The ICT Workstream was pivotal in enabling the infrastructure for the new ways of working and 6  main solutions are detailed within the case study, with learning and key pointers to consider having the benefit of experience.

This case study will be essential reading for any ICT programme managers about to embark on a similar accommodation downsizing support role, especially as it lists a number of key up front considerations which may help fast track some decision making in terms of similar projects. Equally, it will be very useful for Facilities Management and HR Leads, as it gives an excellent insight as to the complexity of ICT issues required to support both accommodation down-sizing strategies, and implementation of flexible working and home working.

The case study also provides a link to Walsall’s short film, which shows the ‘before’ and ‘after’ situation and provides interviews with managers and staff regarding their views on the new accommodation arrangements.

Our thanks go to Richard Johnson and Malcolm Metcalfe for taking the time to share their experience with the Public Sector Nomads community.

Please note, case studies are only available to Public Sector members.

Rotherham staff gave a frank and honest account of their WorkSmart Strategy implementation and delegate feedback was extremely positive.

I always feel quite privileged to be sitting in on these events where I can pick up great snippets of learning to share with others.

The presentations are available on the website, which give the technical details etc. but the main points I noted during the presentations were:-
The Building / Assets

From Paul Smith, Estates and WorkSmart Manager

• It is first and foremost a change project – Rotherham quickly became aware that this was actually a change project, not an accommodation project, with accommodation being just one element of it.
• What will the public think? – Combining a customer service centre with the public library in one building was viewed favorably by the Rotherham public, and this helped justify the initial spending.
• Think about ‘designing in’ behaviours – for example, Rotherham designed their private non-bookable meeting rooms not to be suitable for more than an hour (they are small with no windows).
• If possible, have a goods lift! – It may seem like a simple thing, but we have seen how decanting staff into buildings where work is ongoing on other floors can create havoc with people just trying to get to their floor for work. A goods lift would have really helped!
• Decant is a major project in its own right, so treat it as such – As far as possible get people working in the new ways before moving. Rotherham worked on one move per week, providing a chance to learn at each decant and implement improvements for the next.
• Don’t forget work and costs to decommission and hold vacated buildings – whoever is in charge of budgeting MUST factor this in.

Once you get the building right, if there is a need to move people around within it, as stated by Paul: “Now we move people, not the furniture”. Now that has to be less hassle!

From Richard Copley – ICT Manager

I got a real sense of pragmatism from Richard. No complicated hang-ups regarding whether things could be possible from a data security issue. That’s not to say that he doesn’t take data security seriously though.

• Devices should be enabling and what people want, not restricted – “BYOD is brilliant from my perspective you just need good policies and the right technology”.
• Knowing where your staff are - Everyone from the Chief Exec down have open MS Outlook calendars. Change practices around what people type in the meeting entries, to support the privacy requirements so that everyone CAN implement this policy.
• But… do clients need to know where they are? – When dealing with calls, people don’t actually need to know where you are working from, just that you are dealing with their needs. You just need the right telephony!
• Pay attention to the small stuff – Ensure staff remember to use the mute button when not talking but listening on a conference call (a very small, but not insignificant point!); Locate desk power points actually on the desks, not underneath, so people don’t have to crawl about under the desks. Remember, power cables change with devices, so you can’t get around this by having the power cable always available on a desk.
• Printing costs will reduce through transparency of printer info - Rotherham saw a 45% reduction in print volumes through implementing new working and having granular print billing details.
• Free WiFi is a win/win – Free citizen WiFi draws citizens in and also supports staff and partners or suppliers visiting the building.
• Remote access technology increases organizational resilience – As Richard stated: “The fact that people don’t need to come to the building to work makes us incredibly resilient”. The flooding in Rotherham certainly makes this a poignant note.

