Mobile Working Experiences
The realities of remote working
Wednesday 27 June 2007, 1:01 PM
Flexible Working
Orange yesterday launched their latest report from the Future Enterprise Coalition. Entitled 'Beyond Boundaries' the report looked in detail at current levels of flexible working amongst the UK workforce.
http://www.orangecoalition.com/
I was surprised that almost half of the UK working population are already adopting a flexible working practice - however the most common examples of these appear to be informal arrangements between an employee and their line manager. Formal, structured arrangements are less common although legal depts may be concerned when they consider that an informal arrangement could easily develop into a precedent when an employee is refused flexible working rights...
It also appears that there is a concern that a 'them and us' divide is appearing - key, managerial HQ staff have the best acess to flexible working, whilst lower grade staff struggle to get employers to accept their proposals...
It is obvious why orange are interested in this field, but nonetheless it was refreshing to note that the launch event did not once mention technology - instead the conversation focussed on company culture, environmental impact, brand perceptions and corporate social responsibility. And rightly so - technology is an enabler not a solution in its own right - the biggest barriers to flexible working are people and cultures....
The final question was interesting - where will we be in 2012? what proportion of the workforce will be working flexibly?
http://www.orangecoalition.com/
I was surprised that almost half of the UK working population are already adopting a flexible working practice - however the most common examples of these appear to be informal arrangements between an employee and their line manager. Formal, structured arrangements are less common although legal depts may be concerned when they consider that an informal arrangement could easily develop into a precedent when an employee is refused flexible working rights...
It also appears that there is a concern that a 'them and us' divide is appearing - key, managerial HQ staff have the best acess to flexible working, whilst lower grade staff struggle to get employers to accept their proposals...
It is obvious why orange are interested in this field, but nonetheless it was refreshing to note that the launch event did not once mention technology - instead the conversation focussed on company culture, environmental impact, brand perceptions and corporate social responsibility. And rightly so - technology is an enabler not a solution in its own right - the biggest barriers to flexible working are people and cultures....
The final question was interesting - where will we be in 2012? what proportion of the workforce will be working flexibly?
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