• PC Proficiency
• Phone & customer service
• Writing and email
• Problem solving

 

Increased long-term support was needed to learn the job at home, since many persons could not come to the office. Staff calls averaged 1-2 times per week during the first few months of the job in order to ensure that the teleworker was functioning sufficiently.  Due to decreased self-confidence, individuals needed more emotional support, during the first few months of the job.  Ironically, in some cases family members either hindered or provided additional support for the teleworker in starting the job. Having a separate area or office was extremely important.

 

Work Projects:  Many individuals lacked self-esteem and confidence, so temporary work projects for specific candidates were developed to determine follow through and speed skills.  We recruited employers to provide occasional temporary projects (collating, proofing) in which candidates could try out their skills and to assist them to be more comfortable with employer expectations.   Many candidates needed realistic updates on employer expectations and employee responsibilities. 

 

Staff also worked with the supervisors in suggesting ways to involve the teleworker socially and have increased integration with the team. Individuals’, who were contractors, therefore needed less teamwork skills.  The majority of supervisors included conference calls, required face-to-face meetings every other month, and phone calls to help the teleworker stay in touch and feel a part of the team.

 

As teleworkers became more comfortable in working remotely, self-confidence improved and they continued with their employment.  Some individuals were able to increase their hours over a period of time from 20 to 30 hours.

 

Call Center Telework Implementation

Many call center jobs seem conducive to telework. 

Case Example:  MITE assisted Dataserv, an IT technology support service to implement a telework initiative for persons with significant disabilities in their dispatch call center.  Four individuals were hired to work 30 to 40 hours per week at home and were recruited, screened, and trained.  Long-term follow-up was provided as well.  The individuals had pain, fatigue, hearing and mobility issues. They were employed for a minimum of 9 years and proved to be excellent trainers for other telework employees.  The manager reported no employee turnover and increased customer satisfaction due to the advanced knowledge of these employees. 

 

Case Example:  In 1992, MITE and MRC assisted a small call center, First Call for Help, through the Twin Cities United Way.  Their goal was to implement 24-hour coverage by assisting 7 persons with significant disabilities to become information specialists for their second and third shifts.  MITE provided the recruitment, screening, testing, development of customized training and follow up support for individuals for them to work in their homes.  One of these individuals became the call center lead person and was responsible for scheduling and coordination of shifts as well.  They have remained in their jobs for 10 years.

 

Need to Train Small Businesses on Telework Implementation

Small businesses strive to keep both existing talent and also entry-level workforces.  They may have higher turnover in entry-level positions due to the recruitment of these employees to large corporations with a wider range of benefits and increased promotional opportunities.  New college graduates often stay less than 1 year in entry-level jobs, so employers deal with high turnover. Dataserv and United Way had a 33% turnover per year with their dispatchers, costing an average $10,000 - $17,000 per employee due to lost time, retraining of new hires and recruitment costs.  Employees with disabilities who telework tended to remain in these jobs over longer periods of time and have a more extensive knowledge of the company products.     

 

Meeting Requirements of ADA

An additional benefit of telework for small businesses is that it offers one solution for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA).  The ADA, prohibits discrimination in hiring, promotion and termination of individuals with disabilities.  Telework can be suggested as an alternative employment model for workers with disabilities that may be difficult or costly to accommodate in the workplace.  Small businesses are also concerned about legal and discriminatory practices, which may ultimately result in loss of time, staff, and legal fees.

 

Decreased employee recruitment costs and use of temp agencies

In marketing telework, MITE has found that most small employers have been very interested in considering telework candidates, particularly for part time positions or assistance with customer follow-up and coverage.  Recruitment efforts over time cost businesses both time and money.  They also strive to retain employees who are knowledgeable in regard to their business processes and customers.  The use of employment agencies to meet new staffing needs also requires increased training and supervisory time.  Businesses struggle to both meet customer needs and train new staff on a recurring basis.  This reduces overall company productivity due to lost time for replacing and training high turnover staff. 