The People

From Theresa Caswell – HR Programme Manager

• Make sure you know what success will look like – Quote from Theresa: “We didn’t want a ‘lift and shift’ exercise, we wanted tangible benefits”
• Give everyone the facts - Produce a ‘myth buster’ guide to ensure everyone was in receipt of the right facts.
• Empower staff – by involving them in decisions which they are able to influence. For example, it was the staff who determined the final colours.
• Really get to know what their roles involve – Creating a diary analysis/Day In the Life Of for specific job roles is extremely useful.
• Set targets that are owned - If teams can’t make the reduction targets, escalate the targets up to the department, and if necessary up to the directorate. That way, managers have individual and collective ownership of the delivery.
• Travelling expenses is a big FAQ area – Deal with car parking and travel issues and support staff in them where necessary.
• Ensure the PDR system is fit for purpose – so you can ensure staff performance can be monitored effectively when working to the new ways.
• Have a dedicated communications manager – if possible, for external and internal communications.
• Trade unions are really important – Make sure they have the right information at the right time, as they can help dispel the myths directly for staff.

When talking about the worksmart policies, Theresa said: “A lot of the time it is just formalizing current ways of working”. You may find that many of your staff are already unofficially working in new ways, but not admitting to it!

An employee perspective – From Nigel Hancock, Development Manager

In the ‘new ways of working’ areas we have looked at, Planning Services tend to have a reputation for being the least likely to jump on board with electronic ways of working. They are traditionally used to dealing with paper files, and large scale maps, diagrams etc. A walk around Rotherham’s building would leave you puzzled as to where the planners are sitting. Their area looks no different to any of the others.

So how was this achieved? According to Nigel the key was dealing with the workflow, and getting people working in the new ways prior to moving.

They reduced the workflow before they made it electronic. Classic BPR practice, but nevertheless most important. Once the workflow is reduced and electronic, this paves the way for ‘anywhere working’.

Rotherham recognized that there are actually benefits to being electronic, for example, electronic plans can be ‘zoomed in’, and QR codes can be used to engage public re: viewing applications.

The rate of success is impressive. According to Nigel all case workers accepted the new ways of working, and planners can now work from anywhere.

They are not afraid of trying new things, but accepting where the ‘old’ style still has a place. Currently they are trialling tablets on site instead of plans, but still use plans where necessary.

To quote Nigel, they are, “Not totally paperless but more like a ‘normal’ office”.

In the Q&A session, Nigel was asked, “Are you a typical representative service”. This was a very good question. They certainly seem like one of the more ‘up for it’ services, and Rotherham realized this and ensured they were able to demonstrate that it CAN work for one of the (arguably) hardest areas to make electronic to fit new ways of working. This leaves me with the last piece of advice…

Find your ‘up for it’ services and support them working in new ways as soon as possible. Let them trail blaze for you.

Thanks go to Rotherham MBC and in particular Paul and Theresa. I should also mention that the New York Stadium proved to be a fantastic venue.

The concept enables users to walk on the spot while completing desk-based tasks thereby integrating physical activity into everyday office type work.

According to the manufacturers, introducing walking into the workday in this way easily presents a range of health advantages including weight loss, reduced stress, memory improvement and a strengthened immune system.

More details about treadmill desks at www.trekdesk.com

Designed by Cartwright Pickard, the highly sustainable building is hoped to achieve the internationally recognised BREEAM Excellent rating and will mean that the council will eventually be able to realise annual savings of approximately £650,000 from not operating out of multiple inefficient and costly to maintain buildings.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Cynthia Ransome, said, “This is a major milestone for the project and our council employees. Over the next two months over 1500 more staff will transfer into the new building which forms a central part of the wider Civic and Cultural Quarter regeneration scheme.”

Paul Gordon, Doncaster Council

ICT Specialist Paul Gordon was one of the first to move in. As part of the team responsible for IT at the council he has been working towards the move for over a year, updating software and installing new systems.

Paul said, “The great thing about the new offices is the ability for us to work more flexibly, using shared workstations that make the most of the building. I also like the fact that the offices are open plan. It encourages everyone to work more closely with other council teams around them.”

Covering 25% of the town centre in the Waterdale area, the first phase of the Civic and Cultural Quarter also includes the new performance venue Cast, Sir Nigel Gresley Square, upgraded road networks which help reconnect Waterdale with the town centre and a refurbished 850 space Civic Quarter Car Park. The project is being delivered by Doncaster Council and its partner Muse Developments.

