Click on a headline to read the full story:
10 November 2008
OBAMA TO OFFER INCENTIVES FOR TELECOMMUTING
3 November 2008
BUSINESSES CAN BEAT THE CREDIT CRUNCH
23 October 2008
WORKING TO LIVE OR LIVING TO WORK?
10 October 2008
WISEWORK MENTION IN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES REVIEW
22 September 2008
SHIFT TOWARDS TELEWORKING AND GREATER FLEXIBILITY
18 September 2008
WISEWORK DIRECTOR KEYNOTE SPEAKER IN WINDSOR AND SWEDEN
10 September 2008
BT WEBCAST
Peter Thomson, Wisework Director, recently took part in a BT webcast on the topic of remote working. A recording of the discussion panel can be seen at http://www.insight.bt.com/web-
26 August 2008
GOVERNMENT CONSULTS ON FLEXIBLE WORKING
18 August 2008
WHAT KIND OF INTERNET SURFER ARE YOU?
11 August 2008
EMPLOYER SURVEY SHOWS BIG DIP IN JOB PROSPECTS
4 August 2008
PHONE DOWNTIME COSTS UK BUSINESSES DEAR
28 July 2008
HASSLE FREE CONNECTIVITY WHEN WORKING ON THE MOVE
21 July 2008
JOBS MARKET CONTINUES TO PROP UP UK ECONOMY
14 July 2008
EU MOBILE OPERATORS - BLIND AS BATS?
7 July 2008
EMPLOYERS MUST GRASP EU CHANGES TO AGENCY WORKER RIGHTS
16 June 2008
WISEWORK DIRECTOR VISITS CHINA TO CHECK HEALTH & SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS AT OLYMPIC GAMES SITE
8 June 2008
WISEWORK DIRECTOR HONOURED AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
26 May 2008
MOST BOSSES SAY NO TO TELEWORK REQUESTS
22 May 2008
PETER THOMSON REPORTS ON WORK WISE SUMMIT
21 May 2008
GOVERNMENT AGREES DEAL ON AGENCY WORK
19 May 2008
DOES THE WALSH REVIEW GO FAR ENOUGH?
16 May 2008
PRIME OPPORTUNITY TO TEST REMOTE WORKING
5 May 2008
THE FUTURE IS NETWORKS
2 May 2008
FLEXIBLE WORKING HAS POSITIVE IMPACT ON UK WORKERS
5 April 2008
Wisework’s latest survey shows that IT is major constraint on Flexible Working within Local Authorities
A newly published survey from Wisework highlights IT as the major constraint in the effective implementation of flexible working within Councils. IT is ranked 1 st in the list of perceived constraints in the 2008 survey compared to 4 th in 2006, ahead of manager’s attitudes and skills.
However, it’s not all bad news for IT. Take up of technology is increasing but budgets are the main constraint to further implementation.
The main drivers for the adoption of flexible working are saving cost and improving service delivery, a business focus that was not so clear in 2006.
Staff are more accepting of flexible working than many managers thought.
“… now business as usual, so as it has become more common they have accepted it –it’s now not an issue” a District Council
2 April 2008
WISEWORK DIRECTOR KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS EVENT
Wisework Director Peter Thomson is one of the keynote speakers at the Unified Communications 2008 Conference and Exhibition this year. He will be speaking on the business impact of communications technology and will be advising the delegates that successful implementation of new communications technologies is dependent on the users being able to change their working practices.
He will stress the importance of managing the cultural changes involved and getting managers willing to empower their employees and trust them to work remotely.
1 April 2008
DIVERSITY IN THE WORKPLACE TO TAKE CENTRE STAGE
13 March 2008
BRITAIN IN BUSINESS: THE WORLD OF WORK IN 2018
26 February 2008
Wisework Director writes Opinion column in Personnel Today
Wisework Director, Peter Thomson, was recently asked to write an article in Personnel Today as part of their 20/20 celebration. They have been looking back over 20 years and wanted someone to look forward to 2028 and give their opinion on what HR might be doing by then. To view a PDF version of the article, click here (1.5MB).
20th February2008
Employers willing to support right compromise on agency workers rights
8th January 2008
KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY SUCCESSFUL CITIES IN UK
19th December 2007
WORK LIFE BALANCE NOT A PRIORITY FOR MANY ORGANISATIONS
10th December 2007
SENIOR AND MANAGERIAL LEVEL FLEXIBLE WORKING REPORT
3rd December 2007
2009 DEADLINE for two hour mobile number porting
26th November 2007
AT&T recall teleworkers
24th October 2007
Be recognised as the best!
23rd October 2007
National Commute Smart Week
22nd October 2007
Senior Politicians Acknowledge the business benefits of flexible working ...
22nd October 2007
EOC report champions new ways of working ...
OBAMA TO OFFER INCENTIVES FOR TELECOMMUTING
Here is a quote from the official Barack Obama website (http://www.barackobama.com/
Expand Flexible Work Arrangements: Obama and Biden will create a program to inform businesses about the benefits of flexible work schedules; help businesses create flexible work opportunities; and increase federal incentives for telecommuting. Obama and Biden will also make the federal government a model employer in terms of adopting flexible work schedules and permitting employees to request flexible arrangements.
BUSINESSES CAN BEAT THE CREDIT CRUNCH
Women Like Us, the award-winning recruitment service that helps women returners to find part-time work, reports an increase in employer demand for part-time vacancies as businesses aim to beat the credit crunch with flexible employment.
Karen Mattison, Director and Co-Founder of Women Like Us says, “Despite reports in the financial press of recruitment agencies suffering a downturn in full time and temporary placements, we are experiencing the opposite.”
Explains Mattison, “We believe that this surge in interest in part time vacancies from employers is directly linked to the economic climate. More businesses are looking for cost-effective ways of affording talented staff, which in today’s environment is critical. We see it as a small glimmer of hope in these challenging economic times.”
John Wright, FSB National Chairman, said: “Small businesses are proving resilient in the face of tough economic conditions because of their flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions quickly. Many small businesses are retaining, not letting go of staff and hiring part-time staff is an excellent way forward for small businesses to manage growth in this economic environment. Women Like Us have successfully tapped into the talent pool of women returners which can offer small businesses a viable way to grow their businesses.”
“Hiring woman returners can also help protect staff retention when labour markets change. Women looking for part-time roles are less likely to leave, even if the full time job market picks up soon.” continues Mattison.
“The good news for employers is that there is a large market of women returners who have the experience, reliability and commitment. From the more-than 6,000 women who have registered with us so far, over 43% have more than 10 years previous work experience and over 80% have qualifications and skills experience in their fields.” says Mattison.
WORKING TO LIVE OR LIVING TO WORK?
Half of today's young professionals feel that they lack work-life balance and would consider leaving their jobs because of it, despite the potential impact of the credit crunch on the graduate jobs market, a new report published on 23 October has revealed.
Working to Live, or Living to Work? was commissioned by the Association of Graduate Recruiters (AGR) and carried out by Dr Jane Sturges at King's College London. The report's findings will present a challenge for the UK's graduate employers as retention of recruits becomes increasingly difficult but commercial pressures mean a long-hours culture is often the norm.
Carl Gilleard, Chief Executive of the Association of Graduate Recruiters, said: "At a time when many organisations are under financial strain, it is very tempting to let quality slip and to abandon policies such as work-life balance altogether. After all, the thinking may go, graduates are lucky just to have a job. However, our advice is that employers ignore or adopt a one-size-fits-all approach to work-life balance at their peril.
"Employers risk creating a 'misery culture' for graduates and, while even the best recruits may bide their time through the economic downturn, as soon as the situation improves, they will leave. Once that damage is done to an employer brand it is hard to undo.
"However, today's graduates also have some adjusting to do having never before experienced a period of economic contraction. Getting the balance right in the current economic climate is going to take movement on both sides from employers and from graduates."
Nine years ago the AGR published Should I Stay Or Should I Go?, one of the first studies to highlight lack of work-life balance as a major threat to graduate retention. This latest report takes a fresh look at the issue and is designed to help employers understand what the term means to today's 'Generation Y' graduates and how their perspective is likely to change with time. It outlines a number of ways that employers can address the urgent need to help graduates achieve a balance between work and home life - and explores the negative effects for both employer and employee of not doing so, including absenteeism, stress, reduced productivity and commitment, damaged relationships with friends and family, and poor health.
The qualitative study was based on extended interviews with 40 representative graduates with around three years work experience in seven public and private sector organisations, including Allen & Overy, KPMG, Shell and the Audit Commission. Employers at the organisations were also interviewed about their HR practice.
Graduates answered a series of questions on work-life balance which was defined as: "feeling no conflict between work demands and interests and obligations in your life outside work." The responses suggest that attitudes to work-life balance are far more complex than the desire to simply work shorter hours, and that employers need to be more thoughtful when developing working policies and practices in this area.
