600,000 Teleworking by 2014?

The federal government should set a goal of having at least 600,000 federal employees teleworking by 2014, according to a new report by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and Booz Allen Hamilton.

The report - On Demand Government: Deploying Flexibilities to Ensure Service Continuity - suggests that the government set aggressive targets for teleworking, refusing to accept the small incremental advances some agencies have made thus far. A positive first step is the Obama administration's goal of having more than 150,000 employees teleworking by 2011. But the government should set an even more aggressive goal to increase that number to 600,000 by 2014, the report states.

"If all the talk about telework is to be translated into concrete action, the government must take a different approach - an approach that will change the current mindset of managers, set aggressive goals, start with the premise of 'yes' and ensure that teleworking can be effective during a crisis," the report states.

The latest report on telework by the Office of Personnel Management found that 102,900 federal employees teleworked in 2008, a small increase over the 2007 total of 94,643. Sixty-four percent of those teleworking in 2008 did so relatively frequently - at least one to two days per week, according to OPM.

But despite the modest increases in telework, agencies are still falling short when it comes to realizing its potential, the Partnership and Booz Allen noted. For example, only 44 of 78 agencies have integrated telework into their formal continuity of operations plans, and few are making use of such flexible work arrangements as strategic tools to recruit and retain top talent. Lack of managerial acceptance as well as concerns about information security are the top reasons for telework's lack of acceptance at federal agencies, the report notes.

The Partnership and Booz Allen recommended that the government begin on the assumption that all employees are eligible to telework unless managers can demonstrate why it's not appropriate, a shift from the current practice that has placed such burden on the civil servant and has led to inconsistent standards across government.

Federal managers also must embrace a different opinion of telework, viewing it not just as an employee perk but as a smart business practice that can save money, provide better citizen services and ensure continuity of operations in the event of an emergency or disaster, the report states. Managers also must realize that the ability to work remotely is a national security issue, and should commit to regular testing to ensure telework is fully incorporated into all agency continuity of operations plans.

"The federal government once a leader in teleworking and other work flexibilities, has clearly lost its momentum and, to its detriment, is significantly underutilizing some of these important tools," the report states.