Working at home survey.
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
"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
"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.employment">
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
"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
"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'
"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
"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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