The report identifies three types of graduates:
*Work hard, play hard: the first and largest group defines work-life balance as a clear separation between work and their lives outside work, with set working hours.
*Worried and weary: the next group defined poor work-life balance as 'spillover' from work to home life: they did not necessarily work long hours but found the stress of work often affected their enjoyment outside it left them tired and lacking in energy. The majority of people in this group were women.
*Willing workaholics: the final group of graduates, perhaps most characteristic of the so-called Generation Y born after 1982, was happy to put in extra hours as long as they had some choice and control in deciding how to divide their time. This group was most happy to blur the boundaries of their work.
Those graduates who felt they had poor work-life balance reported long hours, lack of work breaks, poor management, long commutes and studying for professional qualifications as major causes. The knock-on effects including decreased job satisfaction, lost friendships, damaged home life, stress and health problems, and less commitment to their job.
Some were willing to tolerate poor work-life balance in the short-term for pay and career progression, or because of a bad jobs market. Many, however, felt they would rather find another job entirely, sending a clear message to organisations that fail to address the problem that they could be facing the HR equivalent of a ticking time-bomb.
The report recommends that:
WORKPLACE DYNAMICS SHIFT TOWARDS TELEWORKING AND GREATER FLEXIBILITY
The number of people 'teleworking' from home has risen dramatically over the past few years as employers offer more work flexibility than ever, a survey revealed today (Monday).
In the latest CBI / Pertemps Employment Trends Survey, almost half of all employers (46%) said they now offered teleworking to staff, which is a dramatic increase from 14% two years ago and 11% in 2004.
Bosses believe that staff may be trying to cut their carbon footprint, or are avoiding a troublesome commute and poor transport infrastructure. And employers also understand that productivity need not suffer if staff are not in the office.
Other strands of flexible working have also shot up, particularly term-time working, and job sharing. Over the past five years employers have also become increasingly supportive of staff looking to take career breaks or sabbaticals.
John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: "The boundaries of the traditional 9 to 5 in the office or on the shop floor are becoming more and more blurred. Employers are embracing the benefits of flexible working, even as the economy heads into more uncertain times. Using teleworking to take work out of the workplace has become very popular, and is also a useful way to avoid a laborious commute, balance family commitments, and even reduce carbon emissions. As technology becomes more reliable and widely available, this trend can only grow."
Tim Watts, Chairman of recruitment specialists Pertemps, said: "For the last three decades flexible working has been the principle backbone of the UK's productivity. Our strength has not been achieved solely by efficient plant and machinery, but through having a flexible and talented workforce which works to the advantage of both the employee and employer. The revolution in workplace flexibility has ensured that those with the skill and willingness to work have found it easier and easier to find gainful employment."
Another sign of the changing workplace is the growth of flexible retirement, perhaps as worries about the credit crunch and pension provision hit home. In the last year three in ten (31%) employees reaching retirement age asked if they could postpone their retirement. Although it is encouraging that eight in ten (81%) of those requests were granted, this is significantly lower than the 95% of requests from parents which are accepted. Employers continue to face challenges when assessing requests to postpone retirement, and it is essential to keep a default retirement age as a trigger for discussion.
Mr Cridland said: "Many older workers do not want to retire, or do not feel financially secure enough to do so, particularly with the downturn in the housing market. In the majority of cases employers are very happy to retain older staff, who often have invaluable skills and experience."
The survey, which drew 513 respondents employing over 1m staff, showed that although flexible working has been a success, with nearly all (93%) employers offering at least one form of flexible working, and 57% offering at least three, there is deep concern among employers about other areas of employment law. Two thirds of employers (64%) said that cumbersome employment regulation was endangering the labour market flexibility which has been crucial to business success in recent years. And as a result of the level and nature of new labour market laws, only 15% thought the UK has become a more attractive place to do business in the past five years, and a similarly low proportion (13%) believed that things will improve in five years' time.
Although the recent agreement on agency temps was disappointing, the survey shows that the majority of placements (60%) will fall inside the 12 week limit imposed by the new agreement, explaining the CBI’s decision to accept a deal on the directive as the least worst option, as a 12 week qualifying period would exempt most assignments, whereas the previously proposed six week period would exempt only half that.
However, 40% of employers feared that losing the opt-out from the Working Time Directive would have a severe or significant impact on their business. A third (29%) of staff sign the opt-out, which gives greater flexibility when firms need to react to demand.
John Cridland, CBI Deputy Director-General, said: “The recent agreement on agency temps is harmful to business, but it could have been so much worse. Our survey shows that a significant chunk of temp contracts will not be affected, but anecdotal comments suggest that some firms will no longer use agency temps. The economy is clearly struggling, and now is not the time for the European Union to weaken its commitment to the opt-out from the Working Time Directive, which remains a paramount concern for many businesses.
"Right now the Government needs to recognise that businesses are at the limit of what they can absorb. If employers aren't given breathing space from workplace legislation then jobs will be put at risk. Pointless rules about diversity are still on the cards, and employers feel that they are making strong progress in these areas under their own steam, and without the need for rafts of new legislation."
The survey showed that firms are already heavily committed to improving diversity in the workplace. Eight out of ten (82%) have diversity policies in place and a quarter (25%) take positive action to improve equality at work.
A third (32%) of employers have voluntarily conducted an equal pay audit – including 55% of larger firms, which exceeds the government target of 45%. The gender pay gap continues to fall and businesses are undertaking equal pay audits when they feel ready, and in ways which suit their circumstances.
Although employers are committed to diversity, nearly two thirds (59%) said the lack of applicants from disadvantaged groups remains the biggest obstacle to creating a more diverse workforce.
WISEWORK DIRECTOR KEYNOTE SPEAKER IN WINDSOR AND SWEDEN
Peter Thomson was recently the keynote speaker at the Swedish HR society’s annual conference. This is the equivalent of the UK’s CIPD conference and it attracted about 500 delegates, a significant proportion of the Swedish HR community! He presented on the changing world of work and the implications for HR, challenging the audience to be responsible for the effectiveness of the workforce not just for maintaining the status quo.
Peter was also recently speaking and chairing a session at a seminar run at St George’s House at Windsor Castle. This was one of the Windsor Debates series run by the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce and the theme was Energy and the Economy. Peter made a connection between work patterns and the consumption of energy, pointing out that businesses cannot control energy prices but can control the consumption by employees.
The subject of the Environmental Impact of Changing Work Patterns was also covered in a recent Future Work Forum seminar organised and chaired by Peter. This focused on the carbon emissions caused by business travel and commuting, making people more aware of the benefits of alternatives such as video conferencing.
GOVERNMENT CONSULTS ON FLEXIBLE WORKING
The Government will explore ways to make dealing with flexible working requests easier for businesses, as part of a consultation published today (Tuesday 26th August).
The consultation follows on from the Government's announcement that it would extend the right to request flexible working to parents with children who are 16 and under.
Employment Relations Minister, Pat McFadden, said the consultation would seek views from business and suggest ways to reduce paperwork involved with flexible working requests.
"The right to request flexible working has worked well because it helps employees to balance their home and work lives, but at the same time gives employers the right to say no where there are legitimate business concerns.
"Parenting requirements don't end as children get older. We think it is right to extend this successful scheme and help parents of older children access the flexibility they need."
The consultation will also consider ways to raise awareness of the right to request flexible working among employees and to boost knowledge of the range of free tools available to make dealing with requests quicker and simpler for businesses.
BusinessLink.gov.uk has online forms that employers can use to deal with flexible working requests. It also provides guidance which can help save time, money and stress and avoid businesses paying for professional external advice.
The consultation will also consider whether to scrap the requirement that employers write formally to staff to advise their request has been accepted.
The Government will soon launch an awareness raising campaign to target groups with low knowledge or who are unaware of their right to request flexible working, like fathers and carers, in addition to raising awareness for businesses about how to make dealing with requests simpler.
The consultation will involve all interested stakeholders, including employer and employee representatives, parents, unions, business and family organisations.
WHAT KIND OF INTERNET SURFER ARE YOU?
Ling Valentine, owner of www.LingsCars.com has undertaken her own extensive research into the psychological surfing habits of over 50,000 visitors to her website. Ling's findings state that internet users fall into three distinct groups when digesting visual information;
Ling's understanding of website psychology is evident in the structure of her own website which provides an online playground for visitors to explore, discover and store information. Multiple indexes connect users to an array of video and cinematic links, some with tongue-in-cheek, spoof information such as the "Car-u-like-ator", a virtual fruit machine that gives car model suggestions.