 

Case Example:  For Service 800, the use of persons with disabilities proved invaluable at their time of growth.  Service 800 no longer advertises for their customer service positions.  Instead they utilize word-of-mouth and connections with our agency and their own employees to fulfill their staffing needs.

 

Cost containment

In marketing telework, the overall bottom line for small business to hire teleworkers is to ensure future growth and maintain costs.  Ironically, after hiring employees, they have found that they can increase customer coverage and utilize other skills of the employee. 

 

Case Example:  For example we worked with a printer who had hired a woman to collate difficult projects in her home over a 1-year period of time.  This employee’s quality of work was excellent; therefore the employer asked her to work in-house as well performing quality control.  She eventually became a full time employee, with split hours in the home office and onsite.

 

 

For small businesses, which have a high need to provide customers satisfaction and coverage, hiring telework employees with disabilities can provide more flexibility to meet customer needs.

 

Case Example:

Broader hours of customer coverage and increased satisfaction

·        A small law firm in Duluth, Minnesota hired a person to work from 3 to 10 pm to handle phone calls from customers for their TV advertising campaign.  They wanted the customer to connect with a person, not a machine, but could not afford a full time customer service representative. 

·        Another small furnace and heating company hired an individual with a disability to schedule maintenance appointments with customers during the day as he was out of the office.  Appointments can be conducted at times other than regular business hours. 

·        Precision Tune contracted with MRC to hire and supervise 4 customer follow-up staff.  MRC hired them as temporary employees for 6 months, then Precision Tune hired as permanent employees.  This minimized the occupancy costs as well for Precision Tune.  The agency hired these four persons as “temp” employees for the first few months.

 

Expanded geographic reach

Small businesses may utilize employers in other areas of the state or country. 

 

Case Example:  Service 800 provides customer satisfaction research for the large technology firms and utilizes a homebased workforce to conduct business calls to obtain customer feedback during business hours.  In starting their company in 1988, they have grown from 12 employees to over 200 over a 10-year period.  Over a 2-year period, they hired 13 persons with disabilities to work in positions of 30-40 hours per week.  They now have pools of employees who live in the Twin Cities, Alexandria, MN, and London.  Service 800 has saved money in their occupancy costs. 

 

Meeting the concerns of small business

Many small employers will question the value or need for telework within their business. Employers also have concerns about employing individuals with disabilities who are working at a remote site.  Together, these two attitudinal barriers constitute the greatest hurdles to marketing telework to businesses.  This section will describe the types of questions and concerns that have arisen, as MITE has worked with small businesses to promote telework as an option for employees with disabilities.

 

What types of jobs work well for teleworkers with disabilities?

Many job tasks (i.e. customer service, writing, data entry, analysis, reporting, phoning, proofing) are conducive to telework, at minimum on a part time basis.  Whereas these are entry-level jobs, these are also positions in which small businesses find challenges in their employee recruitment efforts..  Small employers are instrumental in hiring individuals, with the average wage being $8.50 - $10 per hour.  Candidates also typically have been unemployed for several years; therefore do not have current skills for more advanced positions.

 

Do employees have to telework full-time?

Over 90% of telework starts on a part-time basis, that is 1 to 3 days each week.  The employee is not isolated because they do go into the office the other days of the workweek.  Even if employees telework full-time, there are expectations for them to be present at regular staff meetings and interact on a frequent basis with coworkers or members of their team.  Some full-time telecommuting jobs can meet business needs such as customer service.  For this population part-time jobs comprised 90% of the work offered by employers.

 

How can employers use telework to retain employees with disabilities?

For persons who experience chronic or changing disabilities, telework options may be excellent solutions for assisting individuals to not only find employment, but also remain employed because of enhanced personal control.  As disability symptoms fluctuate, persons can better preserve their stamina, thus remaining a healthier and reliable employee.  By eliminating daily commutes and reducing fatigue issues, telework also helps them to maintain their productivity and may serve as a long-term job retention strategy.

