Work Wise North East

Dec 3 2007 By The Journal

Work Wise North East is a pioneering campaign which aims to consign nine-to-five, five-days a week working to history - promoting smarter working practices, such as flexible working, mobile working, remote working and working from home.

Work Wise North East, launched in February 2007, is the first regional campaign to be set up based on the national Work Wise UK initiative.

Work Wise North East has attracted wide ranging support from leading organisations in the region including: TUC, One Northeast, Government Office North East, BT, Association of North East Councils, EEF Northern, North East Chamber of Commerce, Onyx Group, Nexus, Workplace Travel Plan Company, Dickinson Dees, RBLI, TUC, Equality North East and The Journal.

Flexible working is about throwing away the traditional nine-to-five mentality,allowing individuals the freedom to adopt their working hours to match domestic commitments. 

It's about balancing what the organisation needs, what employees need and deciding together what is best for all. 

Examples of flexible working include:

:: Compressed time
:: Job sharing
:: Home-based working
:: Accrual of hours
:: Flexitime

Research shows productivity can increase between 15% and 31% - productivity increases when motivated employees achieve a better work-life balance. It can also result in reduced overheads in areas such as property.

These days, to attract the best employees, organisations need to be seen as good employers. Flexible employers will have access to a more diverse range of skilled people to better match business needs.