Working at home survey.


by Jason Taylor - Date: 2007-04-20 - Word Count: 1380 Share This!

 

Business Practices and Attitudes Relating to Home Working
survey">Ceridian is pleased to present the results of our recent surveyrelating to home workers. Freely available for downloading as a PDF document,Business">the full report, entitled 'BusinessPractices and Attitudes Relating to Home Working - A Survey of Human ResourceProfessionals in UK Business', reveals that companies need to exercise greatercontrol of their home workers. The main findings are summarised in the six pressreleases below.

Companies failing to exercise proper control of home workers

  Companies need to exercise greater control of their home workers to extract  maximum value from this growing sector of the employment market. In an in-depth  survey of 100 businesses, 86 per cent did not attempt to measure the financial  benefit to the business of home working. Four out of ten companies admitted  it was not possible to measure the savings to a business of allowing home working  with 31 per cent relying on the judgement of the relevant manager. Only eight  per cent claimed they could measure savings accurately. Indeed, only 52 per  cent seek to monitor the productivity of staff time spent at home.

 

"Surprisingly, 54 per cent of the companies were operating with no formal

  policy in place to protect them or their employees. While this may be due to  the ad hoc development of home-based working, it still shows a clear lack of  control, backed by the fact that only 10 per cent could state that company expectations  with regard to cost savings had been largely or completely met at a time when  cost savings have never been under greater scrutiny.

 

More surprising still is the absence of a formal policy when duty

  of care is at the top of the agenda in boardrooms throughout the country.  Health and safety as an issue was identified as a key pitfall of home working."
  Doug Sawers, Managing Director of Ceridian in the UK

 

Only 52 per cent of companies seek to monitor the productivity of staff working

  from home with 12 per cent claiming it is not possible to measure. A further  51 per cent relied on the judgement of the relevant manager, 69 per cent being  an immediate line manager.

 

Of those companies formally monitoring productivity, 60 per cent of respondents

  reported that company expectations with regard to productivity were largely  or completely met with a further 32 per cent reporting they were met to some  extent.

 

"While home-based working continues to increase in popularity at a steady

  rate, considerable opportunity exists for companies to exercise greater control  over these employees by introducing formal policies and measuring in greater  detail the productivity and savings to be derived from home-based workers. Currently,  many businesses would appear not to be exercising proper financial control while  at the same time leaving themselves exposed to potential health and safety liabilities."
  Doug Sawers

 

According to the Office for National Statistics Labour Force survey, a total

  of around 705,000 employees and self-employed people worked from home in 2003.  In all, 2.2m people are involved in some form of flexible working. Interestingly,  of the 397 companies originally contacted for the survey, three out of four  did not permit home working.

 

Home working opportunity a key to recruitment and retention

  Offering the opportunity to work from home part or full-time could be a key  to staff recruitment and retention. 74 per cent of companies surveyed admitted  that, where practical, the opportunity of home-based working is a necessary  component to attract and retain the right people with 75 per cent advising that  it gives them an advantage in the job market.

 

"The recruitment and retention of the right people is one of the key issues

  keeping HR directors awake at night. In a tight job market, any competitive  advantage can play a significant part and the opportunity to work from home  could be a deciding factor for certain employees. Our survey indicated that  57 per cent of employers felt that employees now expected this kind of flexibility.

 

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When it comes to staff retention, employment

  flexibility could be as much a deciding factor as succession planning. However,  from an employers' perspective, companies need to exercise proper control over  home working to drive real business benefit. As our survey has revealed this  is clearly not the case at the moment inside many businesses."
  Doug Sawers

 

Home workers more difficult to manage

  Only 3 per cent of businesses surveyed considered home workers easier to manage,  with 64 per cent considering them to be more difficult to a greater or lesser  degree.

 

"Since our survey revealed that 54 per cent of companies allowing home

  working had no formal policy in place covering home workers, and management  of their productivity was usually down to their immediate line managers, it  can come as no surprise to learn that home workers are perceived as more difficult  to manage. This points to the need for the introduction of formal policies andhr  measurement tools by HR departments departments  to ensure that they derive the greatest benefit from their home workers in terms  of productivity and cost savings.

 

On the other hand, 41 per cent state that home-based workers are easier to

  retain than office-based workers with only 21 per cent disagreeing.

 

Neither, in the majority of cases, does working from home seem to be harming

  employees' career prospects with 56 per cent of companies advising that their  home workers are able to develop their careers at the same pace as office-based  staff."
  Doug Sawers, Managing Director of Ceridian in the UK

 

'Productivity' tops list of benefits of home working

  Productivity is the principal benefit identified by companies for home working,  although only 52 per cent seek to monitor the productivity of staff time spent  at home.

 

"The companies surveyed offered up more benefits than pitfalls when discussing

  the advantages and disadvantages of home working. Although, not surprisingly,  trust and the potential for abuse were the top pitfalls identified, the issue  of health and safety was also very high up the agenda. For companies, with their  duty of care responsibilities, this will be a prime concern. HR professionals  have a crucial part to play in unlocking productivity and retention benefits  while implementing controls to protect their businesses."
  Doug Sawers

 

No home working 'revolution'

  Over the past five years the demand and incidence of home working has continued  to increase among those companies permitting the practice. However, the growth  appears far less dramatic than may be sometimes portrayed and of the 397 companies  originally contacted for the survey, three out of four did not permit home working.

 

"While increasingly popular, there is definitely no home working revolution

  in progress as 75% of companies contacted for this survey did not permit home  working. Of those that did, only one company in six has indicated that the proportion  of home workers will increase in the immediate future, although half are reasonably  positive.

 

While four out of ten companies did not consider seniority to be an issue,

  only eight per cent suggested home working was appropriate for junior management.  Essentially, there is an element of trust involved with home working so unsurprisingly  over half considered it the domain of middle and senior management."
  Doug Sawers

 

Adopting new technology aids home working

  Of the 100 businesses surveyed, 94 per cent of companies have embraced new technology  to allow home workers to work more effectively from home.

 

"Not surprisingly, technology has played a major part in the growth of

  home-based workers. The majority have laptops for greater mobility and most  have internet access. Interestingly, 11 per cent of home-based employees even  have web cams installed for better personal interaction. Nearly half of companies,  at 43 per cent, recognised that the latest technology had improved productivity  a great deal with a further 40 per cent acknowledging it had to some extent.  The majority of employers, at 83 per cent, also had clear IT support in place  for when things went wrong.

 

However, while companies clearly see efficiency gains from new technology only

  14% attempted to measure the overall financial benefit to the business of home  working. So on the one hand they are spending money on technology without measuring  the final returns. Again, this has to be of concern and underlines the need  for companies to exercise better overall control over home working."
  Doug Sawers

 

 


Authors:Ceridian provide outsourced HR services that maximise the value of people, helping companies succeed by enabling them to focus on their core business. We deliver a range of end-end integrated services including payroll, performance management, flexible benefits and employee assistance programmes. Ceridian - Over 40 years' UK and international experience in Payroll Services and outsourced HR Services including EAP, Flexible Benefits and HR Consulting For more information or assistance:Visit us at: http://www.ceridian.co.ukEmail us at: info@ceridian.co.uk Your Article Search Directory : Find in Articles

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