Ling says that understanding website navigation is essential for an online business: "Very few people have the slightest idea about the mental processes that trigger buying impulses or cause people to click into or off a site and look elsewhere.”
EMPLOYER SURVEY SHOWS BIG DIP IN JOB PROSPECTS
The latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey of 1, 221 UK employers shows employment prospects weaker than at any time since the survey began in 2004, with recruitment activity falling and redundancies set to increase.
This finding is particularly worrying given that the third quarter is normally the most buoyant for recruitment, as it covers the September wave of recruitment activity. Although the survey finds that more than 1 in 4 (29%) employers expect to increase staff levels in the third quarter this represents a sharp drop from 37% in the second quarter and is by far the lowest third quarter LMO figure recorded since 2004. The comparable third quarter LMO survey figures are: 2004 (58%); 2005 (48%); 2006 (43%); and 2007 (38%).
The number of employers planning redundancies increased from 22% to 27% between the second and third quarter LMO surveys.
Pay expectations remain modest despite higher price inflation. Employers carrying out staff pay reviews in the third quarter expect average increases of 3.7% (3.9% when bonus payments are included).
John Philpott, Chief Economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) comments, “The jobs market has been one of the few bright spots in the UK economy, but cracks are appearing in the face of an increasingly uncertain economic outlook. Even if we avoid the scale of jobs fallout suffered in previous downturns, the era of the candidate’s recruitment market is already over, with people in work becoming increasingly anxious that their P45 might soon be on its way.”
Philpott continues: “With pay pressure still subdued, mounting job insecurity is being compounded by a significant squeeze on workers’ real incomes. But the absence of any sign of an emerging wage-price spiral at least offers greater hope that the Bank of England might soon be able to cut interest rates to head off the threat of recession.”
Andrew Smith, Chief Economist at KPMG , said: “Companies are now reacting to deteriorating market conditions. With sales slowing and input costs rising - but scope to raise prices limited by weakening demand - finances are under pressure.
“It looks as if employment costs, the main area over which businesses retain control, are taking the strain with employers seeking both to keep a lid on pay settlements and, in increasing numbers, planning for redundancies. The labour market is suddenly looking a lot less resilient.”
Key findings:
PHONE DOWNTIME COSTS UK BUSINESSES DEAR
A third (36%) of UK workers have had their company telephone connection cut off due to failures caused by factors such as flooding, power cuts, roadworks and equipment faults during the past year alone. That’s the main finding of a new study commissioned by hosted voice over IP (VoIP) provider Inclarity. Of those respondents, 60% had experienced up to a full day’s phone disruption, costing them an average of £14,431 per day. Yet, 60% weren’t aware of any disaster recovery plan to address the issue. The research comes a year after severe flooding caused havoc for businesses in many parts of the UK.
The poll, carried out by YouGov, questioned almost 2,500 people and found that businesses in London, east Midlands and the north east were most affected by unforeseen disruption to their office telephone services.
The findings show that companies have failed to invest in sufficient back-up plans should the network that provides their telephone services be cut. Last summer, severe flooding impacted businesses in 45 UK cities and towns leaving them without access to communications after offices and other workplaces were impacted by water damage. Companies in Wales, Scotland and the east Midlands are the least prepared for such disasters. The potential cost to businesses of such an unforeseen disaster could therefore be enormous. For example, more than a quarter of people questioned (26%) were unable to take incoming work calls during telephone downtime and resorted to using their mobiles instead, and could thus incur typically higher mobile costs.
By replacing a traditional Private Branch Exchange (PBX) telephone system with a modern VoIP solution, so telephone calls are made over the internet rather than a conventional telephone network, businesses can divert all calls off-site should unforeseen disaster strike. Alternatively, firms can keep their existing PBX and connect a hosted VoIP solution too, ensuring they have a back-up plan in place should one network fail.
The nature of a hosted solution means that business can be done as usual because calls can be easily diverted to home phones, mobiles or other offices – giving the company the ability to continue functioning from a different location. Despite this, nearly two thirds of those questioned (61%) weren’t aware of a plan to deal with disruption to incoming calls caused by events beyond their control. Worryingly, more than a quarter (26%) said they couldn’t be contacted or didn’t know how customers or suppliers would contact them during times of phone outage. Businesses in Wales, Scotland and the west Midlands were the least prepared, with two thirds or more unaware of a business continuity plan in place for phone downtime (76%, 67% and 66% respectively).
Surprisingly, the survey revealed that one in four people (25%) still rely on fax as a communication method with customers should their telephone system go down. However, when fax machines operate using a central office phone service, this is not a viable solution to the problem.
Dave Millett, Chief Operating Officer at Inclarity, urged businesses to reassess the value of being able to maintain a reliable telephony solution during any adverse circumstances. “Too many UK firms leave their phone systems in jeopardy. Communication is the foundation stone of any successful business. Companies need to put more emphasis on ensuring their phone system is as protected from downtime as they do with other areas such as network and data access,” he said.
“The cost of commercial phone downtime can rocket quickly. We think that £14,000 is actually an underestimation of the potential daily financial damage to companies. By adopting a hosted voice continuity solution, businesses can redirect calls easily to homes or other office locations. In today’s competitive market company executives should make it their business to ensure that all their key people are available to their customers at all times,” he added.
Inclarity has created a free self-assessment questionnaire to help businesses assess how well prepared they are for phone downtime. To take the test visit: http://www.voice-continuity.co.uk/inclarity.
HASSLE FREE CONNECTIVITY WHEN WORKING ON THE MOVE
Today, mobile computer users often access public and private networks from a range of locations such as in the office, in a hotel, at a coffee shop, in bars and even on holiday. This usually requires different types of internet connections, access to different drives and email clients each time they change location, requiring the set up to be reconfigured every time.
Avanquest Software, a leading developer and publisher of business and consumer software for the global PC market, has released its powerful Connection Manager tool worth £19.99 for FREE. This will save laptop users time and effort as it simplifies the process of detecting, selecting and connecting to different networks and peripherals every time they change location.
Connection Manager enables laptop users to automatically disconnect and reconnect to different networks and peripherals every time they change location. It saves the laptop user time and hassle by automatically:
Connection Manager memorises preferred network connection settings for the internet, Virtual Private Networks (VPN), email clients, default printers and disk drives. It allows laptop users to move effortlessly from one network to another without having to adjust settings or encounter troublesome error messages.
Avanquest Software Publishing is now offering the retail software package of Connection Manager to download for free from www.connectmylaptop.co.uk where you can also view a video demonstration of how the software works.
JOBS MARKET CONTINUES TO PROP UP UK ECONOMY
The latest official labour market statistics, published earlier today by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show that the UK jobs market continues to be in good health. It has shown another rise in the number of people in employment and only a modest increase in both the number of people unemployed and the economically inactive. The number of job vacancies has dropped by around five per cent in the previous quarter, but the overall job vacancy landscape remains positive by historical standards.
Pay pressures also remain subdued in spite of recent hikes in the rate of inflation. The measures for calculating average earnings show a slight fall compared with the previous month.
Gerwyn Davies, Public Policy Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) comments, “Yet again, the jobs figures continue to defy the woes experienced by the rest of the economy, which will provide some comfort to the Government and reassure the Bank of England that pay rises still pose little threat to inflation. While there has been an increase in the claimant count, the numbers classified as economically inactive have risen less fast, and the number in employment has continued to rise.”
Davies continues, “However, despite the apparent resilience of the labour market, a loud note of caution should be sounded given that these figures do not include the swathe of redundancies that have been announced in the past month or so. And with a number of employers poised to pull the redundancy trigger in the next six months, the Government will be hoping for some better economic news as the year progresses.
One reason that employment remains high is the ongoing struggle employers have to attract and retain talent. This is discouraging employers from rushing to make redundancies. But each further knock to confidence in the economy risks triggering an avalanche of job losses. We hope that the labour market can cling on – but the next few months could be a white knuckle ride.
Curbing pay rises is one of the obvious ways in which organisations can minimise redundancies, so it is encouraging to see that pay restraint is being shown. However, if such restraint is not shown, particularly in the event of a possible interest rate rise, the risk of an avalanche of job losses becomes even greater.”
Davies concludes, “It requires a leap of imagination to compare this situation with the previous downturns when unemployment was measured in millions and pay levels rocketed.”
In response to the recent press regarding EU Mobile Roaming Charges, Aaron Powers, Head of Business Development at Vyke, the VoIP mobile supplier, believes that the EU regulation of mobile roaming fees is the best thing that could happen to a mobile operator. He comments:
“The GSMA (global trade association representing more than 750 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 territories) recently released data showing that a 25% decrease in data roaming costs between April 2007 and April 2008 increased consumer usage by 75% (a price/demand elasticity that virtually any other industry should covet). So why exactly are these same mobile operators grumbling about an EU mandated cut in roaming data charges?
