5th July 2010 / Posted in: General, Human Resources, Management, Operational management, Planning and preparation, Policies & Procedures, Productivity, Staff engagement, Time management
For many individuals the luxury of not having to travel an hour or so to and from work each day translates into an extra hour or two at their desk at home and the ability to get through a huge workload without interruptions. But is that always the case? How do their managers and colleagues view it? How do they make home workers feel part of their team?
Allowing someone to work from home involves much more than trusting them to do as good a job at home as they do in the office. If you already have staff working from home, or you are considering it, the following tips should help home working run smoothly for both parties.
For someone to work at home effectively they probably need the following skills:
Employers have a duty of care for the health, safety and welfare of their employees when they work from home. They should: visit the home working environment to check its suitability as a work place; undertake a work station assessment for PC users; ensure the workplace is hazard-free; check the company’s insurance policies to ensure the necessary cover is in place for staff working from home; ask the employee to check and confirm that their mortgage/rental arrangement and home insurance policy do not prevent home working.
The employer should think carefully about whether any furniture, tools and/or equipment (eg a computer) are needed. . If so should they be provided by the employer or the homeworker? If they are provided by the employer then do they want to set down rules and restrictions about usage. For example, if staff aren’t allowed to use social networking sites or download material for personal use on an office computer then the same applies when that office computer is in an employee’s home. Also don’t forget to cover any computer provided by the employer under office maintenance contract.
Installing a dedicated phone line avoids conflict over bills and other members of the family wishing to use the phone.
If the employee’s job involves dealing with confidential or sensitive information, the employer should take appropriate steps: to ensure that all working arrangements are secure; any documentation to be held in the home will not be subject to breaches of confidentiality; no family member can access electronic or hard copies; and if the work involves personal information about individuals, the employee should understand and implement the requirements of the Data Protection Act 1998 relevant to data security.
Any arrangement with an employee regarding their place, hours etc of work should be in writing and signed by both parties. Employers may wish to stipulate fixed hours or core hours during which the employee must be available to answer the phone/respond to e-mails, and if they are unavailable, the process for notifying their line manager. If allowing someone to work from home is a new arrangement then agreeing a periodic review provides both parties with a mechanism to discuss whether the arrangement is working. Remember that the Working Time Regulations 1998 apply to home workers too.
The employer needs to think about how work will be delivered and collected from the employee’s home, how performance is measured and reviewed, how the line manager will manage an off site employee, whether there are security issues relating to lone working, how the home worker will integrate with other members of their team and other colleagues.
An employee working from home, either part or full time, will miss out on some or all of the camaraderie, banter and gossip which, for many staff, are an important aspect of team working. It’s more difficult to engage with staff if they work at home, especially if it’s full time. Using e-mail for the majority of communications is bad for both parties and won’t build a good, working relationship. Visual contact is better than phone contact and is achievable without needing to spend a great deal of money through services like Skype and i-Chat when used with a webcam.
Managing a member of staff that works from home full or part time may be more difficult for some line managers
It’s worth developing a formal request process to evaluate whether staff can work from home and review just as you would review a request for flexible working. That way you can be sure you treat everyone equally. Remember there are always some jobs that just cannot be done from home. Creating a check and action list based on the above
It may seem like a complicated and daunting process to manage properly, but the effort needed to develop a workable system will be worth it if you have happy, engaged, productive employees – working at home and managing them from the office.
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21st June 2010 / Posted in: Benefits, General, Human Resources, Staff engagement
In a recent survey conducted amongst 1,167 staff at PricewaterhouseCoopers the most highly valued benefit was found to be flexible working. It was first choice for 47% of staff surveyed, followed by 19% wanting performance-related bonuses and 15% wanting a good company pension scheme.
The main reason for the choice was work-life balance.
Currently employees who are parents of children aged under 17 or disabled children aged under 18 have a statutory right to apply for a change to the terms and conditions of their employment to have flexible working arrangements to look after their children. Employees who are carers of specified categories of adults have the same statutory right.
