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had the most potential for complexity
and complications.
“We did a lot of homework.We carried
out a best practice study, which is how
we learnt that flexible working will only
work if you have trust in an organisation
and if you have guidelines and training.
If you introduce a new board game and
don’t give people instructions they will
make up their own rules and chaos will
ensue, so we had to be very structured
in how we implemented flexi-working in
our organisation,” explains Pearce.
“Communication was very important
to make sure the same message went
across to everyone.We had online
interactive training and we had two
separate modules – one for employers
and one for employees. You can’t just
expect people to understand that
working from home is different; you must
train them to adjust their behaviour and
the way they work.
“I can’t emphasise enough how
important training is because people
need to know what the organisation
expects from them and how to work
remotely.”
Results-driven
To help measure the success of its
strategy and to provide the transparency
needed to make a success of flexi-
working, Plantronics brought in a new
management system.
“We are now based on results.We
define goals for everyone in the company:
everyone can see each other’s goals and
they are all aligned to the corporate goal
defined by the CEO. Everyone now looks
to the corporate goal: it is very focused,
very transparent and very visible. You
Smarter Office programme combining
rationalisation of the company’s building
estate with the introduction of a new
flexible, wireless working environment
at its Royal Wootton Bassett HQ
(see
Business Info
issue 106). By any
standards, this award-winning initiative
has been a big success.
Since its introduction Plantronics has
enjoyed a 24% increase in employee
satisfaction, from 61% to 85%; a
reduction in absenteeism from 12.7%
to 3.5%; and a 60% reduction in sick
leave. In a recent Employee Engagement
survey, Plantronics exceeded industry
benchmarks, with a 98th percentile
ranking in the UK and an 86th percentile
ranking in Europe and Africa.
One reason why it has been so
successful, suggests Norma Pearce, is
that from the start Plantronics decided
to extend the right to flexi-work to all
employees, with the exception of just a
handful of roles that demand an office
presence, such as receptionists.
“I was tasked with looking at how we
could introduce complete flexi-working
for all employees, not just the elite and
senior management: we wanted flexible
working to benefit employees throughout
the organisation,” she explains.
To date, 85% of office-based staff
have applied for smarter working: “We
will never get to 100%,” says Pearce,
“because not everyone wants to work
remotely: many people enjoy working in
an office space”.
A second success factor was
Plantronics’ extensive planning and
research, including a trial in the company
contact centre – chosen, says Pearce,
because that was the department that
UK businesses could save £34 billion by freeing up
desk space and working more flexibly, according to
a YouGov poll commissioned by Vodafone.
Despite the savings on offer, two thirds of
businesses insist that they can’t lose any desks; and
fewer than one in five (18%) has a hot desking policy.
One third (36%) of senior business decision makers
believe reducing desk space would be inappropriate
for their business and have never considered flexible
working as a way of saving money; 33% think it would
have a negative impact on collaboration/teamwork.
One in five respondents said that their bosses
believe all employees should have their own desk
(21%) and that flexible working ultimately leads to
employees taking advantage of the system (23%).
Even those businesses that thought they could
remove some desks vastly underestimated the value
of doing so, citing an average saving of £441 per desk
compared to the real figure of £5,746 per desk.
Vodafone argues that by introducing new ways of
working, such as shared workspaces, flexi-desks and
wireless working in or out of the office, businesses can
save on property and fixed desk costs, whilst improving
collaboration and building a sense of community in the
workplace.
Working from home is the most common form of
flexible working (offered by 42% of businesses), but as
Jeroen Hoencamp, Enterprise Director at Vodafone UK,
points out, this is just one element.
He said: “Flexible working is more than just working
from home. It’s about working wherever you need to be,
whether that’s from a café with a client, a customer’s
HQ or during your commute. By making best use of
technology such as audio and video-conferencing,
instant messenger and mobile internet this can be
achieved while strengthening collaboration and
enhancing a sense of community between colleagues.”
Vodafone itself has reduced the overall number
of desks at its Newbury HQ to a ratio of seven desks
for every ten employees. This has enabled it to cut
property costs and operating expenditure and reduce
CO2 emissions. The use of instant messaging and video
conferencing has enabled it to cut travel and energy costs.
A spokesman said: “Laptops and tablets have
replaced desktop PCs; mobile phones have replaced desk
phones; wi-fi has replaced fixed broadband connections;
and paper is a thing of the past. No-one has a dedicated
desk and everyone is so mobile that they can pitch
up wherever necessary. This working environment is
designed to encourage collaboration between teams
who can get together to launch a product or generate
ideas and often leads to faster business decisions as
hierarchy and bureaucracy is stripped away.”
Flexible working can
save British business
£34 billion
Continued...