Every shareholder in Vodafone, O2 et. al. should be forming a picket line in Brussels in support of mobile roaming fee caps. While this may sound counter-intuitive, the overwhelming majority of mobile operators have failed at developing their business strategies in response to market evolution. They have failed to address the growing penetration rates of smart phones, failed to address the growing popularity of mobile software and services that utilize the mobile data channel and, resultantly, they have failed to address the growing demand for mobile data access at reasonable prices. Since these market factors have gone unaddressed, and since they don’t seem to pay attention to their own statistics, the threatened EU regulation could just be the medicine that this industry needs.
Mobile operators have a spectacular crutch – voice and SMS. These provide the overwhelming majority of revenues for mobile operators located in the EU. For Vodafone, for instance, these totalled over 87% of their revenues for the year ended March 31, 2008. However these are also the services that will be the first to be cannibalized by new technologies such as peer-to-peer messaging and mobile Voice over Internet Protocol.
The immediate implication is that established mobile operators are facing a growing direct attack on their revenues. What the mobile operators need to do is cast off their crutch and start innovating according to consumer demand. This means encouraging mobile data use, enabling 3rd party mobile service and content providers and, finally, stop charging so much for the connectivity that it kills any good idea before it starts.”
EMPLOYERS MUST GRASP EU CHANGES TO AGENCY WORKER RIGHTS
A leading law firm is warning employers to review their use of and arrangements with agency workers, following an EU deal to give agency workers new rights. Mace & Jones Manchester based employment law partner Phil Allen said it is critical employers consider their obligations after the agreement reached in Luxembourg in June following a deal in the UK between the CBI and the TUC. It means that after a 12-week period of engagement, UK agency workers will have the same pay, holidays and other working conditions, such as overtime and breaks, as directly recruited staff.
Mr Allen said with more than a million agency workers employed in the UK this was a massive issue for employers. “Agency workers’ jobs can last a matter of hours, months and – in some cases – more than a year,” he said. “But this new European agreement means those workers will receive equal treatment after 12 weeks in a given job.”
Mr Allen said even before the ruling he was seeing an increasing number of business owners in difficulty over their dealings with agency workers. “Businesses are increasingly relying on agency workers attracted by the very fact that their legal obligation to them is less than it is to permanent staff,” he said. “But it is critical to understand that agency workers have discrimination and other rights and this can make them more of a risk than employers envisage. With the new extension to their rights, it will be vital employers plan and prepare when taking on agency staff to avoid being tripped up.”
Mr Allen confirmed some employment legislation, such as anti-discrimination law applies to agency workers, but unfair dismissal protection is only available to employees.
“Agency workers are still a very attractive option for growing businesses and those industries with a skills shortage,” he said. “And in that sense it is vital firms know how to use agency workers to the maximum benefit of the business. Critically they provide employers with flexibility and avoid costly contractual obligations that kick in when permanent staff are made redundant – which of course is a major consideration in the current economic climate. Nevertheless, despite these attractions, employers need to guard against underestimating the employment law covering agency workers.”
WISEWORK DIRECTOR VISITS CHINA TO CHECK HEALTH & SAFETY ARRANGEMENTS AT OLYMPIC GAMES SITES
During June Wisework Director Chris Ridgewell worked in China as a Team Leader in the international team formed to visit each of the Olympic Games sites. Whilst there, Chris led the team that conducted a full-scale audit of all the health and safety arrangements of each of the event sites. These arrangements were then tested in a series of realistic simulations. Each of these tests involved crowds of several thousand people who had been recruited from local universities and colleges, old people’s homes, junior schools and new Army recruits. Local police, emergency services, hospitals, transport and utilities organisations were inspected to look at their procedures. The tests focused on how easily, quickly and safely large numbers of spectators, officials and sports participants could be evacuated from each site in the event of an emergency incident. The test results will be used by the Chinese authorities and the Olympics administration to inform the revised contingency planning and disaster recovery procedures.
Chris is a specialist in Health and Safety procedures and sits on several national UK policy and planning committees.
WISEWORK DIRECTOR HONOURED AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE
Wisework Director Chris Ridgewell recently attended an Investiture at Buckingham Palace conducted by HRH Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales. He received three decorations. The first, a Military OBE was awarded in recognition of services extending from the 1982 Falklands War campaign to more recent activities involving strategic and operational planning while serving in the Royal Naval Reserve. It also recognised Chris’ earlier service in the Royal Navy where he developed several new flying tactics that were used during the Cold War. Also, in recognition of his more recent work following the 2005 bombings in London, Chris received a Queen’s Police Medal as well as a Queen’s Fire Service Medal. Chris currently has a senior Health and Safety role within the Greater London area whereby he is attached to the London Fire and Rescue Service as a technical advisor.
Chris is a specialist in Health and Safety procedures and sits on several national UK policy and planning committees.
MOST BOSSES SAY NO TO TELEWORK REQUESTS
The latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook (LMO) survey of UK employers finds that more than two thirds of employers (69%) never or occasionally accept employee requests to work from home. This is despite the fact that, of the employers who offer home-working, only 8% believe home-workers are less productive than their office-bound colleagues, while 30% say they are more productive. The remainder of employers say home-working makes no difference to productivity.
A fifth of organisations (19%) say that they are more likely to accept requests from managers or professionals. The report concludes that the much-heralded revolution in home-working is yet to take place, although a quarter of employers say that home-working will increase in their organisation in the next year.
The report calls on employers to be more progressive to improve the morale and well-being of employees and the productivity of employers and the wider economy.
Gerwyn Davies, Policy Adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development , comments:"Employers should be more accommodating about accepting requests to work from home, rather than fostering a culture of presenteeism. The allure of home-working for employees is becoming greater given the stress and rising costs associated with commuting. We also know that employees, particularly younger workers, are increasingly looking to work for organisations with strong green credentials – which can be enhanced by using home-working to discourage unnecessary travel. Employers and line managers should therefore have more confidence in their staff, policies and in their own management capability to ensure that they recruit, retain and make the best use of the talent they have."
"The slow increase in the take-up of home-working defies the evidence. While the cost of home-working has gone down, the cost of commuting has shot up. While a substantial majority of employers report having recruitment difficulties, a substantial minority accept requests from their workers to work from home. Inflexible approaches to home-working risk restricting the competitiveness and growth of UK organisations if employer and managerial mindsets do not change."
Dave Conder, Head of HR at KPMG , said: "In KPMG's experience, offering home-working can be a great motivator for people. It can also put a company in a stronger position when competing to recruit and retain talented people. Flexible working can help improve the productivity, morale and wellbeing of employees."
Key findings from the report:
PETER THOMSON REPORTS ON WORK WISE SUMMIT
This year I again had the pleasure of attending the WorKwise ‘ Summit’ held at the QE2 Centre in London. Unlike previous years it was held at the end of WorkWise Week rather than the beginning and was more able to be a review of how things have been going rather than a launch of things to come.
The event did give the impression that the WorkWise initiative has been gaining momentum over the last year. David Lennan the Chairman of WorkWise UK gave an upbeat introduction to the day outlining some of the achievements over the last year. This included the WorkWise award which is now up and running and being given to employers who get through the assessment process. It may not yet have the standing of awards like Investors in People but it is a step towards ‘Smarter Working’ as a sign of a good employer.
The fact that this quality standard is now up and running was reinforced by one of the speakers, Anne Clarke from Claremont Interiors, whose company has achieved this smarter working accreditation. As an interior design company they were particularly keen to create a modern, flexible working environment for their people and provided a good advert for the standard.
The theme for the day was “Creating a Smarter, Greener Working Britain” so there was plenty of emphasis on the environmental benefits of flexible working. This ranged from a factual presentation from Dr Richard Betts from the Met Office with lots of graphs through to an energetic speech from Hilary Benn, Environment Minister, with lots of gesticulation. These were backed up by a presentation from the president of the AA about the pollution caused by cars and what can be done to reduce them. IT was interesting to note that changing work patterns and other ‘behavioural changes’ are likely to save as much carbon emission by 2020 as increases in vehicle efficiency.
The green theme was also picked up by Ben Plowden from Transport for London who provided an entertaining and informative presentation on how we can work smarter and change some of our bad habits. He pointed out that London is likely to have a net increase in population of 800,000 people by the year 2025, the same as the population of Leeds today. So they have to work out how to cope with an additional 4 million journeys per day by then!
Brendan Barber, Secretary General of the TUC, spoke again this year and appeared even more positive about new ways of working than last year. He talked of the ‘greening of the workplace’ and the importance of non-financial rewards for employees. He also said “As we enter a period of economic uncertainty, it's tempting for employers to retreat from innovative working practices and instead work existing staff harder and longer. But the need for increased productivity is greater than ever, which makes this the perfect time for companies to introduce smarter working practices.”
So by the end of the day it was clear that WorkWise is here to stay as an initiative. It has now launched regional activities, backed by the RDA’s, so we will hopefully see more happening at a local level. D avid Lennan announced the formation of “A Smarter Working Centre of Excellence” and promised that WorkWise UK would continue to lead the workstyle revolution for the 21 st Century. Hopefully this will continue to bring Teleworking out of the shadows and into the forefront of thinking for all employers.
GOVERNMENT AGREES DEAL ON AGENCY WORK
The Government has agreed a deal between unions and employers that will see agency workers in the UK receive equal treatment after 12 weeks employment. The Government believes this deal can pave the way to reaching agreement in Europe on an agency workers directive that secures this flexibility for the UK.
Announcing the agreement, Business Secretary John Hutton said: "This is the right deal for Britain. Today's agreement achieves our twin objectives of flexibility for British employers and fairness for workers. It will give people a fair deal at work without putting their jobs at risk or cutting off a valuable route into employment."
AGENCY WORKERS: JOINT DECLARATION BY GOVERNMENT, THE CBI AND THE TUC
The CBI and TUC have reached agreement on how fairer treatment for agency workers in the UK should be promoted, while not removing the important flexibility that agency work can offer both employers and workers. Agreement has been reached on the following points.
The Government will now engage with its European partners to seek agreement on the terms of the Agency Workers Directive that will enable this agreement to be brought into legal effect in the United Kingdom. The Government hopes that EU agreement will be obtained in time for the necessary UK implementing legislation to be introduced in the next parliamentary session.
DOES WALSH GO FAR ENOUGH?
Commenting on the publication of the government's independent review of the right to request flexible working, The Telework Association’s Chairman, Brian Higton said:
“We welcome any extension of the Right to Request Flexible Working and this will mean that another 4.5 million parents gain the right to request.”
“The most recent research from Working Families and the Cranfield School of Management adds to the extensive body of evidence that flexible working gives employers a competitive edge in recruitment, retention, employee commitment and, crucially, performance. Based on two decades of such evidence, The Telework Association believes that flexible working is beneficial to both individuals and organisations and could make a significant contribution to reducing traffic pollution and congestion.”
“We would therefore like to see government go further than simply extending the right to request and start providing real encouragement to businesses and individuals to work more flexibly.”
Shirley Borrett, Development Director at The Telework Association, said:
“The Walsh review suggests that extending the right to request to all employees would result in more requests and therefore greater numbers being turned down for business reasons. However, requests are already subject to scrutiny to ensure they meet business needs and employers who have extended flexible working to all employees have found that it is seen as fair, rather than discriminating against people without children.”
Shirley travelled to Japan last autumn and found that Japan has recognised the contribution that flexible working can make to economic growth as well as to alleviating the problems of work life balance, an aging workforce, pollution and congestion. Shirley said:
“The Japanese government has recognised the wider benefits of flexible working and not just considered it as a carers’ issue. Their target is to have 20% of their workforce teleworking by 2010 and they have introduced a range of measures, including tax incentives and grants, to encourage take up across government departments and industry.”
“Whilst the right to request legislation has raised the profile of flexible working, it means that employers often view it as part of the social ‘rights’ agenda rather than recognising it as a significant business benefit. It seems ridiculous that employees in this country need legislation to enable them to ask their employer for something that, if implemented well, is of benefit to the individual, the employer and the environment.”
“The Telework Association would like to see our government taking a wider look at flexible working and using joined up thinking to encourage it for the benefits to business and the environment, not just for parents and carers.”
WORK WISE WEEK PRIME OPPORTUNITY TO TEST REMOTE WORKING
Businesses of all sizes should be using “Work Wise Week” (15-21 May, 2008) to take advantage of new communications and test run remote working, according to Aastra, Europe’s largest provider of enterprise communications. At a time of rising commuting costs, increased environmental awareness and a keen emphasis on achieving a healthy work/life balance, businesses should be looking at home working as a way to improve operational efficiency and reduce overheads.
Currently, just 12 per cent of the UK population works remotely, a figure which Aastra believes needs to change rapidly. By developing working policies to enable more home working, companies would embrace the work/life balance ensuring employees enjoyed improved morale, see higher commitment to the company and benefit from stronger retention of their staff, Aastra said.
“Companies should seize the opportunities offered by technology to enable members of staff to work from home easily and seamlessly,” said Michael Calvert, UK general manager for Aastra. “With rising fuel prices inflating the cost of commuting and the associated stress, less personal time available and the ever present need to make savings on operational expense, increased home working makes perfect sense.”
Too often companies rely on mobile phones as a solution for voice when working from home, but this involves recurring costs. Internet Protocol (IP) phones offer a reliable and high quality solution while WiFi handsets enable mobility when working via a wireless internet connection.
Aastra, which provides telephony systems as well as IP and cordless phones for business, practices what it preaches. Up to 75 per cent of its UK staff are able to work remotely, one of whom is marketing manager Bev Martin, who predominantly works from her home in Oxfordshire and visits the company’s office in Farnborough, Hampshire, once or twice a week.
“There’s no question that being able to work remotely has enabled me to manage my time, work commitments with my demanding job, and my personal life more easily,” she said. “Employees on the move and remote workers can use softphones to make and receive calls from their laptops to dramatically reduce their communications costs when travelling with business. Employees working from home or travelling can now enjoy the same features as when in the office and are contactable on the same number.”
THE FUTURE IS NETWORKS
Research just released reveals a change in attitude towards networks and networking - as 68% of people expect to be part of more networks in five years time. With this figure rising to 75% in the 25-44 age group, the survey by international leadership development organisation Common Purpose, suggests greater recognition of the value of networks by generations Y and X.
Furthermore, the research suggests that one of the reasons why the trend for networking continues to grow and diversify is that it is seen as more than a social activity. It found widespread confidence in the benefits of networking as a professional boost, with almost two thirds of respondents saying that networks are important to their career success. What makes a network valuable however, and how people decide which to use and with what frequency, could be a question on many busy professionals’ minds.
Julia Middleton, Chief Executive of Common Purpose says: “Nothing happens without networks. They are fundamental to the success and security of businesses, and present an opportunity for people to see each other’s issues, spot new ideas and see the risks that are not simply confined to one department, organisation, community or even country. We need to encourage more new networks so people can gather ideas and start to grab the opportunities that emerge from working together. ”
FLEXIBLE WORKING HAS POSITIVE IMPACT ON UK WORKERS
A positive relationship between flexible working practices and employee performance is a key finding of a significant new piece of research launched at the "Measuring Up - The Impact of Flexible Working Practices on Performance," conference.
'Flexible Working and Performance' is the result of a two-year research project by Cranfield School of Management in collaboration with Working Families. Seven major blue-chip companies, from a range of sectors, participated in the research. The report demonstrates that flexible working can be a win-win option for employers and employees.
As the availability and types of flexible work continue to increase, there is a greater need to know exactly how such working practices affect the organisation with regard to performance of individuals, and the impact on colleagues and managers.
Key findings of the report include:
Report co-author and Senior Lecturer in Strategic Human Resource Management from Cranfield School of Management, Dr Clare Kelliher, said: "These findings are important because they show both performance-related and longer term benefits from flexible working. However flexible working should not be seen as an add-on activity. Other HR policies may need to be adjusted in order to ensure they support flexible working."
Working Families Chief Executive Sarah Jackson OBE said: "The key findings of this rigorous two year research project strengthen the business case for flexible working. The research involving seven blue chip companies shows that flexibility has a positive effect on the quality and quantity of work and on employee commitment. It is also clear that flexible working works best where it is available to all employees".
Diversity in the workplace to take centre stage
Sexism and the City, a new report published today by equality pressure group The Fawcett Society, outlines the harsh reality that mothers-to-be and new mothers experience the most discrimination in the labour market. The report is backed by Tessa Jowell, minister for the Olympics and London and reveals that more than 30,000 women a year in Britain lose their jobs for simply being pregnant.
CIPD diversity adviser, Dianah Worman, welcomes the research but argues that changing deep-rooted workplace practices will take more than a politically expedient gesture. She calls for a diversity agenda to punch its weight through a national awareness raising campaign.
“The war for talent is a key preoccupation with top teams in business, yet so much talent continues to be wasted through the failure to provide fair and tailored working conditions for all. We need to make the business case for diversity and inclusion through a campaign that hits where it hurts - namely, the bottom line on the balance sheet.
“There is mounting evidence from a range of CIPD research that shows the need for the business case to reflect organisational circumstances and objectives. Organisations need to focus on the design of workplace policies and practices that address the needs of business and people equally seriously to ensure the survival and economic health of both.