The project is being part funded by the European Union, as part of the European Regional Development Fund’s support for the region’s economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme. The Civic Offices open to the public on Monday 14 January 2013.

Elsewhere in South Yorkshire, Rotherham Council recently opened its state of the art Riverside House, built and occupied to similar principles. Public Sector Nomads are running a showcase 21st Century Accommodation workshop in conjunction with the Council on 5th March 2013. Read more and pre-register your interest here.

The recent reports by the National Audit Office and the Public Accounts Committee on mobile policing provide clear examples of the problems that can be faced when evaluating information technology investments. AIMTech argue that three key issues cast doubt on the validity of the conclusions of the reports:-

• the need to fully understand the context of implementations;
• the need to fully understand what is and should be valued; and
• a clear understanding of how these should be measured.

Understand the context

In evaluating the mobile information programme by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA) and the use of mobile data by police forces both reports seem to indicate a limited understanding of the context. They seem to assume that mobile data use in the UK police service was driven by central government policy and by the NPIA programme and that very little occurred before the NPIA mobile information programme. The reality is rather different.

As early as mid-1990s police services across the UK had experimented with some form of mobile data systems with a number of pioneer forces investing in pilots and proof of concept trials of a range of devices. Services also rapidly recognised the need to share experiences, knowledge and information and had formed a Mobile Information Strategy Group reporting to the ACPO Communications Committee producing ‘Infranet’, a strategy for mobile data in 2002.

This document recognised the need for a strategic approach to mobile data and saw mobile technology as an extension of existing systems (rather than focusing on devices) and clearly identified potential areas of benefit. This was followed by PITO support and investment in mobile data trials. By the early 2000s, local investment in mobile technology was significant and the investment by forces was linked to a wide set of benefits.

In 2003-04 police services across England and Wales were focusing on the potential benefits of increased visibility, productivity, response times, communication and management control. By 2003, 47% of forces in England and Wales had invested in mobile data (in some form), 13 forces identified themselves as having made a significant investment in mobile data and a further seven were running pilots.

Only four forces did not regard themselves as active in any area of mobile data. By 2006 over 10,000 devices had been implemented across the UK with a narrowing of choice of technology: 7,322 radio handsets (sending and receiving data); 6,643 mobile data terminals; 3,633 BlackBerrys; 2,550 PDAs; and 1,447 laptops.

Two forces were in the position where they expected virtually all of their front line officers to have access to some form of mobile device before the end of 2007. Indeed by 2006, approximately 75% of the UK services had active developments and applications in mobile data. While progress in some areas was slow police services across the UK were moving forward with mobile information.

The Public Accounts Committee has argued that ‘… the Programme has resulted in significant system-wide variation, in: the number of devices in use, (some forces have no devices, whereas others have sufficient for all officers and supporting staff); the amount of business change activity undertaken; and, the amount of additional efficiency savings made on top of the additional officer time spent out of the station. This variation has limited the amount of cash and efficiency savings resulting from the £71m invested’.

The reality seems to be that the variation was in the policing system before the implementation of the Mobile Information Programme. The variation can be linked to different strategic objectives, different business needs, different legacy systems, different technological capabilities and hence different suppliers. They also had different approaches to the information made available and the manner of interaction with in house and national systems.

AIMTech argue that by 2008 many of the key forces weren’t naive consumers of an NPIA policy, but instead had identified where they saw potential benefits and challenges that mobile data offered. Significantly they had also identified and cemented strategic relationships with sets of suppliers and had moved some way towards building a mobile information infrastructure.

Equally, before the Home Office investment police service CIOs and senior officers had indicated that the diverse nature of Forces and their legacy systems would mean that a one–size-fits-all technological solution wouldn’t work.

Rather than seeing diversity as a negative issue we would argue that the very diversity in implementations at this stage was a positive factor which drove the competitive market, rapid innovation and benefited both the police services and technology developers.

