Flexible working means a corporate culture shift

Mobile working is becoming an increasingly important part of working life, but all too often organisations simply provide employees with a bit of technology and forget to think about its social and cultural implications.

The ramifications can be significant, and have an impact not only on the staff but on how the business operates.

"Mobile working is drastically changing on a formal basis how people work," said Chris Ridgewell, a director of the Telework Association and the WiseWork consultancy.

"It's not just about chucking technology at it. It's about fundamental management changes, and changing how you measure performance."

According to think-tank the Work Foundation, more than one in five people in the UK enjoy some level of flexible or mobile working, but too many organisations are failing to plan strategically for the shift.

"An ad hoc approach can become a bit of a minefield," warned Nick Isles, associate director at the Work Foundation.

"It can become political and reinforce hierarchies that you don't want because it's seen as a privilege for a few valued staff members."

Nonetheless, there are clear business drivers for going down a controlled, more broad-based mobile working route. One of the primary motivations is cost benefit.

Productivity increases because staff are able to work wherever they happen to be located, even when travelling, and during hours that suit them. And a more mobile workforce offers the possibility of being able to downsize or relocate office accommodation to reduce outgoings.

But changing demographics, and pricing pressures from increased globalisation, are also compelling organisations to think more creatively about employment practices.

"More or less full employment is making a tight labour market, which means employers have to be innovative about recruitment," explained Isles.

"But by 2010, only one in five workers will be 25 to 45 year-old males, who have traditionally made up the bulk of the workforce. There will be more female and older people, and they'll want to do different hours and work in different ways."

So mobile working is becoming an increasing imperative to recruiting and retaining employees, allowing them to work more flexibly and to take more control of their lives.

Staff are able to introduce a more effective work/life balance, which has a positive effect on personal happiness and motivation, and, if the experience is handled correctly, they can also feel more valued.

"People who have tasted the new freedom in some senses feel a greater loyalty and commitment to their employer," said John Eary, a senior consultant at NCC Group.

"They feel they're being trusted and appreciated, but mobile working does have to be managed carefully."

This also applies to those not adopting flexible working styles and to line managers themselves. "People often have the suspicion that mobile workers aren't doing anything because they can't see them at their desks," explained Eary.

"But there's also the workload split, because office-based staff can end up taking their calls all the time because they're not in the office."

Some managers can even consider the physical absence of their workers as a threat. "If managers can't see their staff, they can feel that their influence and power base is being undermined," said John Blackwell, chief executive at consultants JBA Associates.

"It can also be very difficult for them to assert that influence and ensure team motivation by just using email, so it does require new ways of communicating."

Potential solutions may include arranging weekly team meetings at the office or a hotel, the circulation of weekly news bulletins or maintaining regular telephone contact.

But such mechanisms are essential to ensuring that communication doesn't break down, that workers don't feel unsupported or over-worked, and that managers don't feel out of the loop. And above all, a successful mobile working strategy requires a fundamental shift in management thinking.

The focus has to move away from counting the hours worked in the office to management by outputs, and many may find this change in emphasis difficult.

"It's a trust issue, and trust is the biggest inhibitor in the sense that it has to be built up. Many managers are nervous about staff not being at their desks from 9am to 5pm," said Eary.

"Even though productivity might not have been very high, at least the manager felt in control. But it's a very different management style to manage by outcomes and quality of outcomes."

Training is often essential to help managers deal with this steep learning curve as is the endorsement and sponsorship of a mobile working strategy from the highest levels of the organisation.

"For this to work, it has to be a top-down, cross-cutting approach. IT has an important role, as does the security manager," claimed Eary.

"Human resources will be involved because of health and safety issues and the fact that you could be talking about changing terms and conditions and the way people are compensated."

But the most important people of all to get on board, he concludes, are senior and line management "because if they don't buy into it, it's not going to happen".

CASE STUDY: Robert Myatt, Kaisen Consulting
"In the past, being out of the office was difficult because there were a lot of practical issues around the ability to keep on top of things," said Robert Myatt, managing consultant at Kaisen Consulting.

"But now with technology such as mobile phones and email, I can pretty much perform all the functions and tasks that I'd do in the office."

Kaisen is based in Bristol and employs business psychologists to help organisations undertake change management and develop leadership talent.

Myatt has worked for the company for five years because he feels that Kaisen's readiness to support mobile working allows him to achieve a flexible work/life balance.

He is frequently on the road at client meetings, and his partner lives in Brighton while he lives in Bristol, so mobile working allows him to occasionally work from her apartment.

"I can have a balance, because it would be difficult to sustain my relationship and work commitments and keep the two going if I didn't have the ability to not be in the office and still be working," he said.

"It makes me feel valued as an employee that the organisation is willing to accommodate my specific needs and recognise that quality of life is as important to me as quality of work."

On a practical level, having the tools to undertake mobile working has also increased his productivity levels.

"Mobile working has to be embraced from the top down. My performance is measured by output, not on time worked, because the belief is that humans work best if they are self-directed and are given the freedom to decide their own approach," said Myatt.

"That wouldn't work, however, for an organisation that bases performance around clock-watching."