Teleworking staff are not receiving the same level of training and
development as their office-bound colleagues, according to a survey of HR
professionals.
A quarter of organisations polled admit that remote workers do not receive
the same access to training and development opportunities, while almost half
said that homeworkers miss out on coaching and mentoring.
Almost two-thirds of the 159 HR professionals polled said that tele-workers
do not have the same secondment and cross-team working chances.
The Work Foundation report, The Psychological Contract, concludes that firms
risk losing homeworking staff through isolation and lack of opportunities.
It also shows that organisations do not value the psychological contract –
the relation- ship between the employer and staff – with only 13 per cent
having a specific strategy. Only 11 per cent see maintaining a healthy
psychological contract as a core business objective.
The survey shows that companies judge employee morale by measuring changes
in absence levels (81 per cent), retention rates (81 per cent) and staff
attitude surveys (49 per cent).
Jane Sullivan, occupational psychologist at the Work Foundation, believes
that organisations need to put more emphasis on their relationship with staff.
"Staff attitude surveys are useful for informing organisations about
the nature of the psychological contract – and can provide a real insight into
the expectations people have of their jobs and employers, as well as what they
are prepared to give in return."
By Paul Nelson
