Family Time -- Steve Smith

Several years ago, the traffic on Victoria Street in Costa Mesa was so

bad that during the morning commute, traffic backed up from Placentia

Avenue all the way to Victoria Elementary School, about a half-mile away.

Back then, Victoria was just a rugged two-lane road, and after much

controversy surrounding the displacement of homeowners it was widened to

four lanes.

Today, Victoria Street is once again backing up to Victoria Elementary

School during the morning commute.

I recall thinking that the problem is not that the street was too

small, the problem was that there were just too many cars on the road. It

seemed to me at the time, and it seems to me today, that while so many of

us are embracing the electronic age, we are far behind in using this

technology’s major benefit to our advantage.

We are not telecommuting enough.

For the businesses that work it properly, telecommuting can be one of

the best enhancements to their bottom line. I’m going to give you some

startling facts about the 24 million telecommuters in the nation, but

they won’t reveal the phenomenal transformation it can make in a home

life and the wonderful things it does for kids.

First, the stats. According to the International Telecommuting

Advisory and Council, Telecommuting Review, PC World magazine and AT&T;,

which, it must be acknowledged, has a vested interest in the growth and

development of telecommuting:

* Telecommuting enhances worker productivity as much as 22%, decreases

employee turnover and reduces operating costs;

* The self-reported productivity improvement of home-based teleworkers

averages 15%, while telework-center-based employees reported a 30%

improvement;

* Teleworkers say they work at least one hour more per day --

equivalent to about 250 hours or six weeks more each year;

* 72% percent of teleworkers say they get more done at home than when

in the office;

* 53% of teleworkers say the ability to work at home is important to

their employment choice;

* 66% of all AT&T; managers report that telework is an advantage in

keeping and attracting good employees;

* 77% of teleworkers are more satisfied with their career now than

before teleworking;

* 83% of teleworkers are more satisfied with their personal and family

lives since beginning a telework arrangement;

* Employees who telework can save their employers $10,000 each in

reduced absenteeism and job retention costs;

* Telework can cut corporate real estate costs by 25% to 90%;

* IBM U.S. reduced real estate costs by 40% to 60%;

* AT&T; saves $3,000 per teleworker annually;

* AT&T; has saved about $25 million a year in real estate costs through

employees who are full-time teleworkers.

Any business that has the ability to offer telecommuting and does not

investigate or test its feasibility is throwing money down the drain.

Telecommuters work more hours, are more productive and are happier at

their jobs. They reduce company expenses and stay on the job longer

because their job satisfaction rate skyrockets. That, in turn, reduces

costly company turnover.

But, again, the biggest benefit is to our kids. The littlest ones can

crawl around the floor while Mom or Dad is working and older kids can get

dropped off and picked up by a parent. That contact is important.

Parents, in turn, get rid of the tug of war they fight every day as

they leave the place where they should be for the place they’d rather not

be.

I’d rather not see any more of our tax dollars being put to use to

widen roads that fill up much too soon. For proof, just try to go 65 mph

or even 55 mph in any of the carpool lanes around the area, many of which

were built only in the last few years. Many times during rush hour, those

lanes are worse than the regular lanes.

A couple of weeks ago, one scientist responsible for inventing a new

personal transportation vehicle said he couldn’t understand why we need a

4,000-pound automobile to transport a 150-pound body. But the problem is

deeper than that. The 4,000-pound vehicle takes parents away from their

kids. His device will do that too.

You are now armed with the facts touting the advantages of

telecommuting. If you work for someone, show this to your boss. If you

are a manager, show this to your boss with a plan that will help the

company save money, increase productivity and boost morale. And if you’re

a business owner, do yourself a huge favor and start a pilot program.

You can do something or just complain about the traffic and about how

you don’t get to see your kids enough.

***

High-schoolers can qualify for community service hours by umpiring at

Little League games for the Costa Mesa National Little League. For more

information, call (714) 966-2655.

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and freelance writer. Readers

may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at (949) 642-6086.