The two reports point to the lack of uptake in mobile data in some forces as a failure. However, we would argue that uptake was much higher than the reports indicate (as discussed above). Not investing, however, should not be seen as a failure, indeed, for many forces this was a sensible strategic decision. Mobile data for many forces was seen as an extension of the existing infrastructure and the pilots and proof of concepts that they had implemented prior to 2008 had highlighted to them the problems they faced with allowing further wireless access to the system.

As one CIO reported to us after implementing a proof of concept in his force:

‘…I could never support a full roll out on our current infrastructure. Some of this is creaking under the load at the moment and if I raise expectations by trialling mobile kit  I’d either have to back off and effectively say to officers “nice isn’t it; but you can’t have it”, or spend a lot of money we haven’t got.’

Early mobile data implementation in forces had also highlighted the need for expensive and time consuming change in work practices and business processes to successfully reap the higher level benefits of the use of the technology. Significant cultural change was also needed to combat early user resistance and training to ensure that officers made best use of the technology. The cost of this was seen as very significant, far outstripping the cost of the devices and a resource which would have to be locally rather than centrally provided.

The Public Accounts Committee concluded that: ‘Only one in five forces has used the technology effectively to improve their operational processes’. We do not recognise this figure. Many of the leading forces that we visited invested heavily in business process change aligned to the deployment of mobile data. Equally the deployment of technology in many forces led to the development of new work practices and processes which were rapidly absorbed into routine activity.

For example, while many officers and police services saw the benefit of using basic applications (such as email or a web browser) for communication within the force, across the criminal justice system or with members of the community, this was limited in many forces by limited access to computing devices. Provision of low cost mobile devices either from force funds or via the Mobile Information Programme allowed wider access to these basic services and this form of mobile data is now essential to modern policing.

In terms of overt business process change or re-engineering many forces were taking a sensible approach of focusing on improvement of operational process and systems or ‘modernisation’ before considering the implementation of mobile services.

These forces recognised that the total cost of ownership was a more significant issue than the cost of devices and had a strategic vision for policing in which mobile data was one element of the technology mix which allowed them to achieve this vision. Indeed, a degree of caution for some forces seems a sensible and pragmatic response.

Know what you value

The focus of both reports seems to be firmly on cashable savings and indeed points to the NPIA Mobile Information programme objectives: to increase efficiency and effectiveness, and to reduce bureaucracy. While cost reduction may have been one of the overt objectives of the programme it is clear that the primary focus was on increasing visibility of police officers on the street, which will not realise any cashable savings. Individual forces had already identified benefit areas which were, for them, of greater significance than cash savings.

The picture we have seen build up over time related to benefits identification, in fact, has been quite a positive one. Broadly, benefits have been achieved in back-office processes, in the service provided to those who come into contact with the police, and for the officers who make use of the technologies in their daily lives and work.

The focus of the forces has not necessarily been solely on increasing productivity and in many cases greater emphasis has been placed on quality of service. In one force we visited, for example, while it was clear that the technology had reduced the time the officers needed to be in the station this was valued by both senior officers and by the rank and file, not only because it made them more productive, but also because it allowed officers to be more visible and have better contact with their communities.

In another service we visited a neighbourhood officer noted that the technology supported him in engaging with the community.

‘If we have a bit more time out of the station then we have a bit more time to talk to people. Talking to people is a lot of this job anyway, it’s what we do, but I suppose that there is a tendency to talk to the same people. They’re the ones who you see either because they’re the nuisance kids or they’re the shopkeepers. They’re the ones you come into contact with and a bit more time maybe just means the ability to say good morning to somebody in passing and at least they’ve seen you, they perhaps notice that we are there.’

The use of mobile technology also allowed better information at the point of use allowing officers to make more informed decisions and improve productivity. Officers could access systems and undertake checks on individuals, crimes and vehicles which would not have been undertaken if access was via the radio system or in-station resources.

