March 30 , 2009
Washington, D.C.—For city and county managers and other local government leaders, managing employee mobility more effectively can improve service delivery, reduce costs, help meet sustainability goals, and increase employee productivity, according to a new “Management Perspective,” Mobile Workforce Management, published by ICMA, the organization that advances professional local government worldwide.
According to the new report, virtually every city and county across the country has a mobile workforce. At any given time, some percentage of the workforce is conducting local government business away from the traditional office, cubicle, or meeting room. And it’s not just police, firefighters, or other fleet vehicle operators. It’s also building and health inspectors who move from site to site, managers and economic developers who travel for official business, and teleworkers and flex-time employees who spend part of their week working from home and remote facilities.
Research by Runzheimer International, an ICMA strategic partner, suggests that an employer’s average mobility costs—such as travel, virtual offices, relocations, fleet vehicles, and aircraft—are equivalent to or higher than what an organization spends on health care premiums.
“In most organizations, management of these mobility areas is fragmented, with no clear executive line-of-sight,” said Kraig Rodenbeck, vice president of government services at Runzheimer. “Getting one’s arms around the various policies and combined spending in these areas is a good first step toward better strategic management of mobile workforce programs.”
Since employee mobility spans the entire organization, it should be viewed as an executive-level issue, the report concludes.
Mobile Workforce Management highlights examples from a number of cities and counties that have implemented employee mobility initiatives and successfully reduced costs while improving services delivery, including:
- Philadelphia’s program that reduced the city’s fleet by more than 300 vehicles and helped the city avoid more than $4.5 million in maintenance and fuel costs over a five- year period
- Loudoun County, Virginia’s telework program, which produced an estimated 20% increase in employee productivity and higher retention rates (3% for people who telecommuted versus 13% that did not).
- Sarasota County, Florida’s efforts to achieve its environmental goal of being carbon neutral by 2030 while still serving the county’s bottom line through strategic management of their mobile workforce.
“Local governments are looking for new ways to reduce costs and achieve more sustainable communities,” says Susan Benton, director of domestic programs at ICMA. “Mobile workforce strategies offer effective approaches to doing just that.”
Mobile Workforce Management is an outgrowth of ICMA’s new initiative on employee mobility for local governments, and was developed in partnership with Runzheimer International. The initiative provides case studies, strategies, and other resources that cities, counties, and towns can use to explore the strategic use of employee mobility in their government organizations. To download a free copy of the complete ICMA Management Perspective, click here.
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About ICMA
ICMA advances professional local government worldwide. Its mission is to create excellence in local governance by developing and advancing professional management of local government. ICMA, the International City/County Management Association, provides member support; publications, data, and information; peer and results-oriented assistance; and training and professional development to nearly 9,000 city, town, and county experts and other individuals and organizations throughout the world. The management decisions made by ICMA's members affect 185 million individuals living in thousands of communities.
About Runzheimer International
Founded in 1933, Runzheimer International serves 60 percent of the Fortune 500 and numerous government agencies. Recognized for providing innovative solutions relating to total employee mobility, Runzheimer is the global leader in workforce mobility programs including business vehicle, business travel, corporate aircraft, employee relocation and compensation, and virtual office.
