June 1, 2006
The first study of its kind, Runzheimer International’s 1st Annual Total Employee Mobility Benchmarking Process reveals market trends and statistics relating to mobile employees who work outside of the traditional office setting, whether their work is performed while traveling or via a home office environment. This groundbreaking study identifies - for the first time - benchmarks in the area of Total Employee Mobility management, defined by Runzheimer as programs that support relocation, international assignments, travel, corporate aircraft, business vehicles, and mobile/home office employees.
"An important characteristic of leading organizations in the 21st Century will be that they have developed effective and well-integrated employee mobility programs, including mobile office programs. Mobile office programs are a strategic imperative that enable business continuity, improved abilities to access and retain top talent, and far greater organizational agility. We are in a knowledge economy and should be anticipating the day when more than half of our workforce is able to function productively outside of traditional facilities. The benchmarking process that Runzheimer has begun is intended to help organizations benchmark and better manage their telecommuting programs as well as all aspects of employee mobility," says Heidi Skatrud, Vice President, Runzheimer International.
Findings relating to telecommuting programs include the level of maturity of these programs within companies; the current level of program outsourcing; anticipated changes in telecommuting spend and number of mobile/home office employees; productivity of mobile/home office employees; security and liability concerns; the kinds of items that are provided to or reimbursed for telecommuters; and the specific departments responsible for mobile/home office program management.
The definition of "mobile office employees" in Runzheimer International's Total Employee Mobility Benchmarking Process includes any employees who spend at least 50% of their business hours away from their traditional office space. This framework applies to employees who work from home, frequent travelers who conduct business on the road, from client sites, hotel rooms, airports, and conference facilities, as well as employees who spend a significant amount of time driving and working from a vehicle.
Spending on mobile office programs is expected to grow in the future. More than one-third of benchmarking process respondents (36%) expected to increase their spending on telecommuting programs this year, while 30% of organizations predicted to maintain their current level of spending and 30% were uncertain. Only 4% of organizations planned to reduce their spending in this area.
Similar to the statistics depicted above, when asked how their number of mobile office employees would change in the coming year, 44% of respondents reported that they plan to grow their population of telecommuters. Thirty percent stated that the number of mobile office employees in their organization would remain at its current level, 22% of participants were uncertain regarding how this number is going to change, and only 4% of respondents reported that their number of telecommuters would decline.
Yet, when participants were asked if they thought productivity was higher for their mobile office employees, 65% did not know. Twenty-three percent of firms said they believed (or had data to substantiate) productivity was higher by an average of 23%. Only 12% of respondents stated that mobile office work does not lead to productivity gains.
Given the trends affecting the number of mobile office employees and telecommuting program spend, it is important to note that only 52% of benchmarking process respondents have a mobile office policy in their organization.
More than two-thirds of respondents (77%) reported that their telecommuting programs are managed in-house and only 23% of organizations stated that they outsource one or more functions of their telecommuting programs. When participants were asked whether they have plans to outsource their mobile office programs, 79% of organizations indicated that they planned to keep this function internal, 17% did not know, and 4% reported that they are planning to outsource some or all of their mobile office program components.
Security is a prominent concern for organizations with mobile workers. Seventy-two percent of respondents expressed concern about information and/or physical security of company assets located off-premise.
At the same time, when asked if teleworkers who work from a home office are subject to any type of inspection of their work environment, 91% said "no."
Because the area of telecommuting administration and management is in the early stages of deployment in most organizations, the majority of respondents (52%) reported that no single department had ownership over this function and that it was managed by a combination of different departments and process owners.
The benchmarking process participants were also asked about what items are typically provided to or reimbursed for mobile office employees. The prevailing majority of organizations reported that their mobile office employees are provided with, or reimbursed for, laptop computers and related software, cell phones, office supplies, printers, fax machines, phone cards, scanners, and postage/courier expenses. Less than half of all respondents reported that they provide their employees or reimburse for mobile/home office set-up allowances, desktop computers and related software, voice/data communications, and PDAs or pagers.
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About Runzheimer International
Founded in 1933, Runzheimer International serves 60 percent of the Fortune 500. Recognized for providing innovative solutions relating to total employee mobility, Runzheimer is the global leader in business vehicle reimbursement programs, travel management consulting, employee relocation and compensation, virtual offices, and corporate aircraft.
For more information, contact Luella Dooley at Runzheimer International, Runzheimer Park, Rochester, Wisconsin 53167, (262)971-2277, ljd@runzheimer.com, www.runzheimer.com.
