IIP process included:
Turnover
Profit
Profit margin
Overheads
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Sustainable Teleworking
Productivity (% chargeable hours/total hours)
Marketing to existing clients; boosting enquiries; win rates and value added
Client retention
Customer satisfaction
Recruitment
Training
Staff Satisfaction
IT issues.
These Pis are judged against the key business goals for the company and used to set
targets and judge individual performance.
Whilst much of this data is confidential Mark Thomas states that in the past 3 years each of
these indicators has shown improvements to the benefits of the company. Staff and
customers are surveyed 6 monthly and these scores.
The company is currently looking into registering for the UK Work Life Balance Standard.
A.2 Current Teleworking Activities and their Development
A.2.1 Current Teleworking Activities
Since 1999 all employees at Word Association have moved to home-based working. Prior to
this the company operated a fixed office in Coventry; between 5-10 miles from the
employees who travelled to the office most days. Prior to 1999 two employees at Word
Association had practiced small amounts of home working but for the remainder this was a
new experience.
Aside from the face-to-face meetings on Monday mornings the majority of staff are fully
home based. The two account directors spend most time travelling and in meetings with
clients, most often at their premises.
A.2.2 Teleworking Drivers and Policies
The main drivers for the home teleworking were:
the developments in ICT enabling home based working to be a business proposition
without compromising image or service quality to customers
a desire to reduce overheads and invest those savings in the business
a fixed office location was not necessary for the nature of the services offered.
These drivers led the company to pilot home based working for a year. This pilot year was
successful leading to a decision to move to home working for all employees.
Case UK-04: Word Association
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A.4 Teleworking and Information and Communication Technologies
The company invested at the outset in BT Feature Line, which allowed the transfer and
diversion of calls within the company on a follow me basis - this required all staff to place
their phones on divert. Although successful this was both a complex and costly solution for
the company with the fear being that some staff would forget to place their calls on divert
which would impact on customer perception. One of the knock on effects of the call diversion
system however is to transfer part of the cost of an incoming call to the company. For a
company with such a high reliance on the telephone this led to a significant increase in
telephone charges, which had not been expected but also eroded some of the gains in the
reduced overheads.
Each employee has their own fully equipped home office comprising PC, dedicated phone
line, copier, and printer and has full Internet access to files and data held on the Word
Association server. They are also able to view publications and proofs on line in PDF.
Relevant staff are trained in excel and Powerpoint. Several staff have web-design expertise.
More recently the company has switched to 24/7 broadband connections, which has enabled
it to replace the second line that was installed originally for internal telephone
communications. Currently only 2 staff remain on Feature line - the company has now
switched to an Office Response System, essentially an outsourced office service system.
This has led to savings in telephone costs. Internal communications are used as main means
of electronic internal communications.
The Account Directors use PDA’s at client meetings. The company is currently looking into
web conferencing.
Case UK-04: Word Association
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Part B – Evaluation
B.1 Key Research Questions
B.1.1 Does the organisation have a good understanding of the full benefits and costs
of teleworking?
Yes although some of the costs and benefits are commercially confidential.
It is reported that staff enjoy a quieter working environment and have avoided lost time in a
daily journey to work.
Staff productivity and performance are monitored though a series of 20 performance
indicators that have shown repeated improvements and increases since home working
commenced. In addition part of the growth of the business has been in services in which staff
have developed knowledge and skills in as a result of home working.
Customer satisfaction surveys show that all indicators relating to performance have improved
consistently since home working and have led to a doubling in repeat business from those
customers.
Currently staff satisfaction stands at 83% up from 55% in the past 2 years (based on
responses to 36 questions designed by Business Link, a UK national business support
agency). Client satisfaction stands at 84% increase on the previous year, with an average of
4.2 per question item (5 = excellent, 4 = very good). Employee satisfaction levels have
increased. The company are intending to add work-life balance questions to their staff
satisfaction surveys in the near future.
