Flexible working can beat the recession
HUMAN resources professionals are being urged to embrace flexible working practices as a way of combating the recession.
The advice follows the latest gathering of the HR Directors Forum held at DLA Piper in Leeds, which saw Flexworks UK founder Vivienne Duke and Trevor Higgins, partnership director for BT in Yorkshire, talk about the benefits of flexible working.
Both advised that companies could reduce costs and retain their best staff by embracing flexible working practices.
Mr Higgins told delegates that he believed BT has achieved greater success as a result of its flexible approach.
“My attitude has always been that work is something you do, not somewhere you go, and the amount of technology we now have available to us means that you really can work anywhere,” he said.
“I believe that flexible – or agile working as I prefer to call it – has returned a 20% increase in productivity for our business, just by creating the right conditions.”
Ms Duke, whose company provides a specific resource for finding flexible or part-time jobs, said flexible working offered an ideal solution to lowering overheads.
“A lot of people think that cost cutting necessitates redundancies, but often these measures can be counterproductive because the business loses the skills it needs to succeed,” she continued.
“Giving staff the opportunity to work part-time or from home means that you can reduce your overheads whilst retaining your knowledge base.Equally, staff are often grateful for the opportunity to change their working patterns without having to leave a job they love.”
The HR Directors Forum has been running for more than 11 years as an independent arena for human resources leaders in Yorkshire to come together and discuss issues and ideas.