An example of this was provided by an officer who noted:

‘I make a practice now of checking those people ejected from the football stadium. We used to just take a name and address, take it on trust, but the sort of people who cause trouble at a football match are probably the sort of people who cause trouble in other places too. It’s just that before [access to mobile data] the radio would have been busy and so you wouldn’t have done it.’

We also noted improved data collection and management. The quality of the data gathered was higher and was available for analysis and use almost instantaneously by other teams within the force; it also eliminated data re-entry and delays in processing within key systems.

Remote access to systems also allowed officers significantly increased quality and quantity of information. While this is difficult to quantify, the benefits of the force being able to push out information (such as colour picture of a child missing from home) or of the officers being able to pull information from systems or communicate via e-mail, are self-evident.

A striking example of this is the influence of the technology on improved safety for officers as a result of better intelligence and information. We noted numerous examples of situations where the technology allowed officers to access information and more informed decisions.

One female officer noted:

“Last week I went to a job and at the address there was a sex offender who preyed on adult females. I was single crewed and nobody told me this before I went in. I only knew because I looked and checked on my PDA before I went in.”

We also noted improved ability to identify individuals leading to significant time savings and improvement in the image of police officers and the police as a group, as a result of the ability to access and deliver information for the people they come into contact with.

‘Sometimes when you deal with people they’re upset and it doesn’t inspire confidence if you have to say that you’ll go away and find things out. They wonder if you will. With this you can move things on and you can tell them. ‘I’ve done this’, rather than “I will do this”,’ said one officer.

Police forces are very different in their information technology landscape, in their business processes and in the communities they serve. This difference means that police forces have selected and used quite different technologies to support their officers and fulfil their business needs. Making use of these quite diverse technologies they have been able to provide tailored solutions to their individual policing situations and priorities and have been able to deliver a range of benefits across a number of different constituencies.

Understand how it should be measured

We are concerned that the Committee placed undue emphasis on the reliability of the figures provided by the National Audit Office. The Committee stated that: 

“During our hearing the Department claimed that the Programme would deliver around £500m cashable savings.[30] Subsequently the Department provided a note to say that it actually estimated £125m cashable savings; arising from process efficiencies in areas such as crime recording and issuing fixed penalty notices.[31] However, the 32 forces who responded to the National Audit Office survey only reported total cashable savings of around £600,000 (annually) from 2011-12.’

The National Audit Office’s Survey Data was incomplete with the financial data being provided to them by the forces in different formats and some of the data not being provided in a usable form. Extrapolation from an incomplete sample of forces where each force varies so considerably in size is deeply problematic. Given the problems with the efficacy of the data the quotation of the £600,000 saving seems problematic.

We would also question the duration of time expected for the cashable savings to be calculated. The generalisability of a calculation of cashable savings for 2011-12 from a programme that calculated its benefits realisation over a ten year investment cycle (by March 2008) is questionable. In our experience cashable benefits realisation does not occur in a linear manner.

In terms of where the benefits were measured most of the focus of the Audit Office report seems to be on ‘frontline’ officers. Measurement of benefit just in terms of activity by the users may miss secondary and tertiary effects of mobile technology and what we refer to as the ‘ripple effect’, whereby the introduction of technology leads to several intended and unintended consequence in other areas of the police work.

Thus, for example, while it may take a front-line officer longer to input data into a PDA the quality of the data input is significantly increased in terms of accuracy, currency and format of the data collected. The benefit may, therefore, be noted not in the frontline but in increased capability elsewhere and reduction of costs in, for example, back office information processing.

The second point is that while the NPIA and Government placed some emphasis on cashable savings for many Police Forces these were not a key priority. In some forces increases in productivity or reduction in cost were not seen as cashable (leading directly to reduction of frontline staff) but instead were translated into improved service quality.

Equally, as discussed above, forces saw benefits from the mobile data in terms of attitude (image of the Force, value placed on staff), officer safety (less injuries, less dangerous situations, better knowledge of risks) and new capabilities (such as checks when they would not have been done or the sharing of images).