 

What is the employment status of the person with a disability?

Of the individuals hired, over 80% were hired as contractors, to start and on a part-time basis.  The remaining teleworkers were hired as employees.  Only 10% of the FlexWork population were full-time employees.

 

How do employers hire individuals who are not trained for the job?

MITE found that employers needed individuals with both computer and communications skills in order to obtain jobs in data entry, customer relations or any position requiring customer contact.  Email, phone and fax communications are essential to many jobs.  Individuals who need to be entirely homebased typically have not succeeded in a regular training environment because their personal needs, medical issues, lack of stamina and other disability-related factors prevent them from daily, consistent attendance.  Long distance or web-based learning can supplement some of these training needs.  We have found that employers need to provide some “hands-on” training as well, at the business site.  Training needs to be conducted on a flexible basis. We have found that a combination of in-house and remote training worked well for some individuals with disabilities, along with the use of trainers who conduct training in candidates homes.

 

What are the safety and liability risks?

Employers are obliged to document home office worksite injuries and are responsible for employer-provided equipment.  The Occupational Health and Safety Administration exempted employers from responsibility for teleworkers.  Despite the absence of legal mandates many small employers establish remote office setup and management practices that are in compliance with their company’s office-based procedures and policies.  An agreement between the company and teleworker can state that the employer is not responsible for third party injuries that may occur in the home office.  The agreement should also indicate that employer property is not to be used by other household members, and is designated specifically for business use. 

 

For workers with a disability, proper ergonomics may be an important component of workplace accommodations. If the employee is sitting at a desk for many hours per day, it is especially critical for the employer to inspect and provide employee education regarding home office setup.  When MITE works with employers, we often stress that the ergonomic chair is the most critical element that the employer should provide, if necessary.  For employees with disabilities, comfort and correct fit is essential for them to maintain productivity and more importantly their health.  The MITE and MRC program provided assistance on the employer on set-up of home office for participants, whether they were contractors or employees.

 

Workers’ compensation injuries that occur during the course of work are covered by the employer.  At this time there appears to be no greater incidence of workers compensation claims from home office workers than in house company employees, as reported by St. Paul Companies Insurance.  A comprehensive telework policy that establishes parameters for privacy, home life-work life balance, employee and company safety responsibilities, office set-up, risk/liability management, security and work schedule helps the company to implement a successful telework program.

 

How can productivity and supervision be maintained for remote workers?

MITE has found that many firms assume they measure productivity, but often use the “management by walking around” style to substitute for measurement.  For some types of positions, teleworkers need to be onsite for a couple of weeks with flexible hours, to ensure they understand the job tasks and the business culture. MITE and MRC work with small businesses to supplement their current training, with additional instruction or in adaptation of training materials. This additional step may be necessary for the teleworker to succeed.  MITE also works with the employer to ensure that communication strategies and follow-up procedures are in place.

 

How is telework a disaster recovery strategy?

In several situations, teleworkers were able to keep the business and customer service open during weather emergencies. 

 

Case Example:  In 1993, Dataserv had 4 of their 64 in-house customer service dispatchers make it to work due to winter storm.  Their call center was disabled.  The four teleworkers were able to keep handling customer calls over a 30-hour period while other dispatchers could not get to work.  The company had not seen telework as a disaster recovery strategy until they used this strategy again in 1994 during an emergency evacuation that lasted 3 hours.  Teleworkers were able to keep on working, while remaining employee productivity plummeted.

 

Will the teleworker feel isolated or out of touch with the company?

In a research study conducted by Virginia Commonwealth University and MITE in 2001, 60 teleworkers with disabilities were asked about feeling socially isolated in their jobs.  The majority of over 90% did not feel a sense of isolation.   Many survey participants have active lives with family and friends and have a balanced sense of work and life.

 

Will the employer ultimately have higher medical benefit costs due to hiring of these teleworkers with disabilities?

