Fewer sickies but still a challenge...

Jan 22 2008 by Sarah Judd, Evening Gazette

SMARTER working means fewer sickies and less staff turnover, but that doesn’t mean there are not challenges for employers in adopting a more flexible culture.

One in three of the 585 UK organisations who participated in a flexi working study by the Chartered Institute of Personal Development (CIPD) said it had a major positive impact on staff retention, with a further half believing it has had a positive effect. Staff motivation had also benefited.

But they were worried about communicating and implementing flexible working arrangements.

The majority believed operational pressures were a big constraint, while many were concerned about the ability of line managers to juggle staff.

Nevertheless, Work Wise said business overheads plummet with every full-time home worker saving a company between £6,000 and £9,000 a year. The idea is also so popular with staff, it says, that 37% of men and 34% of women would be prepared to sacrifice part of their next pay rise if they could work from home.

It could also boost business’s green credentials adding up to as much as a whopping £1.9bn reduction in congestion costs by 2010.

“If everyone worked from home one day a week, we would also help businesses like logistic companies delivering goods to plants and factories on a just-in-time basis,” said Ross Smith, head of policy and research at the North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC).

“If a client needs a certain product in their workplace by a certain time to allow them to produce things, it is no good having a lot of traffic on the roads.”