The third point is that in contrast with the National Audit Office Report in our work with forces we have seen significant investment by police services in quantitative measurement of business value. These range from the utilisation of existing force key performance indicators or by utilising the mobile technology to monitor change in officer behaviour (using, for example, in car or person based GPS). The forces, however, have measured processes and work activity that they value rather than those imposed from central government.

The fourth point that we wish to raise is that while the number of devices seems to have been focused on as a key performance indicator (with the target of getting a further 30,000 devices out) for many forces this was irrelevant. As one CIO noted:

‘It’s not that the PDA itself can reduce bureaucracy. Yes, if the PDA does change things, if the systems are right, it will reduce bureaucracy; but if you’re just making a mobile version of the systems in place then that will not.’

The final issue is the difficulty attached to the problem of untangling the technology from process change. When you change the process and gain efficiency changes and this is enabled by the use of technology where do you attribute the benefit: to the technology or to the change in process?

In some forces this was overcome by focusing on the shift in the process change (for example, modernisation) against the force key performance indicators rather than attributing a change in performance directly to the mobile data terminal.

In many of the leading innovators mobile data has now been embedded into routine activity. They have deployed the technology and have seen considerable benefits. While many of them may find it difficult to articulate the benefit in terms of cashable savings they could not now function as efficiently without the technology.

Indeed, mobile technology is an indispensable element of modern day policing and provides a platform for new generations of applications such as social media. Rather than evaluating the influence of the NPIA Mobile Information Programme against a limited set of criteria, it may be more effective to establish how the programme influenced the uptake and direction of mobile data. Our research points to the programme supporting forces to attain significant benefits; encouraging innovation; and speeding up the implementation of mobile data in the UK.

In understanding how police services use mobile data it would perhaps be more effective to talk to and observe officers using the technology, to meet with the forces to understand how and why they deployed mobile data and how they judged the success of the technology.

The benefits we have identified in this article by doing this, however, may not be the benefits that suit a particular central government perspective.

The authors are: Dr David Allen, Dr Stan Karanasios and Dr Alistair Norman from the AIMTech Research Group in Leeds University Business School, University of Leeds.(www.aimtech.org).

This article is based on evidence gathered from over 30 studies undertaken in police services across the UK from 1998 onwards. These have included longitudinal qualitative studies of single forces, national surveys and comparative studies.

Data in this paper has been drawn from the following sources:

Allen, D.K., Norman, A., Wilson, T.D, Knight, C (2004) Mobile data systems in Police Forces in England and Wales Report Produced for the Police Information Technology Organisation February 2004 pp1-88

Allen, D.K., Norman, A., Wilson, T.D (2006) National Mobile Data Survey Produced for the Police Information Technology Organisation July pp1-78

Norman, A (2009) The effects of mobile technologies on the work of front-line police officers in a UK Police Force. PHD Thesis

Leeds University Qualitative data used in this report was gathered as an element of the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded project An Investigation into Information Behaviour and the Use of Mobile Information Systems for Information Management in Police Forces in England and Wales, Grant No. 119261

Allen, D. K (2011) Information Behaviour and Decision Making in Time Constrained Practice: A Dual-Processing Perspective. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (62)11, 2165-2181

Allen, D. & S. Karanasios (2011), Critical Factors and Patterns in the Innovation Process. Policing (Oxford): a journal policy and practice, 5(1): p. 87-97

Allen, D.K., Wilson, T.D., Norman, A.W.T. and Knight, C. (2008).  Information on the move: the use of mobile information systems by UK police forces. Information Research, 13(4), paper 378. (Paper presented at ISIC 2008  Villnius, Lithuania 16-19 September 2008 and published by the conference organisers in Information Research)
[Available at http://informationr.net/ir/13-4/paper378.html]

Allen, D.K. and Shoard, M. (2005). Spreading the load: mobile information and communications  technologies and their effect on information overload. Information Research, 10(2) paper 227
[Available at http://InformationR.net/ir/10-2/paper227.html]

Allen, D. K. and Wilson, T.D. (2004) Action, interaction and the role of ambiguity in the introduction of mobile information systems in a UK police force. In Lawrence, E, Pernici, B., Krogstie, J Mobile Information Systems: IFIP TC8 Working Conference on Mobile Information Systems. (pp. 14-37)  New York, NY: Springer.

