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Centrica leads the way on flexible workingFirms in all industries are tuning in to the benefits of flexible working, but in the utilities sector Centrica is blazing a trail. Annabel Andrews reports. Flexible working should not be seen merely as a concession given to help employees with families. In fact, it can increase staff engagement and productivity and reduce costs. Many businesses and employees have caught on to the benefits of flexible working. In the 2008 CBI/Pertemps Employment Trends Survey, almost half of all employers (46 per cent) said they now offered "teleworking" to staff. This is an increase from 14 per cent in 2006 and 11 per cent in 2004. John Cridland, CBI deputy director-general, said at the survey's publication: "Employers are embracing the benefits of flexible working, even as the economy heads into more uncertain times. "Using teleworking to take work out of the workplace has become very popular, and is also a useful way to avoid a laborious commute, balance family commitments, and even reduce carbon emissions. As technology becomes more reliable and widely available, this trend can only grow." One utility company that has embraced flexible working is Centrica. Recent research by Capgemini identified Centrica as the leading company in the energy sector for people management practices. This is largely as a result of the company's Work:Wise flexible working programme. The business case for the change was built upon property savings and promoting Centrica as an attractive employer in a skills-hungry sector. The programme has measurably proved itself on these terms, with £10 million of property savings per year, on top of a 38 per cent rise in positive employee feedback on work-life balance. *Project Martini* The programme began as a 1,200-person pilot called Project Martini with the slogan "any time, any place, anywhere", before a full rollout as Work:Wise in October 2005. During the initial stage of the scheme, Centrica changed working areas to reduce the number of static desks and create hot desks within a "team footprint". It also stopped allocating parking spaces automatically, challenging the need to travel to the office. Investment was made in communications, including teleconferencing facilities, mobile working systems and web-based collaborative technologies. At this stage, culture change measures were limited to training line managers in smart working capability and working with teams to determine working conventions. As a result of the initial rollout, Centrica learnt that culture change was more important than previously thought, because flexible working requires a change in approach and attitude by the whole organisation. To achieve this, the company established a "flexible working champion" in each business area. This was a senior member of staff who was enthusiastic about flexible working and could ensure that business strategy was aligned with the effective use of flexible working patterns. Some managers were worried about losing control, so Centrica developed compulsory management training sessions. Managers had to learn to set clear objectives for their staff and then manage on output rather than attendance, building on trust and communication. *Smart working* The company realised that smart working increased the need for team-building activities, so an extra budget was created for facilities and expenses for these events. Teams worked together to produce a mandate specifying when phones would be answered and emails responded to, so that flexible working did not become a way of extending working hours by stealth. It was found that remote workers became frustrated and underproductive when faced with faulty equipment. To combat this, Centrica established a dedicated mobile worker IT helpdesk and improved agreed service levels, such as introducing a 24-hour turnaround for replacing faulty laptops. In surveys, Centrica's flexible workers were found to have higher levels of job satisfaction and fulfilment, organisational commitment and empowerment than its non-flexible workers. In addition, 89.5 per cent of managers and 94.5 per cent of employees thought flexible working had had a neutral or positive effect on the quantity of work delivered. When asked if it had had a neutral or positive effect on the quality of work produced, this was supported by 94.5 per cent of managers and 97.7 per cent of employees. This positive feeling about flexible working was reflected in recruitment and retention. Many people interviewed by Capgemini said the programme had been important in their decision to accept a job with Centrica. Several said the new flexible working culture made them reluctant to leave Centrica. They felt more trusted by the company and in control of their work, and therefore felt more responsibility to get it done, with a knock-on effect on effectiveness and productivity. Source: Matt Carey © Faversham House Group Ltd 2009. News articles may be copied or forwarded
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