“Change is a long time coming and the mounting evidence produced by the trail blazers needs to be trumpeted as loudly as possible. Everyone stands to gain from a national campaign offering solutions that work, rather than just bleating perpetually about the problems. It would give the ammunition needed to overcome the resistance put up by the reactionaries in business.”
Britain in business: the world of work in 2018
Major new study outlines the future of work and management
A business-world under cyber attack, the United States withdrawing from the world economy and employee behaviour controlled by implanted micro-chips are all possible scenarios for business in 2018, according to a study published today.
Called ‘Management Futures’, the study identifies 17 possible scenarios* facing UK organisations in the next decade. It analyses current trends, past experience and the views of economists, an academic and business leaders to predict what the world of work will look like in 2018.
Combined with a survey of over 1,000 senior executives, the study will be used to help business leaders understand what needs to be done, today, to prepare for tomorrow.
The findings imply that holograms, robots and ‘intelligent’ computers all have a role to play in the UK’s future business landscape. However, CEOs will be more concerned by changes to current business models, trade blocs and the UK’s ability to compete on a global scale. Some key predictions include:
- business markets: trade blocs, within and across markets, will experience more competition and conflict. According to the executives surveyed, global corporations will exert more influence than governments (66 per cent) and surveillance of work will increase on all levels (93 per cent). The data also suggests that the marketplace will be heavily influenced by new players from Brazil, Russia, India and China
- supply and demand: business models will change their nature, becoming more open to external influences. Two-thirds (63 per cent) suggest customer participation in business decisions will increase. 62 per cent predict that environmental concerns and regulation will create products with longer lifecycles
- business structures: organisations will alter in character, reflecting changes in society. For example, 63 per cent believe ‘teams will be more multi-generational’, and 42 per cent say ‘increased numbers of senior women will have changed management styles’
- 17 scenarios: predictions range from terrorists attacking the internet, bringing work to a halt, through to a world dominated by digitally controlled employees. With this in mind, the study calls for a focus on ‘intellectual property banks’ to balance requirements for openness with business protection and argues that ‘brain enhancement technology’ must be monitored to avoid misuse
- virtual reality: only a small proportion think that holograms (31 per cent), robots (27 per cent) or implanted bio-chips (12 per cent) will be used to drive business efficiency. However 74 per cent argue that ‘virtual businesses’ will be commonplace and 87 per cent say the nature of work in 2018 will lead to increased ‘virtual contact’
- projected skills need: organisations will still need many of the skills required today, but the ability to drive change will be prized. The research shows that 75 per cent believe project management skills will be necessary for all, with 63 per cent agreeing that ‘innovation and creativity will be key to most tasks’
- home is where the heart (of business) is: the study predicts that the ‘work needs’ of employees will change as they operate across wider geographical areas. 65 per cent expect working from home will be commonplace to reduce the carbon footprint. 73 per cent suggest work-life balance will be the key to job choice
Mary Chapman, chief executive, at the Chartered Management Institute, says: “Looking ahead ten years, it is clear that the successful organisations will be those who can do more than embrace change – they will anticipate, identify and drive it. Of course we cannot determine the future, but that does not mean we shouldn’t forecast and prepare for it to ensure that organisations and teams are effective, capable and competitive.”
The report goes on to identify ‘humanness’ as a key factor for future organisational success. It suggests that positions and job titles might be removed if they hinder collaboration.
Looking at the ‘private needs of people’ the study also shows that changing demographics will compel organisations to offer more tailored lifestyle benefits to employees.
Chapman adds: “A greater degree of emotional intelligence will be required by managers and leaders so they can understand how people work and their likely reaction to change. They will also need to shift from today’s input-driven approach to a focus on output, achievement and a better integration between work and personal lives.”
The full report is available here.
Study shows employers willing to support right compromise on agency workers rights
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) today publishes the findings of a CIPD/KPMG survey of employer opinion on increased rights for agency workers and the likely impact of the proposed EU Directive.
The survey of more than 1500 employers – conducted as part of the quarterly CIPD/KPMG Labour Market Outlook, which monitors the state of the UK jobs market – finds employers divided on the principle of equal rights for temporary agency workers and how long agency workers should have to work for an employer before qualifying for the same rights as workers on permanent contracts.
More than 1 in 4 employers (27%) responding to the survey are of the opinion that agency workers should never qualify for the same rights as permanent employees.
But 1 in 5 (21%) think that agency workers should be given the same ‘pay and contract of employment’ conditions from the first day of employment with a given employer. In all 1 in 3 (35%) think this should apply within the first six months of employment. while a further third prefer a qualifying period of at least six months.
However, the survey findings also suggest that increased rights for agency workers could mean fewer jobs in the economy overall and block an important pathway into work for many jobless people.
Almost half (47%) of responding employers think the Agency Workers Directive would make the process of hiring agency temps more bureaucratic while 61% think it will increase labour costs.
Well over a third of employers (37%) think the Directive would have a negative impact on their organisation with 2 in 5 (39%) saying it would have an effect on recruitment. Of the latter more than two thirds report that they would hire fewer agency temps though one third expect that as a consequence they would hire more workers on permanent contracts. Overall 29% of responding employers think that increased employment rights for agency workers would make it less likely that agency temps would be hired as a means of selecting recruits for permanent positions.
In light of the survey findings the CIPD contends that public policy debate on increased rights for agency workers should focus on the practicalities – especially the matter of the most appropriate qualifying period - rather than the principle at issue. In this respect the survey lends weight to the Government’s cautious stance toward both the Parliamentary private members bill and the proposed EU Directive and endorses the plan to establish an independent commission to examine the practicalities and potential economic risks.
Mike Emmott, Employee Relations Adviser at the CIPD, comments: “If agency workers are to be given the same rights as permanent employees it is crucial that we get the detail right. Our latest survey findings suggest that a qualifying period of at least six months is necessary to command the support of employers. However, with over a third of employers believing the agency workers directive will have a negative impact, the proposed independent commission will need to work hard to consider the risks associated with this policy if it is to allay employer concerns.”
Commenting on the potential economic impact of increasing rights for agency workers as identified by the survey the CIPD’s Chief Economist John Philpott said: “With three quarters of organisations reporting that they make use of agency staff, increasing the rights of these workers is likely to have a significant impact on labour costs and recruitment practice. The survey findings suggest an overall negative effect on jobs in the UK with fewer jobs for agency workers only partly offset by more workers being hired on permanent contracts.
“Though people who continue to find employment as agency workers would be better off, the policy would make it somewhat more difficult for jobless people to take the agency route into the workplace. By comparison with the jobs effect the likely impact on workplace flexibility and productivity would appear to be less significant since employers would still have the option of hiring agency staff albeit at higher cost. A key task for an independent commission will be to examine how sensitive are these potential impacts to different qualifying periods.”
Rachel Campbell, Head of People Management at KPMG , said: “Where agency workers are concerned, there is clearly a need to focus on what sensible measures can be taken to ensure unscrupulous employment practices are prohibited. However, the survey indicates the extent of concern felt by many employers at the prospects of further legislation. Greater detail about the proposals will be needed to mitigate these concerns and to ensure that any measures do not increase bureaucracy and still maintain the benefits and flexibility that agency workers give our economy. “
PUBLIC AS WELL AS PRIVATE SECTOR SPENDING DRIVES KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY SUCCESS IN CITIES ALL OVER THE UK
The ‘poorer North’ and ‘richer South’ idea of the UK is no longer an accurate description of the economic life of the nation, a new report finds today. The report argues that a more subtle analysis of cities across the UK is needed if policy makers are to fully understand their diverse economic profiles and find the right policies to help different places flourish.
The future economic success of every region in the UK is increasingly dependent on well-educated minds, cheap computers, high value businesses, and sophisticated goods and services – loosely the ‘knowledge’ economy. Regions that employ the most people in ‘knowledge industries' are thriving, while those without are being left behind. Naomi Clayton, author of the report and researcher at the Work Foundation said, ‘Our new analysis clearly shows that the UK is much more than a tale of two types of city, North and South: inequalities, challenges and successes are scattered throughout the regions of England.’
The report stresses the vital role that public expenditure plays in supporting certain cities across the UK in developing their knowledge economies. Cities in both the North and South including Doncaster, Plymouth, Stoke and Hastings rely almost exclusively on the state for generating high value ‘knowledge jobs’ with less than one quarter of knowledge jobs in private businesses. The report argues that in light of the recent Comprehensive Spending Review and a shrinking public purse, cities need to do more to co-ordinate efforts in the public and private sectors to maximise the development of the regional knowledge economy.
The Work Foundation’s new analysis of the 56 major English cities compares high value knowledge intensive employment in both public and private sectors against economic indicators.