In the majority of the cases of teleworkers with disabilities, many workers already have existing medical insurance in place.  The vast majority of persons are on government assistance or have coverage through a family member or spouse.  This population wants to work part time because they can maintain their current benefit status.  Individuals are often on Social Security Disability or veterans’ assistance, which provides a portion of their income.  From their point of view, it is extremely risky for them to withdraw this status to obtain employment.  Most of the wages are $8 to $10 per hour, part-time to start.  The job helps them to supplement their current income and to increase their standards of living to a point in which they are more financially stable.  Participants fear that in taking a job, there is a possibility of failure and inability to retain their jobs due to health concerns.  This premise holds true, particularly for those who have chronic or progressive diseases, in which their current medical status must be maintained.

 

Does the employer pay for modifications, equipment and furniture?

If the person is teleworking full-time, the company often will provide the basic computer and telephone lines, to ensure that the employee is connected and that customer service is not impaired.  The business may have to replicate the technology and hardware for some types of jobs and pay for ongoing dedicated telephone line charges.  Of course, this is dependent upon the job.  Many state vocational rehabilitation agencies can often assist with equipment purchases if the employee is registered with their service.  Employers may want to use their own equipment because connectivity is enhanced, rather than having the employee use their own PC.

 

Summary

Both small businesses and person with disabilities obtain benefit from telework.  To be successful, a 3-prong approach is needed:  1) candidate screening, customized, flexible PC and communications training, and support for teleworkers during the first year of employment; 2) comprehensive telework education for small businesses; and 3) the support of an employer advisory council and state vocational rehabilitation services.  These three program components are necessary to help the organization meet their business goal and to enable long-term employment for the individual.

 

Addendum - Telework Disability Case Studies

 

Dataserv – Dispatchers

Dataserv, Inc., now merged with WANG, is a technology maintenance provider for high tech companies.  They are a 24-hour by 7-day operation.  The call center typically had 64 FTE dispatchers, a job which typically has a high employee turnover rate per year (over 30%).  One major reason for having a home-based workforce was to increase employee retention.  They hired four full-time dispatchers with disabilities to work from home.  The individuals dealt with MS, back injury, complications of cancer, and hearing sensitivity to noise.  They dispatched customer calls and requests to a large number of field engineers throughout the U.S.

 

The company duplicated all office equipment and telecommunications in each person’s name and ensured that it was an ergonomic set up.  These telecommuters initially were trained at the company for 2-3 weeks and regularly returned to the corporate site for staff meetings and training.  Coworkers kept in touch on a regular basis.  The company put the pictures of the four-offsite workers on a wall in the call center.  One of these dispatchers after 3 years was named Employee of the Year.

 

During a 3-foot snowstorm at the corporate site in Minnesota, none of the in-house dispatchers were able to get to work and the telecommuting employees took all customer calls straight for 30 hours.  This ended up being a disaster recovery program for the company, in addition to increasing employee retention.

 

Precision Tune – Customer Service

Precision Tune hired 3 contractual workers to perform customer service follow-up calls for several of their locations in the Twin Cities.  Persons worked out of their homes between 20 to 30 hours per week.  The Minnesota Resource Center acted as the employer and hired individuals as temporary employees.  This small company wanted to implement a customer follow-up service and found an innovative way to accomplish it.  The company did not have occupancy space for the 3 employees.  After 6 months, they hired the employees as permanent because they did not want to lose this employee skill base and knowledge of the customers.

 

Chimneysweeps – Scheduler/Secretary

A sole proprietor who provided furnace and air conditioning maintenance services hired an individual with arthritis to schedule his appointments and handle customer phone calls.  He would forward his office line to her home after 9:00 a.m. each day until 5:00 p.m.  She also handled some of the weekend calls on a regular basis.  This was the perfect solution for him because he was not able to take calls while he was working on other projects and she also informed him of emergency calls.  She was able to provide full call coverage to maintain his business customers.

