e-biz
putting the 'e' into business
Sunday 20 April 2008, 7:41 PM
Join The Mass Work Skive On May 15
Economic growth in the UK may be as much as 1% lower in 2008 and 2009 as a direct result of the credit crunch, due largely thanks to the U.S.’s sub-prime mortgage sector which specialises in loans to people with poor credit histories or on low incomes.
But let’s put all the doom and gloom behind us and celebrate what could be the largest mass absence from work for a generation. An estimated five million people will not be going to work on Thursday, 15th May. Amazingly, none of them will be calling sickies, skiving or making excuses. In fact, their bosses may even be joining them and taking work home for the day, on National Work from Home Day. And you wonder what is wrong with the British economy!
National Work from Home Day is aimed at highlighting smarter working practices by encouraging companies to give employees a day at home in order to trial better working practises such as flexible working, remote working, and mobile working; all promoting a work-life balance. This sounds fine in practise, but I really can’t see what an employee and employer can possibly hope to achieve in just one day. After all, it’s a special relationship that needs to be nurtured with cups of coffee throughout the day and a quick pint at home time.
Even if Century-old established working cultures and traditions are changing - and there’s very little to suggest they are (outside of the IT industry at least) - there’s little evidence at the moment to suggest that traditional offices are wasteful in terms of resources and time, damaging in terms of the environment and global warming, and unhealthy in terms of worker wellbeing. The only significant downside I can see is traffic congestion and public transport overcrowding. Look, I’m totally in favour of remote working, but the organisation in question needs to be one that can support such and infrastructure - and I don’t see how a special one-day initiative is helpful. By now, you and your boss will already know if it’s feasible for you to work from home, on the road, on a beach, in space etc - anywhere except the office of the company that pays your wages.
Adopting a modern day approach to our working lives has the potential to increase business productivity and competitiveness, reduce transport congestion and pollution, improve health by reducing stress, assist disadvantaged groups and harmonise our work and family commitments - but only if done correctly and with the right IT infrastructure. Of course, remote working also gives employers the added advantage of recruiting talented individuals from anywhere in the country instead of just around their local office. But again, not having physical contact between employee and employer, or even employee and employee, can be a logistical nightmare and totally unproductive - trust me, I’ve seen it from both sides...
Research shows that there are already around 3.1 million people working from home in the UK and this is expected to double by 2012. The notion of nine to five might even gradually vanish, with staff working ad-hoc hours around their home commitments, but that just can’t happen to traditional businesses that deal with the public or clients who have a life outside work. The idea that offices will disappear and mini business centres will spring up near satellite offices is too far-fetched. Look, there’s no doubt that people will increasingly work from home as organisations cut down their overheads on office space, just don’t expect this business model to work for all types of organisations - nor will it happen overnight.
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