The report finds:
Naomi said: ‘It is often assumed that regions with high levels of employment in the public sector will contribute least to the British economy, while places with high levels of private knowledge intensive employment tend to be more highly productive. Our report highlights that this isn’t always the case, the important thing is how cities manage the benefits of public sector investment and capitalise on key institutions like universities. Cities across the UK, such as York and Cambridge have successfully crafted public sector growth to foster private sector enterprise; think Sheffield’s thriving environmental technologies sector, closely linked with the University.’
The report categorises English cities into six distinct ‘families’,
Enterprise Priorities: Private sector employment is diminishing in these cities, with up to three quarters of knowledge workers employed by the state in various guises. Cities in this family are much less productive than the average, have low numbers of graduates (13.8 per cent of the population in Hull, for example), relatively low pay, and low skill levels. They include Doncaster, Burnley, Blackpool, Birkenhead, Wakefield, Plymouth, Hastings and Liverpool (the only ‘core city’ in this group).
Enterprise Sparks: Once industrial, but now dominated by public sector employment, cities in this family include the core cities of Nottingham, Newcastle, Sheffield and medium sized cities such as Barnsley, Bolton and Southend. Though the private sector is growing, productivity remains below average. Knowledge economy jobs exist, but are relatively low value and low skill (for example, a high proportion of call centre employment).
Enterprise Ready: Cities in this group have roughly a 50:50 split between employment in public and private sectors, but are characterised by relatively poorly performing private sectors. Earnings are below average (with the exceptions of Brighton and Chatham – both within London’s commuter zone), and skills are relatively low. In cities such as Birmingham and Telford, private sector employment is in decline. Cities in this family include Bournemouth, Norwich, Wigan and Chatham.
Knowledge Hubs: This small cluster of cities are performing well, but the main driver of employment is the public sector knowledge economy rather than the private, the great examples being the university cities of Oxford and Cambridge (45 and 41 per cent public sector employment, respectively). Others in this group are York, Gloucester and Worthing – cities where the health and education sectors (both major ‘knowledge sectors’) are very significant employers. Cambridge University in particular has nurtured science, technology and bioscience business clusters.
Enterprise Engines: In this family, the private sector dominates, but the public sector remains a major graduate employer. These cities have levels of productivity above the average. Included in this group are Bristol, Manchester and Leeds, as well as Derby, Ipswich and Northampton. All have growing knowledge economies – both public and private. Some, though, such as Coventry and Peterborough have suffered from the decline of high tech manufacturing, leading to a decline in their respective knowledge economies.
Enterprise Powerhouses: Located in and around London (the one exception being Warrington, in Cheshire), these cities have strong private sectors concentrated in high value, skill-intensive, highly productive sectors; 62 per cent of London’s workers are knowledge workers. London accounts for about 40 per cent of the UK’s GVA, a world class global city. Average weekly earnings in London exceed £493 compared to a national average of £373 – though massive inequalities are evident, especially in London itself. In this group are Milton Keynes, Crawley, Aldershot, Swindon and Reading.
Naomi explained: ‘Against this background, it becomes clear that some cities in the UK are struggling, but the traditional lines of the North South divide have been redrawn. The city families concept allows us to better appreciate different types of cities, identifies those with similar experiences to generate a much subtler understanding of their needs.’
The report highlights the role the public sector can play in fostering growth, for example through procurement, by opening up contracts to local firms and small and medium enterprises, creating jobs and leading to increased capacity and competitiveness in local businesses. State spending of more than £120 billion a year can have a huge impact on local economic performance. Newcastle’s commitment to local procurement was found to correlate to 60% of council spending with suppliers within the North East region. Universities also play a role in creating demand for local services as well as attracting and creating skilled workers and generating research, all of which can make a contribution to the local economy. But our city families show that some cities are better at capitalising on their public sector assets than others.
‘Both public and private sector are critical to driving forward the most productive sectors of our economy – the knowledge economy. Both sectors can work symbiotically to increase the output from city-regions at different stages of development. Nonetheless, private sector knowledge intensive employment remains the most effective way to increase productivity and struggling cities need to make more of their public sector to help enable sustainable private sector employment to flourish.’
WORK LIFE BALANCE NOT A PRIORITY FOR MANY ORGANISATIONS
Despite a growing awareness of the importance of a healthy work/life balance, workers and employers are often at odds when it comes to the issue, according to survey results released today by Monster, the leading global online careers and recruitment resource. Among the findings of the 2007 Monster Work/Life Balance Survey, 89 percent of employees polled believe work/life balance programs, such as flextime and telecommuting, are important when evaluating a new job, yet only about half of HR professionals polled consider work/life balance to be an important initiative for their companies.
The survey findings revealed that only 29 percent of workers view their employer's work/life balance initiatives as good or excellent; in fact, 58 percent say their employer encourages working too much. Furthermore, the long-term outlook does not look promising - 61 percent of HR pros believe there will be more employer-provided work/life balance initiatives in five years, and only 56 percent believe that general work/life balance will improve in the future.
"Developing and promoting a work/life balance program can be a key differentiator in today's challenging recruitment market where there are ample opportunities for job seekers. Thus, employers should look to improve their employment brand by creating and promoting a flexible, balanced work atmosphere as an effective means of improving recruitment and retention," said Jesse Harriott, vice president of research, Monster. "Moreover, we found that a healthy work/life balance is more valued by younger workers - Gen X and Gen Y - so, employers looking to cultivate those talent pools would be well-advised to promote related initiatives."
Employers Undervalue Significance of WLB Initiatives' Impact on Recruitment
More than three quarters of workers believe that work/life balance initiatives result in more loyal and efficient employees, and 82 percent say that in the offer stage, a potential employer's work/life balance initiatives are important or very important to consider. However, only half (49 percent) of HR professionals feel they acquire more qualified candidates because of their work/life balance initiatives.
Managers and Corporate Culture Largely Shape Employee Work/Life Balance
Sixty percent of employees say they spend too much time working - with about one-third (35 percent) blaming their boss' expectations and one-quarter (26 percent) saying they overwork to fit in with corporate culture.
In addition, 91 percent of workers have worked directly with someone they would classify as a "workaholic." Of this group, 51 percent say that doing so spurred working longer hours; 28 percent report giving up vacation days as a result. Image plays a part, as well - 25 percent of workers admitted to boasting about work/life imbalance to demonstrate commitment and hard work ethic.
Technology's Impact on Work/Life Balance
Interestingly, workers believe that advances in mobile technology will actually damage their work/life balance, as evidenced by the following findings:
SENIOR AND MANAGERIAL LEVEL FLEXIBLE WORKING REPORT
The second part of the Working Families research on senior level flexible working was launched last week. It details senior flexible work arrangements in nineteen new case studies. Key findings include:
Barbara Follett, Deputy Minister for Women and Equality, comments: “A key priority for this Government is to help people balance work and family life. This report shows that flexible working at senior level is viable in all sectors and in organisations of all sizes. It also shows that employers are becoming aware of the benefits it can offer, particularly in the areas of staff morale and engagement.
“Government will continue to support employers with initiatives like our quality part time work fund so that people can be given real choices about the way they organise their lives.”
Sarah Jackson OBE , Working Families Chief Executive, said: “Employers have no reason to be afraid of senior flexible working. Many of the case studies in the report demonstrate real business benefits resulting from roles worked flexibly. Employers now need to recognise the advantages that senior flexible roles can bring.”
The case studies reflect the diversity of ways in which senior roles can be redesigned on a flexible basis, and the wide range of organisations in which such arrangements are successfully working. The participants in this edition are from central and local government, the voluntary sector, education and healthcare.
Highlights include:
Managers profiled in the report are from: Leicester University, Coventry Teaching Primary Care Trust, Department for International Development, Urban Forum, DCMS, NSPCC, Bristol City Council, Metropolitan Police, Hyndburn Council, Breast Cancer Care, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Haydn Primary School, Royal United Hospital NHS Trust, Lancashire County Council, London Development Agency, Airedale NHS Trust, Sheffield County Council, Unite and the British Library.
You can order your copy of the report at www.workingfamilies.org.uk or contact elizabeth.whitehead@workingfamilies.org.uk
2009 DEADLINE FOR TWO HOUR MOBILE NUMBER PORTING
Last week Ofcom set new rules making it easier for consumers to keep their mobile number when they switch providers. Under the new rules, consumers will be able to receive calls using their existing number within 2 hours of moving to a new mobile network (down from 5 days). These rules will make it quicker and easier for consumers to keep their number, thereby strengthening competition and consumer convenience. It will also help protect consumers from the risk of losing calls if their old providers' network fails.The move follows Ofcom's earlier decision to reduce mobile number porting lead times from 5 days to 2 days from 1 April 2008. Two hour transfers for mobile numbers must now be implemented by 1 September 2009. In addition, industry will be obliged to ensure that the new porting process includes the necessary levels of protection for consumers.
