Bosses are urged to be flexible friends

Jun 14 2007 By Chloe Griffiths, The Journal

The benefits of flexible working hours will be promoted to business leaders today.

Organisers of a region-wide campaign will be spelling out the advantages of smarter working practices to the heads of public sector organisations in a bid to encourage them to adopt them for their own workers.

The event is part of the Work Wise North East campaign which is calling on employers to implement more varied work practices in the region.

Today's event is being hosted by Government Office North East (GONE) - one of the key supporters of the scheme in the region.

GONE has already given vocal support to the initiative, insisting if it was adopted it would ease traffic congestion in the region, help the environment, improve productivity in the North-East workforce and ensure employees have a good work-life balance.

Representatives from the local authorities, the prison service, pension service, Northumbria Police, Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service and Natural England will be attending the event at GONE'S Citygate offices in Newcastle.

They will be urged to consider innovative ways to address the traditional nine to five working culture and will be given advice and support in adopting practices such as mobile working, remote working and working from home.

The North-East has seen the number of people working from home grow by over 56% since 1999.

Almost 50,000 workers - nearly 5% of the working population - are now based at, or regularly work from, home.

Government Office had pledged its commitment to the Work Wise campaign and has vowed to improve its own flexible working policy for its 200 staff, including home working, staggered start and finish times and job sharing.

Regional director Jonathan Blackie said: "Even though many of us have flexible working policies, we are keen to see the wider benefits for our staff, the environment, the region and our budgets more actively promoted."

Speakers at today's event will include TUC regional secretary Kevin Rowan, and Work Wise chairman and regional manager of BT Simon Roberson.

Mr Roberson said: "Reducing costs and increasing productivity are two of the drivers to introducing new ways of working. Both private and public sector organisations are constantly struggling to find the best allocation of scarce resources and the introduction of new information and communication technologies enable organisations to introduce greater flexibility into working practices."

He said even a limited change in working practices and culture would lead to improvements.

Employers' group vows to put flexibility at heart of its business

AN employers' organisation which represents a third of the region's workforce has vowed to put flexible working practices at the heart of its business.

The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), which represents 4,400 businesses across the region, has undertaken a major review to give its 230 staff a whole host of opportunities to adopt smarter working practices. NECC has decided to put its working practices through their paces by using the Work Wise North East campaign.

Bosses have embraced the scheme to create more innovative workplaces and to show their commitment to the campaign.

Home and remote working, along with staggered start times are being used, all underpinned by improved technology to make life easier for staff. Plans are being introduced to offer term-time contracts and staggered start-times to fit in with the changing pressures of modern living. NECC deputy chief executive Isobel Robertson said: "For years we have offered staff the opportunity to work flexibly, but this is the first time we've placed a commitment to actively encouraging smarter working practices at the heart of the business."

She said the NECC was ahead of the game when it came to providing its employees with as much support and flexibility as it could.