AT&T, Inc.
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AT&T, Inc. |
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This case reviews the development of the telecommuting program in the world’s largest telecommunications services provider. Starting with preliminary studies in the 1980s and test projects in the early 1990s telecommuting has expanded to the point where half of AT&T’s managerial and professional staff now have telework arrangements.
AT&T, Inc.
AT&T is the world's premier voice and data communications company, serving more than 90 million customers, including consumers, businesses and government. With annual revenues of more than $51 billion and some 126,000 employees, AT&T provides services to more than 280 countries and territories around the world.
AT&T runs the world's largest, most powerful long-distance network and the largest digital wireless network in North America. The company is a leading supplier of data and Internet services for businesses and the nation's largest direct Internet service provider to consumers.
AT&T provides outsourcing, consulting and networking-integration services to large businesses. And the company offers outbound local calling to businesses in 49 states and remains committed, as conditions permit, to delivering local telephone service to consumers.
AT&T's businesses are backed by the research and development capabilities of AT&T Labs, which is working to create the information services and communications network of tomorrow.
AT&T’s telecommuting option stands out both for its size and its diversity. As of mid-1999 at least half of AT&T’s management and professional employees had telework arrangements. AT&T is also a major backer of Telecommute America™, a project of the International Telework Association and Council (ITAC) that is dedicated to expanding and extending telecommuting and broader forms of telework as work options in the USA.
Initially, AT&T looked at telecommuting as one method to meet provisions of the federal Clean Air Act. Beginning with some exploratory studies in the 1980s, the AT&T program formally began as a pair of pilot projects, in Los Angeles, California in 1989, and Phoenix, Arizona in 1990. The company developed a set of preliminary guidelines and policies for the projects. The projects involved almost200 employees who were first trained, then allowed to telecommute from their homes a day per week. The Phoenix project also included employees from the state government of Arizona
After six months of operation, the company conducted a research survey of teleworkers, supervisors and co-workers to determine the results of the pilot project. The results were so positive, not only in reducing employees' commute mileage, but in boosting productivity and morale, that AT&T headquarters utilized the pilot results as the basis to develop a corporate-wide telecommuting policy. A task force comprising representatives from all the relevant parts of the company was established. This included representatives from operating divisions as well as from human resources, legal staff, information systems, and other administrative and support groups. A company-wide telework policy was adopted in late 1992.
In 1993 the company began an educational initiative for telecommuting. Educational materials developed included pamphlets, videotapes, and training courses, many of which are still offered by the company for educating its employees and clients.
By the mid-1994 the educational material development was completed and the company announced a company-wide Employee Telecommute Day on 20 September 1994. Information about Telecommute Day was sent to employees, explaining how to participate, as well as the applicable policies and management procedures. The general AT&T policy stated that, if an employee was interested in telecommuting, he/she should talk to his/her supervisor and determine if he/she would be a candidate for a telecommuting arrangement. The result of all this exposure was a very high level of awareness of the nature and benefits of telecommuting among AT&T employees.
These arrangements would include a discussion on frequency of telecommuting, work objectives and performance measures, and technology needs. Although each decision was made on a case-by-case basis, the company generally provided employees with the technology they needed for successful telecommuting. This typically included an extra phone line for their home office. In many cases, the company was making the transition from desktop to laptop computers for many of its managerial staff, so the move to part-time telecommuting was relatively transparent. Employees are able to communicate with their principal offices via telephone, fax, and dial-up computer connection—either direct to the office LAN or via the Internet.
When Telework Day finally arrived even the Chairman of AT&T, Robert Allen, telecommuted from home. After the official inaugural day, the company began setting up long term telecommuting arrangements with a growing number of employees.
The AT&T telecommuting program is the largest of its kind in any major corporation. To accomplish this, substantial changes in traditional management attitudes and processes were required. Although large telecommunications companies are more often characterized by their ponderous behavior, AT&T has shown itself to be very flexible in exploiting its new technologies to the benefit of its employees, its customers, the communities in which they live, and the environment.
The company has experienced clear productivity gains by its telecommuting employees, increased employee retention, about $500 million in cash flow and about $3,000 to $5,000 per person in reduced demand for office space. In fact, AT&T managers surveyed in 1998 stated that telecommuting is an aid to recruiting , as well as a benefit to employees.
Benefits to employees include greater flexibility in meeting work and family demands, decreased living expenses (smaller dry cleaning bills, lunch costs, etc.), and greater feelings of self-empowerment.
Benefits to the community include decreased levels of traffic congestion and its accompanying air pollution (or at least reduced rates of increase of these), as well as greater participation by AT&T employees in community activities.
The anticipated primary initial barrier to acceptance of telecommuting was resistance by supervisors to this new way of working. That was largely overcome by the extensive education and preparation program and by clear and unequivocal support from senior management. At present, however, telecommuting is only offered to managers and other non-represented employees, since telework is not currently part of the negotiated contracts with the unions..
By late 1998, of AT&T’s 126,000 employees, more than 30,000 (half of the 55,000 managerial and professional staff) telecommuted regularly from their homes.
Major advantages mentioned by 75% or more of respondents of a 1998 survey:
Major or minor disadvantages mentioned by 25% or more of respondents:
Furthermore, as a result of its internal experience, AT&T has backed a number of nation- and community-wide initiatives within the US. At the national level there is the non-profit Telework America and its annual Telework Day (27 October in 1999). Telework America is also backed by several other companies and by agencies of the federal government.
AT&T is also co-sponsoring local and regional initiatives such as Telework Greater Phoenix Day, which was held in Phoenix, Arizona on 20 April 1999. This event, in cooperation with the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce Valley Forward organization, received major press coverage both prior to and during its occurrence. For several days prior to the day, the Arizona Department of Transportation set its variable message highway signs on Phoenix freeways to read: "Telework Greater Phoenix Day - April 20 - Work From Home". Similar initiatives were in process in Denver, Colorado; Seattle, Washington; and Minneapolis, Minnesota in mid-1999. The focus of all of these initiatives is to increase telework arrangements to help reduce traffic and other transportation-related problems in each region.
| Name of lead organisation: | AT&T, Inc. |
| Contact name: | Chris Chavez |
| Address: | 1875 Lawrence St., 7th floor Denver, CO 80202 |
| Telephone: | +1 (303) 298-6510 |
| Fax: | +1 (303) 298-6540 |
| Email: | cchavez@att.com |
| Web site URL: | http://www.att.com |