Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Latest News

Lack of monitoring know-how keeps flexible working on sidelines

by Personnel Today 18 Aug 2004
by Personnel Today 18 Aug 2004

More
than 90 per cent of HR directors think employees are more likely to skive off
if they work from home, according to new research.

The
survey of more than 300 companies on the benefits of flexible working
demonstrates HR directors’ apparent ambivalence towards flexible working.

When
asked about the benefits, HR directors cited greater productivity (47 per
cent), reduced stress (62 per cent), higher workforce motivation (60 per cent)
and happier workers (50 per cent).

However,
while recognising the benefits, it seems they are unwilling to put flexible
working into practice for fear that staff will prove untrustworthy and
unreliable.

Chris
Harris, managing director of business communications provider Inter-Tel, which
commissioned the research, said: "This schizophrenic attitude towards
flexible working seems to stem from the fact that HR directors are unaware of
how to track the way flexi-workers spend their time.

"When
asked how they would monitor the performance and productivity of flexi-workers,
18 per cent said they had no idea,” he said.

The
survey also revealed that organisations think flexible working would require
too much business process re-engineering or a change in company culture. A
fifth of HR directors also believe managing remote employees would be too
difficult.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Harris
added: "In reality most companies already have the technology on site.
They just don’t have the know-how or time to exploit it."

By Mike Berry

Personnel Today

Personnel Today articles are written by an expert team of award-winning journalists who have been covering HR and L&D for many years. Some of our content is attributed to "Personnel Today" for a number of reasons, including: when numerous authors are associated with writing or editing a piece; or when the author is unknown (particularly for older articles).

previous post
T&G considers new offer from BA in pay dispute
next post
Employers miss a trick by missing off pensions in job ads

You may also like

Postmasters could take ownership of Post Office

14 Jul 2025

Ethnicity and disability pay gaps: Ready to report?...

14 Jul 2025

Manager dismissed after covert recording with HR wins...

14 Jul 2025

Food sector warned it is facing a workforce...

14 Jul 2025

Gregg Wallace investigation: 45 allegations upheld

14 Jul 2025

Black TV professionals’ experiences of racism are rife,...

14 Jul 2025

Steep reduction in recruitment in June

14 Jul 2025

Two-thirds drink to cope with work stress and...

14 Jul 2025

Why online training won’t help reduce sexual harassment

14 Jul 2025

Three-quarters more likely to stay with employer who...

14 Jul 2025

  • Empower and engage for the future: A revolution in talent development (webinar) WEBINAR | As organisations strive...Read more
  • Empowering working parents and productivity during the summer holidays SPONSORED | Businesses play a...Read more
  • AI is here. Your workforce should be ready. SPONSORED | From content creation...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+