HR professionals are scared of embracing flexible working – fearing it will
kill off their careers.
In a major study by Flexecutive and the Chartered Institute of Marketing,
nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of marketing and HR professionals say they
would like to take up the flexible work opportunities their companies offer,
but think doing so will stop their career dead in its tracks.
Flexecutive’s managing director, Carol Savage, said until something is done
about the career progression barrier, flexible working will continue to be
dismissed as something mothers opt for when sacrificing their careers for their
children.
"This research definitively shows that although more people want to
work flexibly – and this doesn’t necessarily mean part-time working, but more
flexi-time and flexi-place – they’re genuinely concerned about what this will
do to their careers," she said.
Savage said that for employee perceptions to change, there needs to be a
huge culture shift that measures people’s output as well as apparent input,
that embraces creative ways of using resources and doesn’t stifle new ways of
doing things by creating a career path only for those working long hours in the
office. She added that management must begin to adopt flexible policies.
The research shows that the types of flexible working that hold the most
appeal for staff are working core hours in the office and the remainder at home
or in their own time (52 per cent), home working (49 per cent), and working by
results not hours (39 per cent).
In a separate study, also out today, BT has calculated the benefits of its
flexible working programme to be worth around £39m per annum.
The company estimates that the 5,200 homeworkers BT employs generate £31m in
accommodation savings alone, while their increased productivity over
traditional office workers is worth another £4m.
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