The high cost of employee commuting and the effect of commuting on the environment have made quite an impact in the United States government, especially on the General Services Administration (GSA).

In her keynote address at the Telework Exchange Town Hall Meeting, GSA Administrator Lurita Doan stated that she wants 50 percent of the GSA staff teleworking by the end of 2010, and that other federal agency leaders will follow her example, according to the December issue of The Teleworker .

This publication is a regular newsletter from the Telework Exchange (www.teleworkexchange.com), a public-private partnership formed to demonstrate the tangible value of telework and serve the emerging educational and communication requirements of the federal teleworker community, according to a statement on the website.

Doan explained that currently around 10 percent of the GSA workforce teleworks [telecommutes] 1 or more days a week. She proposes that the GSA establish a strategy and policies that will help increase opportunities for telework to achieve the 50 percent teleworking goal.

HR professionals can assist managers hesitant to allow telecommuting by structuring job descriptions to establish specific tasks, deadlines and timeframes, and expected outcomes, allowing the managers to receive measurable results from teleworking staff.

A significant number of jobs are adaptable to teleworking at least part of the time. It takes the support of senior leadership and the guidance and training provided by HR professionals to make teleworking programs successful, according to the Exchange.

The Telework Exchange website ha sresources for both employers and staff interested in teleworking.