Public Sector Nomads ran two Mobile Local Government Events over the summer (Leeds, 19 July and London, 20 September). Both workshops were a mix of presentation and discussion and the feedback from delegates was excellent. The days began by considering the disruptive impact of digital technologies and the changes taking place in society that could prove to be as significant as the industrial revolution of the past.

Presentations followed on specific mobile and flexible working implementations and speakers candidly shared lessons learned.

Discussions at Leeds led to a call for more information on the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) issue and on security and the Code of Connection. A colleague from Gateshead subsequently shared BYOD documentation (accessible on the site) and speakers were secured for  London to specifically address both of these points.

Read more about the events and access all of the resources, including presentations and supporting documentation, HERE.

Call for automatic right to work flexibly

Source : Age UK

 

 

Every worker should be able to do their job flexibly unless a business can justify otherwise, according to a new Age UK report.

Age UK calls for more flexible working in ‘A Means to Many Ends‘[pdf], its report into the impact and availability of flexible working in the UK.

Age UK believe that an important way to unleash the full potential of Britain’s older workers, many of whom are unable to work conventional hours because of caring responsibilities and the need to balance other personal issues with work, is to change the UK’s traditional and more rigid approach to work.

These changes, the charity says, would enable older people to use their years of experience to contribute to the economy and extend their working lives. This would also de-stigmatise flexible working and encourage employers to examine how the practice could benefit their organisation.

Call for automatic right to flexible working

As part of this culture change, Age UK is also calling for all new and prospective employees to automatically have the right to request flexible working. Currently they must wait until 26 weeks in the job before making a request.

Angela Williams, Human Resources Director at British Gas, and Sarah Jackson OBE, Chief Executive of Working Families were among the speakers responding to the report at its launch at the QE2 centre in London.

Age UK’s Charity Director General, Michelle Mitchell said, “With their skills and knowledge, older workers are an invaluable asset to the UK economy. Yet, far too many people aged 50 and over are locked out of the job market because they are unable to work conventional hours, often because they have to care for a relative or have health issues.”

“In these tough economic times when the UK needs to make the most of its resources, it is just common sense for the Government and employers to embrace flexible working.”

735,000 people aged 50+ want to work but economically inactive

According to Age UK’s report, there are currently nearly 900,000 people in the UK working past the age of 64 and nearly 8 million people aged 50-64 who are economically active. But a further 735,000 people aged 50 and over want to work but are economically inactive. Factors including the UK’s ageing population, rising State Pension age and poor private pension return, mean in the future this number is likely to get even bigger.

While the Government has abolished the default retirement age, it needs to go further to create an environment that enables older workers to stay in the labour market.

Age UK’s flexible working report – ‘A Means to Many Ends’

Age UK’s report examines the extent and need for flexible working in the UK among older people and contains new analyses of the Labour Force Survey.

Major findings include:

• 38 per cent of those in employment aged 50 plus worked flexibly in 2010 up from 30 per cent in 2005. But the figures hide the lack of flexible working in various industries.
• Older workers in the public sector are most likely to work flexibly.
• People in lower supervisory and routine jobs are less likely to be granted flexible working than those in managerial or professional roles.
• As these findings suggest, flexible working is still not widely accepted as an option across the labour market.
• Carers are less likely to be able to access flexible working options than other groups, for example those coming back from maternity leave.
• 25 per cent of carers under the age of 70 report that caring responsibilities affect their work. Of these, 39 per cent left employment altogether.
• There are particular barriers at the recruitment phase especially for those who are unemployed and need to be able to work flexibly from the outset.

Download Age UK’s report into flexible working – ‘A Means to Many Ends’

 

 

Image by Kim Scarborough via Flickr

With schools going back this week, it’s business as usual on the roads for Britain’s commuters. But new research commissioned by Regus, the world’s largest provider of flexible workplaces, suggests that many employers are finally freeing staff from the daily commute, with two in five professionals (39%) able to work from locations other than the company’s main offices for at least half the week. This helps them reduce the cost and stress of with commuting and reclaim the hours lost in limbo between their work and home lives.

