April 25, 2007—According to annual research from Mitel, 37 percent of managers feel staff allowed to work from home would use working hours to carry out personal activities, such as taking a longer lunch, while 30% believe employees will use the time to arrange their social life.
However, two thirds (68%) of employees believe that by working from home they would actually take a more flexible approach to work, enabling them to be more productive (41%), and end up working longer hours (28%), according to the survey.
Data was gathered by Continental Research, and YouGovm with a sample of 1,200 managers and employees surveyed in January 2007 for Mitel’s annual teleworking survey.
The research reveals that nearly one in five (18%) employees would like the opportunity to work from home two days a week, and that over half (55%) believe it is an acceptable option for any level.
Reducing overheads, improving customer satisfaction, increasing productivity and staff retention are the core business benefits that stem from teleworking. However, firms are also starting to recognize that their environmental responsibilities can also be addressed, with teleworking helping to decrease congestion problems and cut carbon emissions.
Mitel is a leading provider of unified communications solutions and services for business customers. For more information, visit the Web site.
