April 21, 2003—UK businesses are not doing enough to meet the demand for better offices and more flexible working arrangements for staff, according to new research.
Nearly four in ten of the 1,200 managers surveyed by the Chartered Management Institute are concerned that their offices do not make a good impression on clients and visitors. They also say that floorspace is not being used efficiently, with 70% reporting unused desks or offices at any one time.
The research, co-sponsored by serviced office provider MWB BusinessExchange, also found 82% of managers agreeing that companies will increasingly seek to reduce their property and office costs. This, the researchers say, suggests that organizations must think more carefully about the need to offer flexible working arrangements to staff.
Even though managers questioned would like to work in better-equipped offices, they also want to spend more time away from them: 59% would prefer a compressed working week (eg four days of ten hours), which is currently in place in just 13% of the organizations in the survey. Moreover, although the impact of new technology has been huge, with eight in ten managers describing e-mail and personal computers as being essential to their job, only one third of employers make provision for their managers to work remotely through providing home or roaming links and equipment.
If more widely adopted, remote working would be a boon for the 32% of managers (rising to 62% in London) who spend more than one hour per day travelling to and from work.
“The need for greater flexibility in terms of working methods, patterns and environments is a complex challenge facing management today and echoes our own experience as providers of workspace solutions,” commented David Walker, business development director at MWB. “There is still significant progress to be made before ‘UK plc’ enjoys a truly productive working environment—one which will support both the needs of the individual and the organization,” he added.
—Elliott Chase
Reprinted with permission; copyright 2003 i-FM
