• The nine-to-five work day is on the way out, according to seven out of ten British bosses.
• Two-thirds of managers (65 per cent) ask employees to work outside work hours, at least occasionally, but almost the same number (63 per cent) don’t mind if staff do personal tasks during work hours.
• Bosses are tolerant of employee’s personal calls, emails, Facebook, Twitter and booking appointments, but draw the line at staff doing their weekly shop online during work time.

Vodafone: Newbury, 30th November 2011 – Seventy per cent of UK managers think that the old idea of ’9 to 5′ working is dying out in favour of more flexible working arrangements, according to a new survey commissioned by Vodafone. Among these forward-looking bosses, nine out of ten enable their staff to work flexibly to some extent, rather than expect them to stick rigidly to traditional working hours.

Technology at the heart of cultural shift
The survey showed that bosses appreciate the impact of technology on modern working patterns: 62 per cent think the line between work and personal life has become blurred since people started using smartphones and working from home.

The trend towards mobile and home working is well established, but still has some way to go. Altogether, six out of ten managers (59 per cent) said that they allow their employees to work from home to some extent.
However, only 15 per cent provide employees with the tools for doing so (such as laptops, broadband connectivity and remote access to company systems), while just over two-fifths (43 per cent) of managers rely on employees using their own technology if they want to work from home.

Currently, only 12 per cent of bosses equip their employees with smartphones as standard, while around one-third (34 per cent) give smartphones to some staff. Another 15 per cent reimburse employees for using their own smartphones.

Peter Kelly explained: “Working smarter, not harder has become a bit of a cliché, but that’s exactly what’s needed, and the technology now exists to make this a reality. Therefore, finding ways to effectively harness technology to the benefit of businesses and employees should be high on the list of priorities for UK bosses.”

Generation Y coming through the ranks
The study reflected some of the impact of ‘Generation Y’ – those born after 1982 – coming through the ranks and into management positions. Generation Y employees are generally perceived as being highly connected and technology-literate, not drawing distinct lines between their work and social lives, and seeking a working environment with less rigid structures that they can emotionally engage with.

Peter Kelly added: “Clearly Britain’s bosses are open to the ‘Generation Y’ ways of working. However, they still have some way to go to realize fully how much this change in working culture and attitudes can benefit them.”

  This news item was posted by OneStream Marketing Manager whilst working from home thanks to the remote access technology we have in place. If you would like to explore ways of improving your current technology systems to ‘work smarter’ call us on 0845 0006000 or email info@onestream.co.uk

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Click here to view pdf of full online published report by Vodafone.

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