Research studies reveal that employees who work from home are 15% to 45% more productive than office-bound workers, according to the Strategic Sustainability Consulting.

Employers not only get more out of their workers, they can claim credit for helping reduce smog and traffic pollution as well as doing their best to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to commuting.

The productivity bounce of telecommuting is part of a growing awareness by HR managers that environmentally friendly programs help boost employee morale.

When considering various green initiatives for employees, the number of HR managers who think green programs increase worker productivity has doubled in the past year, jumping from 6% in 2008 to 12% in a 2009, according to surveys conducted by the Society for HR Management.

In addition to telecommuting, employers are encouraging workers to stop driving solo by paying them to take public transportation, carpool, walk and bike to work.

Some of these programs are detailed here.

Cisco reveals that when it focused on improving its workers’ quality of life, productivity jumped sharply and contact with customers remained just as high as when everybody was working out of an office all the time.

After opening up telecommuting to his employees 18 months ago, Cisco CEO John Chambers says his company has tallied $277 million in productivity savings.

The company also claims credits for helping reduce smog and ozone air pollution as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions by keeping its workers’ cars off the road.

Of the 2,000 Cisco workers surveyed:

• 91% said telecommuting is “somewhat or very important” to their job satisfaction
• 69% said they improved productivity by working from home
• 75% said timeliness of their work improved
• 80% said ability to communicate with co-workers is the same or better when telecommuting, and
• 80% said telecommuting improved their quality of life.

Cisco workers averaged two days a week telecommuting.

The Cisco survey is here.

Part of the way to make telecommuting work is to use computer software — virtual office technology — that lets the employee link up with company and customer computers remotely. Cisco provides this type of networking gear under the name Cisco Virtual Office.

Reason: It’s a quick way to cut costs.

Consolidating the number of printers was adopted by 57% of small to mid-sized companies surveyed by Info-Tech Research Group in a study commissioned by IBM. Other popular cost-cutting strategies adopted by the 1,000 companies reviewed include:

1. PC power management (53%)
2. storage consolidation (52%), and
3. remote conferencing and telecommuting (52%).

Most IT departments (56%) also recycle their equipment, but regulatory pressures, not just cost cutting, are driving this investment in e-waste management.

Most companies adopt storage consolidation and remote conferencing and telecommuting programs because they can usually lead to immediate cost reductions.

The Tech study notes that over 80% of companies surveyed have already adopted or plan to adopt these and other Green IT initiatives. To see the study, click here.

IBM defines Green IT as initiatives that reduce a company’s environmental footprint by reducing energy consumption, travel and equipment disposals.

There are bonafide cost savings with environmentally friendly practices, but money isn’t the prime motivator for 71% of the small companies surveyed by the online payroll service, SurePayroll. Instead, business owners say they adopt green practices like recycling, telecommuting, energy reduction and recycling products because they want to.

SurePayroll reports that when small businesses adopt environmentally friendly practices:

• 93% recycle
• 79% give employees reusable office mugs
• 75% use environmentally friendly office supplies, and
• 68% limit use of electricity or energy.

There is money to be saved by adopting these kinds of programs. Roughly 50% of those surveyed realized between 5% to 10% return on their investments by doing the right thing for Mother Earth. Some of the ways companies save money include:

1. giving employees reusable coffee mugs instead of Styrofoam cups
2. using environmentally friendly office supplies (i.e., recycled paper and LEED-certified products)
3. switching to cloth towels and biodegradable soap in rest rooms
4. telecommuting, and
5. encouraging employees to use public transportation instead of driving to work.

The SurePayroll survey is here.

About 25% of those surveyed didn’t think of themselves as doing anything “green.” However, it turns out they have taken at least one step to be sustainable — they use an online direct deposit service instead of issuing paper checks. SurePayroll provides online direct deposit services.

For each employee that’s switched to online direct deposit, a company helps eliminate four tons of wastewater and a pound of greenhouse gas emissions every year. This saves the company about $176 a year, according to a survey by the PayItGreen Alliance.