Andrea Goertz was honoured by the Financial Post as one of Canada's most powerful women.
On any given day, nearly half of all Telus staff members aren't in the office. But that's not good enough for Andrea Goertz, '89 BCom, '95 MBA. As head of the company's innovative flexible work initiative, Goertz wants to see even more Telus employees telecommuting.
Goertz is senior vice-president, strategic initiatives, and chief communications and sustainability officer for Telus. She's also head of the company's Work Styles program. The program launched in 2006 when flexible work arrangements were still a relatively new idea. In the seven years since, Work Styles has saved the company $40 million a year and - by reducing its leased office space by nearly one million square feet - made a major dent in the company's environmental footprint. In just the past two years, the company has reportedly reduced CO2 emissions by 20,000 tonnes, coming in at No. 10 on Corporate Knights magazine's 2013 list of the Best Corporate Citizens in Canada.
In an era when Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made headlines by cancelling the company's work-from-home program, Goertz is leading a drive to have 70 per cent of eligible Telus employees in major urban centres telecommuting at least part time by 2015. The program has had more than an environmental impact: Telus reports greater employee productivity and 80 per cent overall employee engagement in 2012 - the highest for a Canadian employer and in the top one per cent globally.
In 2012, Goertz was honoured by the Financial Post as one Canada's most powerful women.
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