 

Law Firm – Customer Service

A firm in Duluth, Minnesota hired an individual to take calls during 5-10:00 p.m. in the evenings.  They forwarded the calls to her home from their offices.  At one time, they were also running advertisements on television and received many calls at night.  This extended their coverage for potential customers.

 

Northland Insurance Company – Transcriber

This firm employs two telecommuters who work 30 hours a week at home transcribing accident reports from audiotapes and sending them to the corporate site via modem.  One of these individuals has been unable to work in a regular position for more than 10 years due to multiple sclerosis.  The other person has chronic back pain that requires her to change position every 15 to 20 minutes.   Working at home allows both employees to spread six hours of work over an entire day, allowing for needed breaks.  The state initially purchased the equipment for the employees.  The employer provided software and courier services.

 

RESOURCE, Inc. – Secretary

This large, nonprofit organization has a home-based secretary who splits her time between two programs.  She copes with disability-related fatigue and pain, and telecommuting enables her to better manage and maintain her health.  If this employee worked in-house daily commute time would be almost two hours.  She is responsible for database management, mailings, and handling customer calls and orders.  She attends regular staff meetings and maintains daily contact via email and voice mail.  The company provides all equipment and pays for an additional phone line and voice mail.

 

United Way – Information Specialists

Nonprofit agencies such as the Minneapolis United Way have implemented a pilot in which referral specialists receive calls and provide information and assistance.  This is an excellent strategy to give 24-hour service to callers in need.  Individuals with disabilities work from home and have calls from the corporate office forwarded at 4:30 p.m. each day and then forwarded to the next employee at midnight.  Seven individuals with severe disabilities have found long-term employment and work 20-30 hours per week.  A coordinator who also has a disability supervises them.  These employees want to work part-time so they can still retain their medical assistance.  The company provides periodic training updates that employees are required to attend in-house.

 

 

M. JANE ANDERSON

2104 S 24^th Avenue

Minneapolis MN 55406

612.332.1239 (H)

612.752.8010 (W)

janderson@resource-mn.org

 

 

EDUCATION

 

Degrees:                    w            MA Vocational Education/Training, University of MN

                                    w            BS Education, Iowa State University

 

Special Training:            w            West Virginia University, Technical Accommodations for the Disabled;

                                 w        St. Thomas University, Management Training

 

DIRECTOR, MITE-Midwest Institute for Telecommuting Education

DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR, RESOURCE, Inc.  1992-Present

 

 

14 Years Relevant Telework Implementation Experience-1988 to Present

 

Development

Developed and implemented MITE that provides customized telework consulting and training for a national employer market.  Provided leadership and project management for four long-term, large-scale telework initiatives for both public and private sector organizations.  Recruited 50 business leaders who had implemented telework pilots to assist with feedback to develop a 12-hour telework training series and materials.

Developed a comprehensive 100-page Telework Implementation Manual, Model Telework Policy/Agreement, “Telework: The Future of Business” video, and Home Office Inspection Inventory.  Development activities include feasibility studies and cost/benefit analyses for telework.  Developed a 21-member MITE Board of Directors that includes employers, nonprofit and public sector organizations.

 

Since 1993, has been responsible for obtaining funds, writing foundation and public proposals, and developing new sources of funding support for RESOURCE, Inc., a $14-million human services agency.  Secures a total of 1 million revenues on an annual basis.

 

Implementation

Major implementation experience is summarized in the following projects:

 

1997-2002 - Washington DC, Northern Virginia, and Baltimore Council of Governments - Was selected as one of several national telework consultants to assist DC and Baltimore companies to implement major telework pilots.  These include an 8,000 employee, high-tech company and a large nonprofit DC agency, within an aggressive six-month timeline.  Works with cross-functional company teams to coordinate planning, communication, selection, implementation strategies, policy development, technical guidelines, and evaluation/training.

 

2000-2001 – City of Houston Telework Center – Consulted with University of Texas to conduct a telework and training center feasibility study for an inner-city location for disadvantaged, Hispanic residents.