The 2500-strong poll found that this new flexible workstyle benefits employers as well as staff. Over two fifths (43%) of workers report that they put in longer hours when they don’t have to commute, highlighting the link between flexible location and productivity. 67% of workers also say they spend more time with their partner and family and 60% spend more time exercising and getting fitter.

However, many workers’ aspirations to reduce the frequency of their commute are still thwarted by employer attitudes. 28% cited “company culture” as the main reason for single location working, implying the perceived need to be seen at their desk. This is despite the fact that a full half of respondents report that they have all the tools and technology they need to work anywhere.

Flexible working has hit the headlines over the Games as thousands of workers avoid travel into the Capital, but it is noticeable that many firms in the South East have focused their contingency plans on home working. However, this is often an unpopular and impractical option for staff. Many people miss the social interaction of the office and the clear separation of their professional and personal lives. Previous research has shown that less than 10% of professionals actually want to work from home[1].

For the two in five professionals who are genuine flexible workers, it seems that the key to success is having a choice of ‘third places’ – neither their home nor their office – such as local business centres, libraries and co-working hubs that allow them to avoid domestic distractions without a commute.

Steve Purdy, UK Managing Director at Regus comments: “September signals the return to normal traffic levels for commuters across the country and I’m sure many will spend their journey this week wishing they could work closer to home. Fortunately the number of professionals that are now able to choose between different work locations is substantial, although too many firms equate flexible working with home working. We are seeing a growing number of workers – from small business owners to executives of global corporations – working several days a week at their local Regus centre to avoid commuting to their company offices and to have a refreshing break in their normal routine.

“Congestion is reported to be one of the major sources of stress,[2] so it is very significant that workers reveal that the time saved on commuting would be spent on health and wellbeing activities such as getting fitter at the gym and spending time with family. Confirming previous Regus research linking happier and healthier workers to greater productivity, more than half of professionals say they devote at least some of the time saved on gruelling commutes to working more. So the benefits of flexible working are twofold, on the one hand workers are more relaxed and healthy and on the other they are also more productive benefitting the business too.”

One example of a firm that strives to minimise commuting for its management and staff is Portsmouth-based business and education consultancy, The IBD Partnership.

Raja Ali, CEO, comments: “I know from personal experience that commuting is a mental and physical drain, and one that easily knocks work-life balance out of kilter and saps productivity. So with our staff we try to be flexible and work where, when and how it suits us to get the job done most effectively – whether that’s at home, in the office, at the local Regus centre or on the move. In my business, we no longer have a fixed desk for each member of staff, where they work all day every day.”

[1] “Why Place Still Matters in the Digital Age”, ZZA Responsive User Environments, October 2011

[2] http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/blog/index.php/2012/05/16/stress-and-the-city-commuting-woes-causeing-urbanitis/

Commuters wanting to catch up on the latest episodes of BBC programmes on the way to work will be able to download BBC iPlayer content to their mobile phones or tablets.

According to the BBC, the app update will initially be for iOS devices and will offer a 30-day window for watching downloaded content.

Previously, the app required a 3G or Wi-Fi connection to be able to watch catch-up content, making watching content on the move challenging.

“You can now load up your mobile phone or tablet with hours and hours of BBC television programmes”

“With mobile downloads for BBC iPlayer, you can now load up your mobile phone or tablet with hours and hours of BBC television programmes, then watch them on the road, on the tube, on a plane, without worrying about having an internet connection or running up a mobile data bill,” said Daniel Danker, general manager of Programmes and On-Demand for the BBC.

Once a program is started, viewers will have seven days to finish watching the show. The app can be downloaded in full or upgraded from the iTunes App Store.

The initial services will be for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, but an Android app including the download option will be available soon, the BBC said.

“We are working on Android,” said BBC digital rights staffer Andrew Livingston in his Twitter feed. “We started both at the same time. At one point it looked like Android might have shipped first.”