Surviving the Credit Crunchwith Smarter Working

Tony Corbin – Project ManagerMATiSSE

(Mobile And Teleworking Initiative for a Smarter South East)

What is ‘Smarter Working?

- Occasional (or permanent) Teleworking (e.g. home, remote and collaborative working (e.g. incl smarter-work centre based)

– Flexible Working (e.g. incl. flexitime/staggered hours working)– Smarter-Travel (e.g. incl. less peak-time and more sustainable

travel (e.g. Car Share/Clubs & travel plans/web & video conferencing)

– More sustainable office and home working practices (e.g. energy, waste, water)

– Effective utilisation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) (including for team member and document access)

Smarter Ways to ‘weather the storm’

• Productivity (and wellbeing) • Office based staff are twice as likely to be absent from work as remote

working staff • Remote working staff will typically be 20% more productive/more loyal• R&D, Performance Measurement

2. Reduce Travel Costs –• Less Business Travel - occasional use of audio/web/video conferencing; car

share/car clubs; • Smarter commuting • 40% of car mileage; contributes 19.7 million tonnes per annum to UK CO2; ‘Each

on-site parking space costs £2k PA (NBTN)

3. Reduce Office Costs • Workstation space total cost of ownership in SE = circa £5,500 <Actium Consult>

• Introduce more flexible, variable-hours remote/home/work centre based working. • Reduce Carbon Footprint – Office space accounts for 50% of UK CO2 emissions

More Downturn Smarter Working Choices

• Share (don’t downsize) your people – each redundancy (CIPD) average cost £16,375!

• Reduce working hours• Share under-utilised work-space with partners or

neighbour businesses – average building utilisation = 50%– Buildings can contribute 50% to CO2 emissions

• Put money in YOUR and employee pockets through home- based and local work-centre utilisation

• Develop Skills (e.g. T2G ‘Business Leader Grants’)

• Improve performance and service levels (innovate)

In Troubled Times Smarter Working is even more vital…

• Retain Key Skills• Preserve income• Reduce costs• Competitiveness• Recovery readiness• Reduce Travel/cost of congestion• Waste/water/energy/fuel cost reduction

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Smarter Working Benefits for Employers• Improved output (Productivity gains of 15 to 25%)

• Reduced costs (e.g. office accommodation (~ 25%) or expand without additional accommodation cost!)

• Reduced absence levels (~ 20%)• Attract and retain the best staff (Reduce staff

turnover by ~ 25%)

• Increased reach and hours business available to clients (ICT enabled smarter-working incl e-commerce, VOIP telephony, use of hot-spots/e-work centres)

Smarter Working Benefits for employees

• Better work-life balance • Family (carer) friendly• Improved health and well-being (less in

the way of stress) • Reduced travel and work day hours• Money in your pocket• Greater job satisfaction (feel valued)

Appropriate Technology

• PC/Laptop/PDA? (usage/duration of use)

• Affordable (not always the cheapest)

• Robust (leading not bleeding edge, satisfied customers)

• Support (SLA backed, min 7 to 7 support window)

• Secure (SPAM, Virus, Firewall, Backed-up)

• Ease of use (ideally same as office interface)

• Web Based shared resources (Email, Document and List Management, calendar, conferencing. . and Instant Messaging)

• Telephony (Follow-me single number (incl VOIP/VPN solutions)

Smarter Working Readiness Checklist

Business Goal/driver Measuring outputs not attendance Skills in place to manage/communicate/motivate

effectively Work conducive, H&S compliant, energy efficient,

home-office environment Updated policy and procedures Tax and Benefits implications understood Appropriate technology/support in place Eligibility (incl. For employees, who pays for what) Suitability (roles, tasks and people) Training Provision (Continuous Professional Development)

Smarter Working Useful on-line Resources

• www.ehampshire.org/matisse• www.businesslink.gov.uk • www.enterprisenation.com• www.hmrc.gov.uk • www.flexibility.co.uk• www.homeworker-cafe.co.uk• www.careerathome.co.uk• http://www.berr.gov.uk/employment

Smarter and Home Working What Will it Cost? What will you save?

Who is Saving Money?

Local SMEs:• Taylor Made Computer Services (Fareham)

• MaCallister Elliott (Lymington) • Real World Trust (IOW)

• Cobweb Solutions (Fareham)

• Focal Point Training (Shedfield)

• Business Link Hampshire & IOW (Fareham)

• CAL and 247 (Virtual)

• Glasshouse Studios (Fordingbridge)

Business Driver = Strategic Accommodation Review

• Flexible and Mobile Working Board

• Ten Year Programme (eventually incorporating partners and other Local Authorities)

First flexible accommodation:

• 50% less energy consumption

• Caters for twice no. of staff

• Local working potential

• 50% + are Smarter Working

• Alternative Commute incentives

Smarter Working Examples

Questions?

Download the slides from:http://www.ehampshire.org/downloads.asp

Thank You!

Smarter Working in Difficult Times