Kevin Rowan column
May 21 2007 By Kevin Rowan, The Journal
As we come towards the end of Work Wise Week, part of a campaign run in conjunction with The Journal to highlight and promote different ways of organising work and working time, I have been able to work from home.
I've started my working day early and late and finished at different times too; I've even managed to use technology - dreaded blackberry - to respond to a few emails while visiting a colleague in York.
The fact is that working time stopped being something that happened between eight o'clock on Monday morning and five o'clock on a Friday a long time ago; we do live in a 24/7 society in many ways.
Certainly in the retail and hospitality industries that's obvious, globalisation too means that in a whole range of industries and occupations there is something happening for companies here literally every minute of the day.
For many businesses, therefore, flexibility is imperative to performance and success. For workers, too, it is more and more apparent that the traditional working hours culture is not always appropriate.
As the labour market tightens and pressures on our economy grow it is vital that we make the most of all of the talent that we have; that means making work opportunities accessible to everybody.
Flexible working can offer a route into work for many people for whom the nine to five full-time, Monday to Friday culture simply doesn't work.
Older workers, younger workers and workers with caring responsibilities require much more flexible approaches to work. Whether that's achieved through job-sharing, flexi-time, term-time working, home working or one of the many other options available, there is an army of labour that can help businesses to do well, if given the opportunity.
It is the case that the working age population in the region is shrinking and that people in retirement are living longer.
The number of people in work with caring responsibilities is going to increase, the pressure to achieve a greater work-life balance will grow.
For employers who are able to introduce flexible working opportunities this could mean managing to retain a valuable member of staff whose circumstances may change.
There are too many cases of people leaving their jobs, or taking a less demanding role, in order to be able to cope with caring for a relative. This is both an unfair impact on the individual and an unnecessary cost on business; especially as it could be resolved with a bit of investment in technology and a change in attitude.
The technology exists to enable workers to work flexibly, it is often mind-set that is the biggest barrier, both from workers and managers.
There is a need for a cultural shift, especially in our region where we have had high numbers of traditional industries with a traditional culture when it comes to working hours and "command and control" management styles.
The modern labour market operates 24/7 in a much more differentiated and fragmented arena. Modern managers do not command and control, they empower and enable - and they get better results by doing that.