The government says it plans to extend flexible working to all but has not announced when. Employees who have chosen not to have children, or can’t have children, don’t have a statutory right to request flexible working so employers that do offer this group flexible working as a benefit may have more motivated and satisfied staff.
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12th June 2010 / Posted in: General
Congratulations to Margaret Eva who, in 10 years as Head Teacher at Bourne Community College, has turned around the school from being in challenging circumstances to one that is outstanding in every area (Ofsted inspection 2006), a Specialist Modern Foreign Language and Humanities (English) school.
When I interviewed her recently (shortly to be published on www.sfmconsulting.co.uk/lessonslearned) Margaret said she has a genuine passion to make a difference to pupils’ lives. Her story is fascinating, her enthusiasm and passion infectious and it is clear that passion, teamwork, a blame-free culture, the right strategy and an unrelenting focus on performance can make an enormous difference to a school – or in fact, any business.
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7th June 2010 / Posted in: Business efficiency, Absence management, Alcohol in the workplace, Hangovers at work, Human Resources, Operational management, Productivity, World Cup
Recent research, by the charity Drinkaware, revealed that nearly one in 10 go to work suffering from the effects of too much alcohol at least twice a week, and this is likely to rise during the World Cup. The news has sparked concern amongst many employers who see that any compromise in productivity is yet another, unwelcome set back in this challenging economic climate.
The challenge of meeting the needs of the business, and those of the football fans you employ, isn’t easy so here are 10 tips to help you through the World Cup:
Avoid an “Us and Them” scenario by suddenly imposing new policies about drinking, absences during the World Cup and coming to work with a hangover.
Communication, is a two way dialogue ,and is the lifeblood of every organisation. Consult with your managers, or staff representatives, by asking them what problems the World Cup may cause the business and what solutions they suggest. (download Acas’s Advisory Booklet – Employee communications and consultation from www.acas.or.uk)
The TUC warn against imposing a blanket ban on watching football during the World Cup as it may demotivate staff and result in unauthorised sick days. Again, discuss with your managers how the needs of the business and those that want to watch the football can be met. Don’t forget that not everyone’s home side is England, or that if you have staff that work outside normal office hours their opportunities to watch football may be compromised.
Not everyone is a football fan and staff need to be treated equally. Those that aren’t interested may resent covering for colleagues watching football.
Use the World Cup to raise awareness of the issues surrounding excessive drinking. There’s lots of useful information on www.drinkaware.co.uk a charity that promotes responsible drinking and is working to find innovative ways to challenge the national drinking culture to help reduce alcohol misuse and minimise alcohol-related harm.
As Medical Director of Bupa Health and Wellbeing, Dr Katrina Herren said that employers should be aware that if someone is regularly coming into work with a hangover this could be a sign of wider alcohol or mental health problems, and that as an employer, it is important not to ignore the effects of alcohol on employees or the adverse effects it can have on the workplace environment.
Drinkaware’s poll found that of those who are hungover, almost one in five, admit to struggling with their workload and to making mistakes. Drink may affect workplace performance – but so can going to bed too late (sober), personal issues at home etc etc. Underperformance should be treated fairly and equally whatever the cause. It can affect productivity across the organisation and resentment amongst other employees.
Much of the advice about how to manage staff during the World Cup focuses on watching matches on television. Don’t forget that if staff are listening to matches on the radio, having discussions in chat rooms, posting comments on social media websites etc etc their productivity may also be affected.
Be positive. The economic forecast isn’t good, we’ve been swamped with the election and the coalition for weeks, so a good performance by anyone’s home team is worth celebrating. Make the most of it to engage with your staff and build morale.
Be fair and reasonable – and be recognised for being so. See Acas’s advice on teamwork during the World Cup – www.acas.org.uk/worldcup
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