Search Results for: flex

February 9, 2016

Report reveals huge surge in use of flexible working worldwide ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

Three quarters of companies worldwide have now introduced flexible working to enable employees to vary their hours and work from home or on the move according to one of the largest global surveys of its kind conducted with 8,000 employers and employees across three continents. The Flexible: friend or foe? survey was commissioned by Vodafone and took place between September and October 2015. The countries surveyed were Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the USA. A total of 8,000 employers and employees were interviewed online. The rapid adoption of high-speed mobile data services, fixed-line broadband and cloud services is playing an integral role in this workplace revolution: 61 percent of respondents now use their home broadband service to access work applications and 24 percent use a mobile data connection via their smartphone, tablet or laptop with a broadband dongle.

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February 3, 2016

Flexible working men pay a greater career premium than women ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News

The growing complexities of flexible working and changing gender roles are laid bare yet again in a new report published in Australia by management consultancy Bain & Company and advocate group Chief Executive Women. The report, The Power of Flexibilty, claims that male workers pay a penalty in their careers when they opt for flexible working because they enjoy less support and are more harshly judged than their female counterparts. Many are regarded as anomalies, caught between the expectation that men spend longer hours at work on the one hand, while striving to create a more balanced life, often in a household in which a woman is increasingly likely to be the main breadwinner. The authors of the report claim that men are currently experiencing the same sort of stigmas and biases faced by women in the early days of flexible working, even though both sexes continue to face barriers when opting for flexible work.

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February 2, 2016

Flexible working is now a requirement for many job seekers, claims report ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Employees are increasingly keen to find jobs that offer them flexible working, according to a new study of the global labour market published by recruitment firm Indeed. The report also found that several of the world’s largest economies, including the US, Germany and Canada are suffering because low wages and lack of skills mean employers are unable to find the right people to hire. According to the report, Labor Market Outlook 2016: Uncovering the Causes of Global Jobs Mismatch, interest in jobs that offer some form of flexible working as measured by online job searches that include terms such as “remote”, “work from home” and “telecommute”has increased by 42.1 percent over the last two years in nine of the 12 countries studied. More than half of the top 50 keywords associated with searches for flexible work globally were related to high-skilled jobs, many in the tech sectors.

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January 20, 2016

Third of firms introduce flexible working to cut absenteeism, claims study ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

Over a third of UK employers have introduced flexible working to reduce absenteeism, claims research from insurance industry trade association Group Risk Development (GRiD). Its survey of 501 employers also found that a quarter (25 percent) have seen absence rates improve over the last 12 months, compared to 40 percent last year. One in ten have actually seen rates worsen over the same period and 54 percent of employers say their absence rates have remained the same, which the report’s authors claim suggests a general slow-down or even complacency when it comes to managing absence. The report found that 57 percent of businesses said absence cost them up to 4 percent of payroll, but employers are using a range of initiatives to address this. This includes introducing flexible working (36 percent – up by 4 percent from last year), return to-work interviews (28 percent) and disciplinary procedures (17 percent).

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December 4, 2015

Employees and managers value holidays and flexible working differently ⁰

by Neil Franklin • Flexible working, News, Workplace

It’s become an accepted piece of wisdom that at the top of every employee’s wish list when it comes to their working conditions is more flexible working. That might be not entirely true according to a new study of employees and managers carried out by recruitment firm Robert Half. The report suggest there is a significant mismatch between what employees want and what employers think they would like when it comes to holidays and flexible working and other conditions. Topping the wish list for employees is more holiday and annual leave, ranked most popular perk by almost four in 10 (38 percent) respondents and ahead of more flexible working hours (28 percent), more training or professional development opportunities (16 percent), home working/telecommuting (12 percent) and other corporate services such as ironing services or fitness centre (3 percent).

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November 17, 2015

Employers get flexible as retirement age for baby boomers draws closer ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Nearly three quarters (74 percent) of finance directors are concerned that the skills gap resulting from widespread retirement of baby boomers will have a negative impact on their organisation over the next two years and an even higher proportion (77 percent) say that the departure of older workers will have a negative impact over the next five years. The new research from Robert Half UK reveals that UK employers are anticipating a significant skills gap when baby boomers retire over the next two to five years and are already taking steps to mitigate the risk. Baby boomers represent a bulge in the workforce that will soon be at retirement age so not only will employers need to consider the impact of the skills shortage that this mass-departure will create, but they will also have to accommodate different demands and expectations from younger Generation X and Y workers coming to replace them.

