Mike Causey

Teleworkers: Superheroes or Geeks In Training?

What do Mom\'s apple pie, cute puppies and moonlight walks on the beach have in common with teleworking? Senior Correspondent Mike Causey says you might be surp...

Federal News Network Staff

October 4, 2010 4:00 am

5 min read

What does working from home have in common with Mom’s apple pie, cute frisky puppies and moonlight walks along the beach? The common factor is that everybody loves them.

Unless…

Baking was not Mom’s strong suit. Or,
Grandpa was seriously injured after being beaned by a falling apple. Or,
You fell down a flight of stairs avoiding stepping on cute frisky puppies. Or,
You have never been the same since seeing Jaws. Or,
You have experienced the dark side of working from home. You’ve seen the problems in managing teleworkers and how working from a remote site can make one, well, remote. Or you’ve seen long-time teleworkers whose social, professional and mission skills shrink, or fail to fully develop when they lose face-to-face touch with real people at a real office.

Congress last week okayed a bill (which the president will sign) designed to get lots more feds out of the office and working from home at least one day per week. You should know your status within the next six months.

Much has been said and written about the benefits of teleworking: Reduced traffic, fewer sick days, improved productivity and better morale.

But for every yin there is yang (isn’t there?) and we may have found it.

Here are some comments from a former union official at a federal regulatory agency. He asked not to be identified because he’s planning to retire shortly and wants to escape without scratches. Here’s his take on teleworking:

“…I believe that for the teleworkers it is a great benefit not to have to show up in the office every day doing work that can easily be done at home saving time and commuting dollars. However, there is a need to do some real tweaking of the system, at least at my Agency.

One of them is the management. They need to manage people who telecommute more effectively because many of our field staff who have no office to go to and use only their homes, can’t get motivated enough to get out and do their inspection jobs so management needs to buck up and manage these people more closely.

Number two is the lack of training our field inspectors are getting because the various discipline field inspectors never get to see each other. We used to learn from each of the other disciplines (track, signal and train control, motive power and equipment, operating practices (human factors), and hazardous materials. When an event [accident] would occur and we had to investigate then write the report we learned from each other. That is no more with telecommuting and is much to the Agency’s loss.

Number three is the lack of personnel in HQ when you actually need them. While their boss may not need them co-workers occupying the office often need their colleagues’ expertise and usually just wait for it until the absent colleague shows up in the office.

Number four is the lack of good computer support people. While our field people never see a computer support person, often they are at their own wits to get their machines up and running correctly. If Agencies are going to have telecommuting, they must have exceptional people to support you. (His agency) does not.

Obviously, from my opinion, teleworking is not a good thing.” Been There, Done That

2011 Health Premiums

The Office of Personnel Management has published new rates – what Uncle Sam will pay and what you will pay – for health insurance next year. Feds and retirees will have an open season from mid-November to early December to pick their 2011 health plan. To check out the rates, click here (and here and here):

Taxes, Roth IRAs, Health Premiums

Are you getting ready to do your taxes? Are you weighing the pros and cons of converting your TSP account to a Roth IRA, do you know what the new healthcare law means to your federal health plans, and premiums? If you said yes to any of the above, listen in today at 10 a.m. to the For Your Benefit radio show right here on www.federalnewsradio.com. Host Bob Liens and his guest, Ed Zurndorfer, explain how you may be able to minimize your 2010 taxes, explain the pros and cons of going Roth, and talk about the upcoming federal health insurance open season.

To reach me: mcausey@federalnewsradio.com

Nearly Useless Factoid
by Suzanne Kubota

The Hepatitis virus is 19 million years old.

OTHER PAY & BENEFITS NEWS
TSP returns are positive for September
Other headlines from today’s Federal Newscast: FEHB premiums hiked 7.2 percent, SBA suspends major contractor from government work and Redesigned C-note on hold . More from the Federal News by clicking here.

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