 

2000-2001 – MN Telework Center Consortium – Participated in Senator Paul Wellstone’s initiative to develop legislation, policy and guidelines for the federal Department of Agriculture in order to formulate an RFP for a national audience.

 

1995-1996 - Hennepin County - MN Telework Pilot - Consulted and developed a pilot for nine divisions with a total of 45 teleworkers.  Assisted in the development of policy, technical guidelines, implementation plan, evaluation, and training for telesupervisors and teleworkers.

 

1994-98 - Twin Cities Medical Telework Pilot - Initiated an ambitious cooperative telework pilot involving six of the region’s largest hospitals and clinics (Abbott Northwestern, Gillette, Aspen HealthPartners, Health System, Regions, and Ramsey Clinic).  This project was a unique venture among competing health care institutions.  Provided monthly consultation and training to hospital and clinic staff on how to implement, test, and expand telework arrangements.  Developed the Twin Cities Medical Telecommuting Association that includes 15 major medical facilities.

 

Training

Has provided the MITE seminar series and briefing sessions to over 12,000 employers nationally via conference and professional association workshops.  Implemented 1.5-hour telework briefing sessions and ½ day seminars with AT&T Foundation in 1999 for over 300 Minnesota employers statewide.  Presentations include:  Government Training Services, International Facilities Management Association, International Virtual Office conference, National Council on Compensation Insurance, National Professional Association of Managers,

National Telecommuting Advisory Council, NW Area Computer Show, Public Employer and Labor Relations conference, Society of HR Managers, Texas HR Association, University of Kentucky and University of Minnesota.

 

Customers include:  Allina, Andersen Windows, Ceridian, Dain Rauscher, Dayton Hudson, Discovery Channel, Ecolab, Fairview Corporation, Fingerhut, General Motors, HB Fuller, Health System Minnesota, Medtronic, National Institutes of Health, State of Minnesota Administration, State of Minnesota Employee Relations, State of Wisconsin, Target and US Bank.  Currently serves as a guest trainer for the Employer Association, University of MN and University of St. Thomas. 

 

 

 

Testing and Evaluation

Has devised customized evaluation measures for telework for implementation and        training effectiveness, employee productivity and client customer service, employee and manager satisfaction, and cost/benefit analysis.  Her successful gap-analysis techniques have provided valuable input to better fit telework to the organization.

 

Supervisory Experience

From 1988 to 1993, Ms. Anderson supervised over 9 full-time and seven contractual staff at three sites in Minnesota.  Two offices were over 150 and 75 miles from the corporate site.  She now supervises two administrative staff who telework.

 

FLEXWORK DIRECTOR - 1988-1991 - Responsible for implementation and management of telework programs in Minneapolis, Duluth and St. Cloud, MN to place persons with disabilities in flexible work options.  It is one of two programs of its kind in the United States.  Implemented PC Training programs with IBM and developed and maintained two Business Advisory Councils totaling 40 members.  Through a federal demo grant implemented the Staying On the Job program for employees dealing with chronic, changing disabilities.  This assists supervisor/employees to devise either flexible or telework arrangements.  Supervised staff in the marketing and placement of disabled persons in the competitive job market with an overall two-year placement goal exceeded by 33%.  Serves as an expert witness in ADA telework discrimination cases.

 

MEASURES OF SUCCESS - Served as telework consultant for three national telework programs in New Jersey, Kentucky, and Seattle for persons with disabilities.  Has been highlighted in over 40 newspaper and business magazine articles, including USA Today, FedEx Magazine, and Telecommuting Times.  Served on the ITAC-International Telework Association and Council Board of Directors through 2002.  Served as 1 of 2 national spokespersons and consultants for the implementation of telework programs.

 

OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCE – Ms. Anderson Chaired the Telecommute America ‘97 Initiative for the state of Minnesota.  She has served on program and conference committees for the Telecommuting Association of MN.