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Anyone thinking of developing a Smarter Ways of Working strategy should consider the following issues:
Cost
The cost of equipping a member of staff to work full time at home includes:
| Desk |
£300 |
| Chair |
£100 |
| Computer |
£300 |
| Total |
£700, allow depreciation over 5 years of £140 pa |
| Allowance* |
£150 pa (for additional heat, power etc) |
| Internet |
£240 pa |
| Telephone |
£150 pa |
| Total |
£680 per year |
The cost of providing a workstation within an office also includes a desk, chair and computer, although the home-based requirements may be non-standard.
The question of space costs depends on the organisation’s existing provision. There may be no saving if there is abundant office space freely available, but if there is a question of new provision, (buy or rent), then each employee is generally factored in with a need for 6 square metres (allowing for movement and facilities).
Thus if the organisation is planning to rent, with office accommodation @ £15 per square metre, there is a saving per head per year of £90.
If new build is required, excluding the cost of land, the average cost is £1,500 per square metre, resulting is a saving of £9,000 per person.
A case study by Actium Consult on downsizing the specification for a new council building based on flexible working is available on the following link http://www.actiumconsult.co.uk/news_detail.php?news_id=2
Service improvement
Innovation can range from high-tech solutions through to simple improvements in work organisation enabled by flexible attendance patterns.
http://www2.bt.com/static/i/media/pdf/yorkshire_water_cs.pdf
The BT case study shows the progressions from ‘call’ centres to ‘contact’ centres to integrate service delivery with customer needs.
Employee engagement
The 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey received some 22,000 responses. It confirms that part-time workers and those on flexible contracts are often more committed than other staff.
http://www.wers2004.info/research/primaryanalysis.php
Flexible working supports improved work-life balance, enhancing productivity and reducing turnover. Sixty-eight per cent of employers surveyed by the CIPD reported that the opportunity to work flexibly has had a positive effect on employee attitudes and morale.
The cost incurred through someone leaving the organisation includes:
- Loss of service during the vacancy period, or the additional cost of supply/agency cover. (Note that this can be mitigated by creating your own bank of supply staff.)
- The cost of advertising. At the lowest level of press advertising costs will be a minimum of £450 per post, although exclusive web-based recruitment can reduce this figure. The high-end cost can run to £10,000 if national Sunday papers are involved, or £30,000 for search consultants. A ‘normal’ cost is around £1,700 per post.
- Loss of knowledge plus loss of time required to induct new employees, both of which have a negative impact on service.
Wrexham Council found the introduction of flexible working options generated significant reductions in sickness and in staff turnover. Click here to see the case study.
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