Smarter working solution to workplace inclusion

The final day of Work Wise Week focused upon the social benefits of new smarter working practices. Changing working patterns and working smarter will enable staff and employees to have a better work-life balance, and improve wellbeing, and also make work more inclusive for all.

Working smarter will help reduce stress in the workplace overall, and specifically that caused by the long hours culture that exists in the UK, and the huge amount of time spent commuting. The UK has one of the longest average working weeks in Europe, and by far the longest average commute: some 47 working days per year ñ almost a complete extra working day each and every week!

Work-related stress is a major occupational health issue. According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), it accounts for over a third of all new incidences of ill health, with each case leading to an average of 30.9 working days lost per year. A total of 12.8 million working days were lost to stress, depression and anxiety in 2004/5.

Phil Flaxton, chief executive of Work Wise UK, the not-for-profit organisation behind Work Wise Week, said: Much of this stress is caused by outmoded working practices centred on work taking place at a central location, involving long commutes, and inflexible hours, making it difficult for people to balance work with their social and family commitments.

ìThe social impact of work is considerable. The health cost, as well as the impact on family life, must be huge.î

Sir Digby Jones, UK Skills Envoy, referred to new smarter working practices as being an ìenormous catalyst for social inclusionî, when he spoke at the Work Wise UK Summit last week. Providing flexibility in the workplace through smarter working practices makes work more ëinclusiveí, opening up opportunities for people from other skills pools not previously utilised, such as older workers, single parents or those with disabilities, enabling employers to more easily fond the skilled labour they need.

Sir Digby said: ìThe nature of work is changing fundamentally. UK businesses need to understand this, and adapt and evolve accordingly. The introduction of new smarter working practices is gaining momentum not only to improve business productivity but also to be able to recruit and retain the staff needed to do business.

A new Work Wise UK Quality Mark has been launched to allow organisations to gain recognition for their successful introduction of new smarter working practices in the workplace. It will be assessed using a standard which provides a framework both for organisations that have already introduced smarter working practices and wish to go further, or those that are just realising the benefits and want to start reforming their working practices.

Sir Digby added: ìThose organisations which achieve the Work Wise Quality Mark will be well placed to attract the very best staff, as the labour market becomes ever more competitive and society becomes increasingly aware of the benefits of flexibility and new ways of working.î

Flexible working hours is one of the smarter working practices that could be adopted. It enhances work-life balance by reduce commuting, enabling journeys either to be made outside peak periods, or decreasing the number of journeys altogether. There are several ways an employer can carry this out which are simple to implement, while maintaining the required work levels.

Flexitime - Flexibility can be introduced on how an employee works their hours, whether the required time is measured weekly or monthly.

Flexihours - By enabling employees to leave early or later in the day and stagger their journeys outside peak periods, this avoids the stress of congestion, as well as shortening journey times if driving.

Condensed Working ñ the number of journeys can be reduced by working condensed hours; for example allowing employees to work the allocated hours in just four days, taking the fifth day off and avoiding one day per week commuting. Alternatively, a half hour lunch break could be taken each day and then the employee is allowed to leave at 3.00pm on Friday, before peak travel time.

Technological advances, particularly broadband, have allowed the option of home working. The benefits of home working, such as the reduction in necessary commuting journeys and an increase in productivity, combined with the rapidly increasing capability of information technology and its relatively decreasing cost, have resulted in growing numbers of home workers. According to the National Office for Statistics, there were 3.4 million home workers in 2006, 12.1 % of the working population, compared to 2.87 million in 1997, a growth of 18% over nine years.

Home working just by reducing the need to travel will cut down on one of the greatest threats to life and limb - the drive to or during work. Up to one-third of road accidents involve someone who was driving for work at the time. In 2005, Government figures reveal a total of 54,935 at-work vehicles were involved in crashes, 151 every day of the year.

There is also the stress and frustration of traffic congestion and the general stress of driving itself. Recent RAC Foundation research has shown that company car drivers waste 11 days a year stuck in traffic. It makes good business sense, and good safety sense too, to try and reduce the amount of business miles travelled through smarter working.

Phil Flaxton added: ìAs has been shown throughout Work Wise Week, the benefits of working smarter are numerous and substantial. The arguments are won, there is no real downside, no disadvantages, no hidden costs, this is a genuine win-win situation.

ìThe solution to the problems of competition and productivity, to congestion and public transport overcrowding, to staff and employee wellbeing, and to pollution and the environment, is to change our working practices. To work smarter and bring about a revolution in the workplace, a revolution similar to that of the Industrial Revolution, will ensure that this great nation remains one of the most progressive economies of the world.î

Further information about Work Wise UK can be found on the website: