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One of the current business buzz words is 'flexible working'. In recent weeks there has been a lot of attention paid to the benefits of online working and flexible working, particularly in regards to how it will affect the way people work in 2011.
The main catalyst for a lot of the press attention has been the terrible weather around the world over the past few months. Despite the thick snow, workers were still expected to trudge into the office. Journey times were greatly increased during the worst of it, with some people enduring a 5-10 hour round trip just to get to work and home again.
In an age where flexible working and working online is now so simple and inexpensive, it seems bizarre that such a trek is necessary. In countries with even more extreme weather (e.g. Canada) it is now relatively standard practice for office workers to have the option to work from home as soon as conditions begin to get treacherous.
The climate is not only changing outside of the workplace, but also inside it too with the influx of Generation Y workers. These young people expect to be able to work in a different way, anytime and anywhere, so businesses will have to adapt and change in order to attract the best possible workforce. Those which refuse to do so are likely to be the first casualties of this predicted new age of flexible working.
Recent research by the telecommunications company Orange has shown that an astonishing 74% of SMEs plan to introduce flexible working in some capacity over the coming year, driven by a desire to achieve greater efficiency from their workforce. Over half of the 2,181 small businesses surveyed also plan to spend more on technology this year than in the previous one.
The UK Government in particular has stated that by 2015, it wants to allow anyone the right to request to work flexibly and their employer will have to comply. If this legislation is a success and improves productivity, it is conceivable that similar measures will be taken globally.
The far-reaching benefits of flexible working were revealed recently in research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). They suggest that flexible working can be used to reduce absenteeism, increase employee engagement, allow you to better meet the needs of your customers and reduce stress levels – all of which sounds like excellent reasons for more businesses to start working flexibly.
Disclosure:The author Stefan Töpfer is CEO of WinWeb.com - a leading cloud based small business infrastructure provider (small business software, e-Commerce solutions & business process outsourcing) - the views and opinions expressed are his and are based on over three decades of personal experience as a serial entrepreneur, #1 small business blogger, mentor and angel investor in the SME/SMB sector.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
