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Category:
Diamond Award Avaya, Redmond
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Listen to one of the ads featuring this winner! (Produced and broadcast by KUOW.) |
Avaya creates telework-friendly
workplace; 64% telework regularly
Avaya is a global leader in communications systems, applications and services
that places an emphasis on communication and a flexible work environment
to achieve incredible results. The same focus on flexibility it provides
for its customers can be seen in the organization’s own commute trip
reduction program, earning it a 2003 Diamond Award for Organizational
Leadership. Its
facilities management team at CB Richard Ellis has worked hard to ensure
that the physical environment at Avaya allows employees to avoid commuting
to the worksite on a daily basis. This effort, reinforced through significant
employee outreach, has in turn fostered a climate of flexibility and an
alternative commute mode-friendly work environment.
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March 16, 2004 Awards
Ceremony
Mark Peterson and Alan Franklin accept Redmond-based Avaya's 2003 Diamond Award for organizational leadership in commute trip reduction. |
Employee use of Avaya’s transit subsidy was considerably low due to poor access to transit service in the worksite vicinity. Rather than continue with a subsidy few could use, Avaya eliminated the transit subsidy and instead began providing subsidies for vanpool riders. The company now provides a $40 vanpool subsidy as well as telework and flextime opportunities. A full service cafeteria, onsite postal service, showers, lockers and covered bicycle racks also help reduce the need for employees to have access to their cars during the workday.
Avaya has a strong telework program due in part to the company’s culture and reliance on technologies which make teleworking employees indistinguishable from those physically at the worksite. Most of Avaya’s employees enjoy the opportunity to work from home when needed and approximately 64% of them telework at least one day a week on a regular basis. Laptop computers make it possible for employees to easily take the work they need home without needing to use personal home computers. Management understands the importance of providing flexible schedules to meet employees’ commuting needs. The company also has seen bottom-line benefits to its policy of allowing telework; power usage at the worksite has decreased significantly as a result of the high number of teleworkers.
Although the company
has had to weather the considerable economic challenges of the telecommunications
industry over the past two years, Avaya’s supportive management team
has not wavered in its support of commute options, making it part of employees’
daily lives and part of the workplace vernacular. Such an environment
has helped the company to attract and retain quality employees who value
their ability to strike a positive work/life balance. "Management
has been very supportive of the program, standing behind any changes we
make to enhance it 100%," said Employee Transportation Coordinator
Mark Peterson. "I would encourage other ETCs to have their management
team take a hard look at telworking and all the advantages that come with
it for both the employees and the employer."
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Commute Program
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*Some definitions: An “ETC” is the staff-level employee transportation coordinator responsible for the daily administration of the transportation program. “SOV” stands for single-occupant vehicle, and “CTR” for commute trip reduction.