Report shows there is a lack of faith in home workers' productivity
New research into the viability of home working has revealed an almost complete lack of trust in the UK workforce. The YouGov report shows that only eight per cent of UK bosses trust their employees to work effectively outside the office, despite 42 per cent of workers claiming that they could do their job better given the chance to work remotely.
The research, which was commissioned by BT and Nortel, follows reports that the UK economy lost between £1-3bn during the recent snow storms. John Wright, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, says that UK employers' lack of faith in the UK workforce amounts to "presenteeism"—where workers not at their desks are perceived to be unproductive. "This boils down to a matter of trust," says Wright. "In the current climate, small firms need to be operating at full stretch. Last week's bad weather demonstrated the need for British businesses to enable their employees to be productive, wherever they are."
BT, which is looking at cost reductions across the whole business in an attempt to deal with falling profits and the £1.7bn gap in its pension fund, has 70,000 flexible employees, representing around three-quarters of the total workforce. It's a policy, says John Dovey, IT services director at BT Business, that helps the company save money, and attract and retain staff. It has also led to a 30 per cent rise in productivity. "BT's flexible workers have saved us £500m in building costs and 100,000 tonnes of CO2," says Dovey.
Posted 17 February 2009 : Director.co.uk