The growth in the business in the past 3 years has meant that the company has avoided the
need to move to larger premises.
The company has reduced its overhead on office space by around 5-10k annum (at the time
of the home working increase of 25% plus increased business rates were likely)
Set against this the company had to invest in telephone lines and systems which in turn led
to a significant increase in telephone costs in the first few months. In addition more
equipment (copiers, fax and printers) was needed to ensure staff were self-sufficient. These
are an additional cost and include higher support costs for maintenance etc.
In total however whilst the reduction in overhead has been lower than first envisaged Mark
Thomas concludes that the net effect has been a reduction in overhead.
The company has never had a problem with absenteeism. Home working has retained and
probably reduced further already low rates of absence due to illness, child care etc.
The company is more resilient to external shocks and events such as transport disruption of
fuel strike.
Staff are more skilled and ICT competent which in turn has opened up new business
services enabling the company to grow rapidly.
The company provides staff with an allowance for furniture - the exact sum varies by the
nature of the job and appointment. Equipment levels and running costs have increased.
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Staff are allowed to claim for additional costs incurred by home working such as lighting and
heating although few have done so and the amounts claimed have been trivial. There are no
reported impacts on home insurance or council tax although Mark states that the company
would meet these costs as well.
Commute travel has been eliminated on 4 out of 5 working days most weeks. Business travel
is relatively unaffected.
There is evidence that home working has helped to increase work hours whilst also being
able to support childcare more effectively. This has improved work-life balance and
increased the availability of staff to the company. The core staff remains fairly local to the
area although the company has started to consider the use of freelancers which is facilitated
by the shift to home working.
B.1.2 Does Teleworking Lead to More Efficient Use of Space?
Yes. Prior to home working the company leased a 100 sq m office in Coventry costing in total
around £7,500/annum, including business rates. Each employee now works from home.
At the time the lease on the office was due for renewal with a price increase of 25% likely.
Hence, almost £10,000 has been saved from this. Further costs would have arisen from
housing the additional staff which Word Association has taken on.
All staff have their own home office comprising a range of ICT equipment.
B.1.3 Do teleworkers have lower levels of absenteeism rates and/or job turnover than
non-teleworkers?
The staff have retained all their staff over the past three years. Absenteeism was not a
problem prior to home working and this has not altered. Two staff contacted report that they
have been able to increase their contracted hours and more effectively organise and manage
childcare. They work a 9-3pm day 5 days a week which enables them to take children to and
from school and then start work in a more relaxed frame of mind. Neither of these staff would
have left the company to deal with child care but both state that home working has made it
much easier and less stressful.
All staff report very high levels of satisfaction with home working arrangements.
B.1.4 Does telework enhance people’s career development, and the skills and
experience which underpin this?
The heavy emphasis on the World Wide Web for everyday work has meant that staff have
become trained and familiar with the benefits and gain knowledge which has been invaluable
in their own in house services in web design. This is a growing part of the company’s
business. Many staff have been trained in Excel and Powerpoint and are familiar with a
range of ICT enabled communication systems. All staff are required to maintain electronic
diaries.
B.1.5 What is the effect of teleworking on communication and knowledge sharing
within the organisation?
The shift to home working demands that to maintain cohesion, communication and
knowledge sharing there is a need for meticulous organisation.
Case UK-04: Word Association
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The administrative co-ordination of communications is managed by Melanie Moore. To
maintain close contact Melanie oversees a range of communication systems:
Daily contact by phone, email and internet - the latter holding movement sheets, data
bases and procedures
Weekly contact at the Monday morning production meetings (in a local hotel) which set
out priorities, review current jobs and plan work. At times these meetings involve suppliers
to keep employees up to date with new developments in their specialist areas.
Monthly business meetings which examines performance against business objectives and
review marketing
A 6-mothly away day to reflect on the past 6 months and set new targets.
Home working has therefore increased the role and reliance on electronic systems.
