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15
Home Working
have also become more productive. For
example, there has been a 13% increase
in the number of calls made by service
staff to customers.
According to Pearce, employees are
happier too. “Voluntary turnover has
reduced from 15% to 3.2%; a strong
intent to stay is in the 90th percentile;
attrition (disciplinary matters) is down
from 12% to 2%; absenteeism has
reduced from 12.7% to 3.5%. People who
don’t feel 100% because they have a
cold don’t take the day off. Now, with the
technology they have, we find that they
will work from home and be productive
even if they get up an hour later.
Productivity increases because people
are not absent for minor issues like not
being able to get into the office when it’s
snowing,” she says.
With such benefits, you wonder
why more organisations aren’t making
the most of technology and adopting
flexi-work. For Pearce, the most likely
explanation is trust.
“Directors have always worked with a
high degree of flexibility,” she says. “What
organisations find difficult is transferring
flexibility down through the business. The
main stumbling block is line managers.
It generally comes out that they don’t
trust their teams. They have nothing to
base it on: it’s just a built-in mistrust. My
argument is you have to trust people.
Once they understand what’s expected
of them, they will deliver. Treat people
as adults and they will behave like adults
and you’ll be amazed what you get back.”
continued...
Ten years ago, homeworking was a hot topic.
The near-universal roll out of broadband to our
homes meant that employees could connect
to their workplace from their back bedroom,
dining room or kitchen. The question was
whether employers would trust their staff to be
productive when out of sight.
The answer was yes and no. Enlightened
employers have seen the productivity benefits of
allowing their people to avoid the daily commute
and efficiency savings from reduced central office
space and costs. However, there are still thousands
of companies that base their business operations
around formal centralised office spaces.
But there is one big trend that’s almost made
the homeworking debate redundant and that’s
roam working.
Whether we like it or not, we’re all working
pretty much all the time during waking hours, not
just 9 to 5.We’re working in the office, on the road
and at home. Business is portable. It’s done from
smartphones, tablets and laptops wherever we
happen to be, during our commute, lunch-break and
as soon as our alarm goes off in the morning.
This has its benefits for employers. By
equipping employees with mobile devices, they
are permanently connected and always available.
However, even though the functionality of
smartphones and tablets is increasing all the time,
with the development of ever-more sophisticated
business software and apps, there’s still a missing
link. These devices don’t give people a complete
office in their pocket.
This is where the next opportunity exists for
employers that want to empower their workers
with portable offices and the ability to handle
most normal office functions on the move. That
opportunity is portable printing and scanning.
Printing and scanning on the go means that
mobile workers can share work with those at the
office as well as clients they are meeting with when
on the road.
Greater flexibility in IT is reflecting greater
flexibility in working habits.Work is taking place
everywhere and BYOD policies enable employees
to pick the IT equipment which best suits their
working habits. Mobile print and scan supports this
flexibility to enable productive working on the go.
Phil Jones, managing director
Brother UK, discusses the
importance of mobile printing
in boosting the productivity of
remote workers
From home working to roam working
have to measure your goals and show
how you have achieved them,” Pearce
explains.
She adds that having an open,
results-based system means there is
nowhere for people to ‘hide’, which was
one of Yahoo!’s criticisms of home-
working. Instead everyone is accountable.
Moreover, face-to-face interaction is still
an important part of Plantronics’ working
culture.
“We don’t have people who work
from home five days a week, 52 weeks
a year: we have people who work a
couple of days a week in the office and
then remotely. Most team managers
like to have their group in on Monday. I
get my team in and we talk about what
happened last week and make plans for
the week ahead. And people will come in
to meet and greet their colleagues.”
Plantronics uses the Microsoft Lync
unified communications system (with
presence) so that even when people are
away from the office they can collaborate
with colleagues either via a softphone
on a laptop or by an iOS smartphone
integrated with the system.
Increased productivity
Plantronics’ flexi-work strategy seems
to be delivering the goods: The company
has exceeded budget targets in the last
two quarters and staff in non-sales roles