Ofcom is also requiring industry to co-operate to create a common database to handle calls and to pave the way for more efficient call routing. Ofcom's consultation considered whether a database (which will reduce total costs and benefit consumers) would occur without regulation but concluded that targeted regulation was a better outcome for consumers. A database will also ensure that consumers are not affected by problems with their old network, after they have ported their number. The new database will make it possible to route calls to ported numbers directly to the new provider's network without the need for the call to travel over the previous network. The database will remove dependency on the previous network.
Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards said "Consumers deserve a quick and easy process for switching while retaining their number. These measures will promote competition in the UK mobile market and act directly in the consumers' interest. Our new rules set tough but achievable deadlines to put new systems in place and I look to the industry to implement them effectively."
AT&T calls teleworkers back to the office
AT&T, a company that once was a poster child for telecommuting, is downsizing its long-running telework program and requiring thousands of employees who work from their homes and other virtual offices to return to traditional AT&T office environments, according to sources.
"It is a serious effort to reel in the telework people," says Chuck Wilsker, president and CEO of the Telework Coalitions, an organization in Washington, D.C., that promotes telework through education and legislative efforts.
"We have been getting calls and e-mails from very unhappy AT&T teleworking employees who are being told that they will no longer be allowed to telework," says Wilsker, who has heard that as many as 10,000 or 12,000 full-time teleworkers may be affected.
A spokesman in AT&T's San Antonio, Texas, headquarters denies there are broad-scale plans to end teleworking arrangements, but acknowledges there may be some isolated cases. "Teleworking is at the discretion of the business," says Walt Sharp, the spokesman.
He says AT&T is in the process of reconciling the human resources policies of the legacy AT&T, SBC Communications, which acquired AT&T in 2005; BellSouth, which was acquired in late 2006; and the former Cingular wireless operation, previously co-owned by BellSouth and AT&T.
"We have recently merged [these] very large companies, each of which has separate policies on everything, and we're in the process of integrating all of those policies and coming up with integrated policies for AT&T overall," Sharp says. "I believe the teleworking policy is expected to be integrated some time next year."
One AT&T employee, who has teleworked for more than five years, told Network World he and his team members received notice in late September that they need to resume working in an AT&T physical office "as soon as possible."
The news was not entirely unexpected, he says, since rumours have been circulating since AT&T's merger with SBC that the new upper management was not supportive of virtual offices. "We'd heard rumours to that effect, and all of a sudden we got marching orders to go back to an office."
The employee says he was told the decision to end telework arrangements would apply broadly across the company and reflects a policy change by AT&T -- though that contradicts AT&T's statement to Network World. "It's crazy; I don't understand it," the employee says. "We're a networking and communications company."
"The effort to terminate [virtual offices] has been a silent one except for the voices of affected employees," he adds. "Word of mouth is spreading it in within the company."
Telework advocates have loaded praise on AT&T over the years for its telework program, which the telecommunications company formalized in 1992 and grew to become one of the largest and most successful in the nation.
Before the SBC deal, participation in AT&T's telework program had been widespread. In 2005, AT&T reported that about 90% of its management employees teleworked, including 30% who worked full time from locations other than an AT&T facility. Another 40% teleworked regularly, AT&T said at the time, while 20% worked from home occasionally when required for business continuity reasons.
Enabling employees to telework has been lucrative for the company. AT&T was able to slash its annual real estate costs by $30 million and gained $150 million in extra hours of productive work from teleworkers, the company told Network World in 2005.
AT&T's effort to recall some of its mobile ranks goes against current telework adoption trends by U.S. companies. A recent survey of HR managers by outsourcing provider Yoh found that 81% of companies have remote-work policies in place and 67% of respondents said they expect telecommuting will increase in the next two years. (HP last year brought some teleworkers back to corporate facilities, but its recall was part of an IT reorganization and was limited to IT staff.)
Federal government agencies, meanwhile, are under the gun to bolster their telecommuting ranks, as required by legislation. Among the drivers for public and private industry alike are the opportunities to reduce real estate costs, improve employee morale and retention rates, lessen transportation burdens and strengthen business continuity plans.
"I'm at a loss to understand AT&T's reasons or motives for this," Wilsker says. "I find it especially interesting that one of the reasons the old AT&T established a telework program was for environmental reasons, and now that more organizations are jumping on the telework bandwagon as a means of helping to improve our air quality, AT&T has jumped off."
Over the years, AT&T received more than 10 honors for its telework program, including earning in 2005 the Telework Coalition's first Hall of Fame Award for "Practicing What They Preach."
In a statement released at the time of the award, Wilsker said: "We established this award because we have frequently spoken with organizations that sell systems and/or services that enable telework, in one way or another, but do not offer a telework option to their own employees. This is definitely not the case with AT&T. They are a leader in supplying global networking to customers, and a leader in using it themselves."
That no longer appears to be the case. "We gave them the award because they sold it and they used it," Wilsker says of AT&T's telework-enabling technologies. "Now we're trying to figure out how we can take it back."
AT&T's telework resource site, once contained content for employees and managers, including case studies, tips for developing a business case, dos and don'ts, and policy documents. The link is no longer active.
As reported by Ann Bednarz, Network World
Be recognised as the best!
The Fast Growth Business Awards 2008 is now accepting entries from ambitious companies who think they have what it takes to be named the best medium sized business in the UK. The judging panel includes Peter Jones, entrepreneur and star of BBC's Dragons' Den, Simon Kossoff, MD, Carluccio's and René Carayol, Business guru and TV presenter.
There are 15 categories including: Retail Business of the Year, Online Business of the Year, Female Entrepreneur of the Year, Green Business of the Year and International Business of the Year and the overall winner will be chosen from the winners of each category to be announced the T-Mobile Fast Growth Business of the Year. There are at least 10 reasons to enter:
In addition every winner will be interviewed on video by the Growing Business editorial team to appear online after the event.
The deadline for entries is 07 December 2007. Entry criteria is that the business must have generated revenues for at least 2 years, had revenues of at least £1 million in their last months trading and have fewer than 500 employees. Entry forms can be obtained from www.fgba.co.uk or from the Events Team on 020 8334 1680
NATIONAL COMMUTE SMART WEEK:
Don’t travel in the dark, commute smart
National Commute Smart Week will run from Sunday October 28 to Saturday November 3 2007. The week follows on from the success of Commute Smart Day last year (November 1) which was viewed as a huge success by all those involved, warranting an extension of the initiative this year to a week so that the full benefits of smart commuting can be experienced.
Workers in the UK already have the longest average daily commute in Europe: in many cases adding an entire working day each week. Add to this the misery of traffic congestion and overcrowded public transport, and now the prospect of travelling to and from work in the dark for many months, it is no surprise that many succumb to depression and despondency.
Commute Smart Week, which starts on the day the clocks go back, will highlight the possibilities of avoiding this misery. Employers that practice smarter working, such as flexible working times (including flexitime, condensed hours and nine day fortnights), staggered journeys and part home working, reduce the overall need for their staff to commute, with flexibility in the times when they have to commute allowing them to avoid peak times.
The wider adoption of smarter working practices will not only benefit the staff involved, it will have a significant knock-on effect of reducing overall traffic congestion and public transport overcrowding by extending the rush hour and reducing peak demand, making the daily commute more bearable for those workers that have no choice. In addition, smarter working may help mitigate the significant increase in deaths and injuries that occur on our roads during the winter months, many of which are schoolchildren.
NOTE: WiseWork’s Peter Thomson is a member of the Work Wise UK steering team through his role as Director of the Future Work Forum at Henley Management College.
22nd October 2007
Senior Politicians Acknowledge the business benefits of flexible working
The fact that flexible working is good for business is now being recognised at a senior political level.
Peter Thomson, Director of WiseWork, attended the launch of a report from the CIPD and British Chambers of Commerce by Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne. The report called 'Flexible Working: Good Business' states that new ways of working can achieve real, sustained performance gains for businesses.
However, at present current legislation only gives the right to request flexible working to carers. This suggests that the issue is simply about a good work-life balance for employees and not about improving business performance.
The full report can be viewed at http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/1E768AF2-4E20-4ADC-B4A4-90E8F105FCB7/0/flexwrkgudbus.pdf
22nd October 2007
EOC report champions new ways of working
A report published by the Equal Opportunities Commission clearly summarises the benefits of flexible working and how widely it is being introduced in the UK.
The 'Enter the Timelords' report is easy to read and very informative, cleverly putting flexible workers into different categories to explain the advantages new ways of working can bring to various types of employees.
The report can be viewed at http://www.eoc.org.uk/PDF/Transformation_timelords_report.pdf
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