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[April 22, 2007]

'Working From Home Today?' That's Not What Your Boss Thinks

LONDON, April 23 /PRNewswire/ --

The phrase "I'm working from home today" strikes fear into one in five
(21%) managers who hear "I'm taking it easy today", according to new annual
research(x) from Mitel.

In fact, over a third (37%) of managers feel that if allowed to work from
home, staff will use working hours to carry out personal activities, such as
taking a longer lunch, while 30% believe employees will use the time to
arrange their social life.

However, two thirds (68%) of employees believe that by working from home
they would actually take a more flexible approach to work, enabling them to
be more productive (41%), and end up working longer hours (28%).

The research reveals that when it comes to attitudes towards teleworking,
nearly one in five (18%) employees would like the opportunity to work from
home two days a week, and that over half (55%) believe it is an acceptable
option for any level.

Psychologist and employee productivity expert, Dr David Lewis, said:
"Managers must understand that every individual has a different style of
working, so by allowing your staff to work how they feel best able to achieve
results can only benefit their well-being and most importantly increase their
productivity and ultimately customer service. It comes down to a matter of
trust. If you trust and respect your employees to get the job done, they will
trust and respect you in return and do the best they possibly can, regardless
of whether they are in the office or not."

"In fact, many businesses are finding potential recruits demanding
flexible working as part of their package alongside salary and traditional
benefits Businesses must keep up with, and adapt to, ever evolving working
practices if they want to continue recruiting and retaining the cream of the
talent pool."

Reducing overheads, improving customer satisfaction, increasing
productivity and staff retention are the core business benefits that stem
from teleworking. However, firms are also starting to recognise that their
environmental responsibilities can also be addressed, with teleworking
helping to decrease the UK's ever burgeoning congestion problems and cut
carbon emissions.

While many employers are still labouring under the misconception that
technologies to enable home-working are unreliable and slow, this is simply
not the reality.

"With high speed broadband currently accounting for 70 per cent of all
household internet connections(xx), and a wealth of telecommunications
technologies, such as IP telephony now an affordable business standard for
seamless connectivity to the office, the technology to enable home working is
now more sophisticated than ever", said Graham Bevington, managing director
of Mitel.

"Through the use of virtual teams using instant messaging to
communicate,having the ability to set up video and conference calls and share
documents from the network, there is no need for employers to panic that
people working from home or outside the office cannot contribute to the
business as a fully functioning member of the team. Flexible working
practices are becoming an integral part of a successful business strategy and
can be a critical tool in the fight for a competitive advantage in the global
marketplace."

Case study available for interview, please call Lindsay McAloon/Matt or
Mel at Bray Leino on +44-(0)117-973-1173

Accompanying flexible working/contortionist photography available -
please request

(x) Data was gathered by Continental Research, and YouGov with a sample
of 1,200 managers and employees surveyed, January 2007 for Mitel's annual
teleworking survey

(xx) National Statistics Omnibus Survey, Northern Ireland Omnibus Survey
and Survey of Internet Service Provider, 23 August 2006

About Mitel

Mitel is a leading provider of unified communications solutions and
services for business customers. Mitel's voice-centric IP-based
communications solutions consist of a combination of telephony hardware and
software that integrate voice, video and data communications with business
applications and processes. These solutions enable customers to realize
significant cost benefits and to conduct business more efficiently and
effectively by enabling enhanced communications, information sharing and
collaboration within a business and with customers, partners and suppliers.
Mitel is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, with offices, partners and
resellers worldwide. For more information, visit www.mitel.com.

Mitel and logo are registered trademarks of Mitel Networks Corporation.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Mitel

Media contacts: Matt Pynn/Mel Beeby, Tel: +44-(0)117-906-4537/973-1173, Mobile: +44-(0)77386-20010/+44-(0)77256-71417, Email: mpynn@brayleino.co.uk/mbeeby@brayleino.co.uk; Nina Dally, Tel: +44-(0)870-909-7608, Email: nina_dally@mitel.com

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