Three-quarters of office workers want flexible working over Christmas

With Christmas fast approaching, spending time with the family is essential for many office workers. Recent research from an online security label manufacture can reveal that over 75% would like more flexibility with their work over this period.
Seareach.plc.uk surveyed over 3,000 office based staff to find out if they wanted to change the way they worked in the run-up to Christmas. It asked: “Would you like to have more flexible working over the Christmas period?” Overwhelmingly 75% of respondents answered that they would.
It then asked those who wanted more flexible working what they would prefer to do: “Would you prefer to have the option to work from home or have flexi-hours over the Christmas period?” The results were an almost-even split between 51% wanting the opportunity to work from home and 49% the chance to work flexible hours.
Speaking about the study, Stuart Jailler at Seareach commented: “Our research this year has shown that a lot of office based staff would like the option to work from home, not only to save time and money, avoiding the commute but also to be able to spend more time with their families. This most recent study shows how important spending time with family is especially over Christmas.”
He added: “If companies can look at allowing flexible working hours and the option for staff to work from home, especially at busy periods such as Christmas, it can make for a more productive office environment because staff will be happier and more focused. We also know there are concerns for employers, such as security issues, fairness, lack of teamwork, productivity and perceived poor reflection, but there are ways to combat these concerns.”

Tips for successful flexible and remote working staff

Communication

The key to success in any job and any situation is communication, but when it comes to remote working and flexible working, it’s even more important. Employees should ensure they check in with their manager and team members to inform them of not only their working hours and availability but keeping them up to date with their work regularly, which is something which is employee-led. However, management can provide tools such as apps to track work completed and hours undertaken.

Tools

Reliable technology is important; there are some apps available to help employees work cohesively no matter where they are:
●        Slack
●        Trello
●        Team Week
●        Skype
Reliable tools such as laptops, home computers and consistent WiFi are also important; you need to make sure remote workers have suitable set-ups at home or remote, including security.

Security

In the post GDPR world, security has never been a higher concern for businesses with remote workers. There are some things you can do to reduce the risk of data being lost or breached with employees working from home:
●        Strong password and log-in procedures.
●        Use encrypted emails, restrict some remote access and ring-fence data where necessary.
●        Avoid the use of public computers and WiFi.
●        Use asset label tracking for devices.
●        Regular update of security protection and software monitoring.
As the way employees want to work changes, employers can help their staff find the right work-life balance and avoid a negative impact on their business.
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