Mobile working is an important tool in attracting and retaining staff, but
senior managers’ distrust of their employees is limiting its application.
A new survey of 100 UK organisations by Fujitsu Services, reveals that
mobile working has a significant effect on a company’s appeal, but few choose
to implement it.
The research finds that only 27 per cent had high expectations of attracting
personnel through mobile working, but after implementation, this rose to 67 per
cent.
Nigel Brocklehurst, UK HR director of Vodafone, said offering the option of
mobile working made a big impact on a company’s brand, and could aid the
recruitment process and increase the morale of existing staff.
However, Frances Wilson, international manager of the Chartered Institute of
Personnel Development, said that while mobile working was seen as an essential
tool at executive level, distrust of employees below the board limited its use.
"What directors can see, they can control," she said. "For
mobile working to work, it is important there are good relationships between
managers and staff, and that good performance management systems are in
place."
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Eric Smart, chief executive of Smart Human Logistics, said mobile working
was harder when directors could not immediately measure the output of staff
working outside the office environment.
"It requires a leap of faith from directors, but it is a bridge they
will have to cross eventually," he said. "At the end of the day, it
is the managers who carry the can if there is under-performance."
