Breaking Down Flexible Working Powwownow

West End Office: City Office: Breaking down flexible working: PowWowNow PowWowNow is likely one of the UK’s leading communication software corporations, helping businesses to develop, transform and become more productive utilizing collaboration instruments and know-how. As versatile working has grown in recognition, the PowWowNow staff has performed comprehensive research into this new development, producing resources for both employers and employees to encourage profitable flexible working practices. We sat down with Marketing Director, Simon Prince, to find out why versatile working ought to be on each company’s agenda. TR: How would you outline flexible working? SP: Flexible working is a method of working that fits an employee’s needs â€" they will work at any location or time that best fits their way of life. Even although it is often related to simply dad and mom and carers, all staff who've worked for a similar organisation for a minimum of 26 weeks have the right to requ est flexible working. TR: What completely different forms does it take? SP: There are many various types it may take! For instance, versatile begin and end instances, remote working (at house or in a café), half-time work and job sharing are just a few of the choices companies can implement. Everyone’s needs will differ, so it’s always worth having a frank and open conversation together with your employer or staff about the options that will work finest. TR: Why do you think flexible working has risen in recognition over the past decade? SP: There are fairly a few causes for this however in the end it comes right down to changes in the best way we now work. There are extra working dad and mom than ever before and as we’re dwelling longer, we’re additionally working longer too. As an instance, the proportion of working mothers has increased by virtually 50% in 4 many years. Employees and their employers are starting to grasp that to increase productiveness, it’s not about working more durable, it’s truly about working smarter. Presenteeism is detrimental to workplace productivity and is an even greater drawback than absenteeism. Firms and their employees are realising this now and are adopting versatile working to help encourage a more healthy work-life steadiness for all. TR: What are the benefits of offering versatile working for each employees and employers? SP: There’s a huge vary of advantages for both parties. Some of our latest research discovered that the choice to work flexibly makes a job extra attractive to three quarters of workers in the UK, and almost a third of staff would prefer the option to work flexibly over a pay rise. By offering smarter working choices, businesses are giving themselves a aggressive edge when it comes to staff onboarding and retention. Crucially, office productivity additionally increases when flexible working choices are provided because not only are employees motivated, they're additionally capable of maint ain a optimistic work-life steadiness. TR: Are there any challenges? SP: Even though flexible working has risen in recognition over the past few years, there are still some misconceptions surrounding it. As an example, many managers nonetheless don’t know tips on how to effectively handle staff who work flexibly, fearing they'll slack off as an alternative of completing actions. This leads to micromanagement, for instance. So, one of many key challenges is to coach and ensure employers and their staff know the most effective ways to implement flexible working. TR: Your analysis has discovered that fifty six% of people imagine managers need to adapt their skills to handle a distant workforce. How do you assume managers can do this? SP: The greatest pitfall many managers make when managing a distant workforce is to micromanage and focus an excessive amount of on workers being present on-line quite than their output. Setting a plan for communication, corresponding to a morning confer ence or video name to discuss all actions for the day and what's anticipated from every team member is a constructive method of ensuring that managers don’t fall into the entice of micromanaging. During the day, using immediate messaging platforms helps to keep the channels of communication open â€" offering the right forum for employees to ask fast, casual questions that may usually be asked over a desk or by the kettle in a typical workplace surroundings. TR: One of the challenges we hear about a lot (and experience ourselves) is balancing the must be contactable throughout operational hours and also being versatile. How would you counsel businesses do this? SP: Setting clear particulars about how you work. Even when you work flexibly you can still outline roughly how and when you work. Most businesses have core hours (10am â€" 4pm) and this helps with having meetings and understanding when and the way to contact people, however should you define the hours you do or where you're employed, folks will know the way and when to contact you. TR: One of your publications notes that ladies are more nervous about asking for flexible working. How does gender play into versatile working uptake? SP: Generally talking, there is a confidence hole between men and women within the office. Men usually tend to push for a promotion, negotiate the next wage and are more confident when it comes to requesting benefits. However, despite the fact that there are disparities, versatile working is marginally more popular among females than males. Interestingly, the principle cause ladies select to work flexibly is to spend time with their kids, while for men the top reason is to spend much less time in traffic. TR: What instruments can companies use to embrace and encourage flexible working? SP: From convention calling, instant messaging and on-line document sharing, know-how has developed rapidly over the past few years, making it easier than ever before to work flexibly with ease . Tools similar to video conferencing platforms are helpful for sharing your screen with participants and Google Drive is a incredible device for sharing paperwork on-line in real time. TR: PowWowNow has conducted numerous research into versatile working. Have any findings ever surprised you? SP: The easy fact that not more persons are requesting to work flexibly is what surprises me essentially the most! It appears ludicrous that people spend 1000's on travelling to and from work, hours away from the things they love, to take a seat in an office when they could really be completing their actions wherever. As flexible working becomes extra common and senior managers regulate to this manner of working, I hope the stigma hooked up to flexible working will disappear. â€" This case study seems in Tiger’s first e-e-book, An Exceptional Working Life: Creating Better Workplaces. To discover out more about versatile working and other salient workplace points, request your copy right now. Watch: Improving workers’ mental health remotely I hosted a webinar with three psychological health specialists â€" Jo Yarker from Affinity Health at Work[1], Business Psychologist Julie Osborn[2] and Ruth Cooper-Dickson from Champs Consulting[three] â€" who supplied their suggestions for employers managing employees’ mental health through the pandemic. They cowl: Tips for managers in taking care of their own mental well being The significance Read extra A complete guide to onboarding remotely for the primary time Onboarding workers is likely one of the most integral phases to the recruitment course of. As you realize, finishing up comprehensive and effective onboarding ensures that your workers could have the very best probability of efficiently integrating into their new function, group and firm. Conversely, poor onboarding could impression turnover, employees morale and coaching which may prove Read extra Sign up for the most recent workplace insights. Looking for a job Looking to recruit