Melanie says that ‘as we work in different locations we are very careful about passing on vital
messages - nothing is left to chance... if you are disciplined about checking your diary you
won’t have many problems with communication’. Melanie is responsible for checking all
diaries and maintaining points of contacts when people are on the move.
B.1.6 Can teleworking increase the potential labour pool for employers, and work
opportunities for staff?
Yes in principle although in practice the company recruits from the local area. There is a
requirement to meet physically each Monday morning. Home working is being used to
promote the company as well as in recruitment.
B.1.7 – Does teleworking influence the benefits and costs of work for individuals and
in what ways?
Yes. Staff no longer have a commute journey. This saves between 50 and 100 miles a week
car travel for employees.
Staff are compensated for any additional eligible costs as a result of home working although
these have been negligible thus far.
Home working has made the company more successful thereby creating scope for career
progression, pay increases and job security. Staff are more knowledgeable and expert in ICT
applications.
B.1.8 Does teleworking make organisations less vulnerable to disruption of their
activities?
Yes. The company states that it remained relatively unaffected during the national fuel strike
of 2001.
B.1.9 What is the impact of teleworking on business travel?
No known changes here- unlikely to be significant.
Commute travel savings are on average 40 miles week, an hour a day.
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B.1.10 Does teleworking increase usage of equipment and/or materials?
Yes. All staff now have their own equipment where previously there was scope for sharing.
This affects the number of copiers and printers. All staff have their own fax now.
There has been much greater use on electronic document transfer reducing the amount of
paper per job although the number of jobs has increased.
B.1.11 How is teleworking influencing the design and location of buildings?
It has replaced the need for a traditional office.
B.1.12 Is there any difference in levels of, and the management of, health and safety
between offices and teleworker’s homes?
Currently the company are reviewing this area. To date the H&S in the home has been the
responsibility of the employee. A more formal approach is now being developed.
B.1.13 Does teleworking have any influence on the recruitment, retention and
working conditions of disadvantaged groups?
Yes. As an example two staff with caring duties for school age children were interviewed.
Melanie Moore states ‘ as my child has started school I have altered and reduced my
working hours to fit in with the school day. I wouldn’t have left the company but I can work
the maximum hours now without impacting on his schooling or my job’. If my son is ill then I
am only 2 minutes away. Also I no longer have to defrost the car and drive in the winter.
Julie Horwood comments that when she first joined the company in 2001she worked 15
hours a week as a PR executive on a freelance basis. This increased to 25 hrs in increment
up to Jan 2002 when she was taken on fulltime at 30 hours a week as PR Manager.
“I was able to go up to 30 hours because of the flexibility meaning I can work around my
commitments of my two children. If I had to drop below 25 hours I would have had to have
looked at other jobs. The home working allows me to maintain the 25-30 hours and my wish
to care for my children. That said the benefits of home working would make me very reluctant
to go back to an office. The other staff know my core hours so it doesn’t upset the work plans
of others.”
B1.1.14 Do teleworkers work for longer and/or in different patterns than nonteleworkers?
Yes they do, fining ways to blend work and home life.
The examples of 2 home workers with school age children show how working hours have
been adjusted to accommodate those caring responsibilities which would have been much
more difficult and probably led to reduced working hours had they been in a fixed office.
Melanie Moore states “if something comes up during the day which I have to break off for
then I can work in the evening although this is quite rare.”
Julie Horwood believes that “one of the main benefits is that I can be at my desk for 8am
without having to rush the children out of the door and am here to meet them after school.
There is a tendency to drift back into the office just to finish things off which can encroach on
home life which requires discipline.”
Case UK-04: Word Association
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B1.1.15 Does Teleworking Influence Health and, if so, in What Ways?
By implication those staff with young children appear to find the working pattern less stressful
and more satisfying enabling them to give more time at certain points of the day to their
children.
B1.1.16 Are relatively advanced ICT technologies such as broadband, Intranet,
WAP/GPRS mobile telephony and audio/video conferencing making any difference to
the prevalence or characteristics of teleworking?
