Remote and Flexible WorkingTransforming the Workspace

Introduction

This work, Remote and Flexible Working Workshop Materials by Reach Further Ltd., http://www.reachfurther.com, is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike 2.0 UK: England & Wales License. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California 94105, USA.

Workshop aims

To introduce remote and flexible workingTo establish the business benefits To look at the legal and policy perspectivesTo share best practice and case studiesTo provide an opportunity to discuss practical implementation issues

By the end of this workshop you will be able to:Understand flexible and remote working in terms of yourself, your colleagues and your organisationOutline the strategic business case for flexible and remote workingOutline the relevant legislation and how this impacts on employee relations Outline key best practiceUnderstand the practical implications of implementation and approaches to solving problems

Learning outcomes

Experiences

Who you are

Who you work for and your role

What is your experience of flexible & remote working?

What are you hoping to get from today?

What is flexible working?

Photograph by Tim Bishop for Weber Shandwick Worldwide

Photo by austinevan

Photo by Adam Tinworth

Types of flexible working

Options

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Types of flexible working

Options

Part time/ Term time/Job shareTeleworking /

Home working

Temp contract / interim

Compressed hours

Flexi time /Shift

Zero hours /Annualised

Pros and ConsPROS CONS

Part time/Term time/

Job share

Flexi time/Shift

Zero hours/Annualised hours

Compressed hours

Temp/Contract/Interim

Teleworking/home working

Legal overviewThe rights and responsibilities of both the employee and the employer are set out in the Flexible Working Regulations 2002.In general an eligible employee has the right to request flexible working and an employer has a duty to consider.More information: www.opsi.gov.uk www.businesslink.gov.uk www.berr.gov.uk (now BIS)

The Stats!55% of organisations now offer remote working (48% available to some staff and 7% available to all staff) 1

27% of organisations offer mobile working (24% available to some staff and 3% to all staff) 1

Take up rates are much higher in public sector and private sector services 1

1997-2005 the number of home workers increased by 35% (from 2.3 million to 3.1 million) 2

Proportion of home workers has increased from 9% to 11% of all workers since 199722/3rds of home workers are male 2

BERR (now BIS) analysis estimates that between 30-40% of the UK workforce could potentially work from home at least some of the time. Based on these levels it is possible that by 2010, 15% of the UK workforce could be home working on any one day 3

1 Flexible Working: Impact and Implementation CIPD 2005

2 Home Based Working Using Computer Based Technologies, Labour Market Trends, ONS 2005

3 IOD Flexible Working – The New World of Work report

Is your company ready for flexible and remote working?

Photo by Kevin Krejci

Photo by Simon Blackley

Implementing flexible working practices

Flexible working

implementation

Culture andattitudes

Career dev&

Performancemanagement

Job Roles/Recruitment

Communication&Training

Technical / Physical

Environment

Job Rework Exercise

How to identify which flexible working styles are most suited to your workplace

&

Assessing whether a job role is viable for flexible working

Locationindependent

Time independent

Locationdependent

Timedependent

e.g. CEOs, writers, researchers,journalists

e.g. IT support, telephone sales,Contact centre operatives, sales

e.g. Lawyers, plumbers, drivers e.g. Shop sales, restaurants, teachers

Time and place model

Locationindependent

Time independent

Locationdependent

Timedependent

• Routine administrative duties

• Outbound sales calls

• Planning

• IT programming

• IT support

• Conference calls

• Staff appraisal meetings

• Meetings

• Client meetings/Sales meetings

• Some elements of manufacturing/production

• customer service

• training

ELEMENTS OF A ROLE

Motivations of flexible workers

Motivation Which groups Type of work

Childcare Parents, Grandparents Part time, term time, job share, fixed shift working, remote working, compressed hours, annualised hours

Care Adult carers – typically mid-late career

Part time, term time, job share, fixed shift working, remote working, compressed hours

Semi-retirement Older workers Part time, zero hours, temp, contract, annualised hours, interim management

Motivations of flexible workers

Motivation Which groups Type of work

Work-life balance All Part time, job share, compressed hours, annualised hours

Empowerment to mange own time

All Flexi-time, flexible working, remote working

Avoid rush-hour commute

All Flexi time, shift working, part time, remote working

Ability to work remotely

All – eg parents / disabilities / rural

Remote working, homeworking

Identify solutions to match workers’ needsAssess the roleDecide what flexible working styles are appropriateConsider the best form of flexible working for each

role taking into consideration the needs of:company operationIndividualteam customer

Rework exerciseUse the “Time and Place” model

1. Look at your own role2. Look at other roles within your business

Sample role descriptions are available3. Plot the roles on the Time and Place model.

20 minFeedback

What questions do these solutions raise?

Pros and ConsPROS CONS

Part time/Term time/

Job share

Flexi time/Shift

Zero hours/Annualised hours

Compressed hours

Temp/Contract/Interim

Teleworking/home working

Coffee break

Thanks to