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October 28, 2015

UK firms turn to flexible working and wellbeing to bridge productivity gap ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

It’s not just larger organisations and governments that are having to grapple with the UK’s persistent ‘productivity puzzle’ but also smaller businesses who are increasingly turning to flexible working and other people centric initiatives to address the problem. That is one of the main findings of a new report from trade association Group Risk Development (GRiD). According to their survey, nearly a quarter of employers (23 percent) believe productivity is an issue facing their business. According to the office for National Statistics (ONS) this is a common problem across the entire UK economy as output per hour is stubbornly around 20 percent below the average for all G7 economies. This is the widest gap ever recorded and, according to GRiD is driving employers to seek ways of addressing their own shortfall with flexible working and wellbeing initiatives as well as investment in new equipment and technology.

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October 28, 2015

What Shakespeare’s Henry V can teach us about flexible working

by Julia Johnston • Comment, Facilities management, Flexible working

Why are so many of us preoccupied with the status that having an office brings? They say it’s lonely at the top. Well, that loneliness often starts with the social exclusion of being in an office. Why would you not want to be in with the in-crowd, to be with your own team of people and the go-getters who are making a difference to your organisation? Why not be where the action is at the working coalface of your organisation? Stuck in your office, you can feel like a kid in the corner of the playground, wondering what the others are whispering about. Some of us want an office because we believe it shows our peers that we have made it; that we have reached the upper echelons of our corporate management structure and become an acknowledged achiever. We want an office so that we can preen to others, but that doesn’t automatically make for better managers, leaders or companies.

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October 15, 2015

SMEs appreciate flexibility and freedom of running their own business ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Wellbeing, Workplace

The latest ONS employment figures indicate that the boom in self-employment appears to have ended, as the number of self-employed people has fallen for the first time since before the recession. Yet those who’ve successfully started their own businesses have something to celebrate. According to a report from AXA PPP, SME owners appreciate the greater flexibility (58 percent) and the greater freedom (37 percent) that owning a business gives them. Seventy per cent of owners also said they are proud, inspired, content or fortunate to own their own business, highlighting the positive effects that having control over your working life can bring. More than a third (35 percent) admitted they could delegate more to improve the way they manage their business – with nearly half (47 percent) of business owners reporting that the pressure of work spills over into their home life.

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October 8, 2015

Employers admit to an ad-hoc approach to flexible working practices ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

Organisations tend to take a flexible approach to the provision of flexible working a new global report into agile working trends claims. According to a study by WorldatWork and FlexJobs, while the majority of companies surveyed (80 percent) offer flexible work to employees, only 37 percent have a formal, written philosophy or policy to support employee flexibility options. From 2011 to 2015, flexibility programs have varied according to the type of programme offered and the organization’s demographics, industry and culture, with the most prevalent flexibility programmes being telework days on an ad-hoc basis, flex time and compressed workweeks. And according to the data, mastering a culture of workplace flexibility is not something that organizations do on the first or even second try. It’s an evolutionary process that occurs as employees tap into what they need to achieve work-life effectiveness.

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October 1, 2015

Employers plan to woo returning mothers with flexible working ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A fifth of UK businesses are planning to hire more returning mothers than they did a year ago, and are offering flexible working to attract them. New research from Regus claims returning mothers are valued by businesses because of their experience and skills, as well as reliability and time management. They are seen as less likely to change jobs, saving firms the cost of recruitment and re-training. Because the contrasting demands of motherhood and work are one of the main reasons women don’t return to work, respondents emphasised the important role flexible working plays in attracting female talent; with 81 percent believing that flexible working is key to attracting and retaining women. These workers are also valued for their experience and skills according to 73 percent of respondents and are seen as more reliable (24 percent) and organised (29 percent) than other staff.

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September 26, 2015

Visions of the future of work + Gen Y hype + flexible firms ⁰

by Sara Bean • Environment, Flexible working, Furniture, Newsletter, Property, Workplace, Workplace design

In this week’s issue; legend of the UK office furniture sector, John Fogarty reflects on his five decades of experience; Mark Eltringham argues the TMT sector no more fell from the heavens than Gen Y, and Charles Marks weighs up the pros and cons of the BREEAM environmental standard. The financial sector dominates the annual list of Top Employers for Working Families and we reveal there’s a tendency to drift into caricature when describing multigenerational working. Activity in Europe’s commercial property markets is at its highest level since 2007 and colleagues, not bosses can make people feel more engaged at work. Check out our video evidence which shows how some visions of the future of work can be remarkably prescient while others get it completely wrong. Visit our new events page, subscribe for free quarterly issues of Work&Place and weekly news here. And follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn Group to discuss these and other stories.