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Welcome, today is Saturday, February 4, 2012 |
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Resource Center > Leaders
Are you interested in telling your story? Please send your teleworking story to info@teleworkexchange.com.
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Teleworker:
Jody Nyers, Benefits Systems Analyst
Agency: National Finance Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
On the days when Jody Nyers teleworks, she cuts her commute by 85 percent. That number is hard to make sense of, really, so consider this: When Nyers has to drive to the office, she spends 165 minutes in her car making the trip to and from Washington, DC. When she works from the Federal Telework Center in Waldorf, Maryland, she cuts her commute to just 24 minutes.
When she works from the Telework Center, Nyers actually is able to regain more than two hours of productivity during the day. And, when she arrives at "the office," she is not frazzled by traffic – she is just ready to work.
Jody Nyers is a Benefits Systems Analyst with the National Finance Center of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She has been teleworking for 10 years, and she is not turning back anytime soon. Before her assignment with the USDA, Nyers teleworked in a similar role with the Smithsonian Institution. "When I was interviewing with the USDA, I told them I was participating in the Telework Program and wanted to continue to do so if I got the job there," says Nyers. "When the offer came in, I confirmed again that I’d be able to telework."
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When she does not telework from the Center, Nyers leaves her home at 4:45am and arrives at the office by 6:00am. Then, trying to beat the worst of traffic, she leaves the city at 3:45pm to arrive home by 5:15pm. By contrast, when she works from the Waldorf Federal Telework Center, it is just a twelve-minute drive to work and another twelve minutes home.
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The Waldorf facility, like all Federal Telework Centers, is well equipped to meet Nyers’ professional needs. It is secure, parking is free, she has a dedicated workstation, her office phone line is transferred to the Center, and she communicates with colleagues all day via e-mail and phone. "Teleworking works great for our office," she says, "since 99 percent of our communication happens through e-mail or phone, even when we’re in the office together." One of her colleagues teleworks from another Federal Telework Center in Virginia.
When asked if 10 years of teleworking has had any adverse affect on her career, Nyers responds with an emphatic, "No." She points out that "my move from the Smithsonian Institution to USDA was actually a promotion, and I already had been teleworking for years."
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The downsides to teleworking? There are none, according to Nyers. "It’s rare, but occasionally I might get a call about a file that I don’t have with me in Waldorf. But a quick call to the Washington, DC office, and the information is easily faxed or e-mailed to me with no time lost." For the most part, though, she plans her teleworking days carefully to ensure she has everything she needs with her. "It really doesn’t take much of an extra effort to work offsite," she says.
Nyers credits her managers, past and present, for their open mindedness on teleworking." My supervisor trusts that my work will be accomplished whether in the office where he is located, or at an offsite location. And, to our customers, it is seamless – they have no idea I’m sitting at a desk in Southern Maryland." She says she suspects not all managers have that same trust.
Maybe that is why a recent CDW Government study showed that 87 percent of Federal workers indicate interest in teleworking, but only 19 percent said that they actually telework.
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