Yes. The home working featured in this case study would not have been possible without call
diversion systems, office response services and electronic document transfer applications
over the Internet.
Advanced ICT is likely to deepen the expertise and utilisation of e-communication within the
company and perhaps lead to further business spin offs.
B1.1.17 are teleworking impacts influenced by particular types of teleworking and, if
so, in what ways?
Home teleworking has produced a wide range of beneficial outcomes for the company and
employees. All employees are home based so the effects and benefits are spread equitably.
B1.1.18 General Conclusions
Word Association is a fast growing small company that has excellent client and employee
relations. It has shifted to all staff being home teleworkers, which has been sustained over
the past 3 years and will continue in the future. ICT is a key component of the successful
working practices. Clear performance measures and appraisal are also central to the
success of the home working approach. The shift to home working appears to have also led
to business development opportunities.
B.2 Changes Over Time
The company shifted to home working for all its employees in 1999. This has been CT
supported communications systems as a result of higher than expected costs of the feature
line service. The company has evolved ICT communications to suit its requirements.
B.3 Example of Wider Interest
Investors in People (IIP) is a national best practice standard for training, development and
other personnel practices. It requires a business to demonstrate to an independent assessor:
Commitment - developing its people in order to achieve its business aims and objectives
Planning – a training plan and other mechanisms to ensure that skills, individuals and
teams are developed to achieve business goals.
Action - developing and use necessary skills in a well-defined and continuing programme,
including regular appraisal and provision of training
Evaluation – monitoring the outcomes of training and development for individuals'
progress towards goals, the value achieved and future needs.
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Research among 2,000 Investors in People accredited organisations found that:
80% have increased customer satisfaction
70% have improved their competitive edge and productivity.
B.4 National Characteristics
It is unusual for a UK SME to shift from a fixed to a completely virtual working style almost
overnight and for it to be so successful.
The growth and expansion of ICT systems and broadband have reduced the cost and
increased the speed of document transfer and allowed small companies to install
communication systems to allow them to operate virtually and seamlessly.
Small to medium sized companies comprise 70% of UK turnover and 90% of UK
employment.
The PR/media relations sector is a fast growing area especially in the UK.
B.5 Policy Implications
SMEs are an important segment of the UK and EU economy. This is a very good example of
a company that has benefited from teleworking without any support from Government or
grant aid. There have been no fiscal or regulatory incentives for the company to homework.
The National Business Link scheme has directed the company towards the work-life balance
standard which has required the company to address a range of new issues.
A key success factor of the home working has been a result of excellent performance metrics
(developed through IIP) that means staff know exactly what is expected of them and how
they are performing.
B6: Technical Resources
•
Performance Metrics
B7: Overall SD and TW
This case study was not inspired or driven by sustainable development. It was a purely
business driven scheme that the company MD saw as a technical possibility which could
lead to gains for the business and support his employees.
The work style has been very successful and effective and has produced a number of
economic, social and environmental gains. There are few downsides to the working practices
other than additional equipment.
Part C References and Appendices
•
Mark Thomas - Managing Director
•
Julie Horwood - PR Manager
•
Melanie Moore - Finance and Admin Manager
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Reference case/control group
The reference case in this case study is the previous working arrangement where all staff
worked in a main fixed office. All employees now work from home full time.
Organisational variables
The outcomes of this scheme have arisen as a result of:
•
Wholesale shift in the location of work.
•
The provision of equipment and promotion of electronic working practices.
•
Investment in telephone systems to retain seamless connection between employees and
employees and clients.
•
Introduction of transparent performance appraisal and review processes and metrics.
Strength of drivers:
Quality of life/work life balance
Work performance/productivity
Space saving/avoidance
Transport
Social inclusion
Others
Case UK-04: Word Association
2 – Quite important.
3 – Marginally important.
1 – Very important.
4 – Not important.
4 – Not important.
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