In a survey of UK executives, carried out by communications company BT, 50% of respondents said cost was a barrier to exploring new ways of working, while 49% said that senior managers did not recognise the business case. And 45% reported cultural resistance from employees (among staff, over 90% of lawyers, accountants and management consultants believe that being in the office on a regular basis is essential for career progression).
Emer Timmons, president of BT Global Services, said that firms needed to unlock freshways of working. "Old-fashioned attitudes such as spending time in an office to boost the chances of promotion mean many organisations are holding back progress and missing out on a potential increase in staff productivity," she said.
Over half of those surveyed said they believed improved ways of working and better collaboration technology could boost staff productivity by 20% or more.
At a briefing yesterday morning, John Glen, senior economist, Cranfield School of Management, said that the business case for allowing more flexible working was clear: "It enhances productivity and drives value to the bottom line." He added: "Employers need to be looking at how they get more productivity and asking what is the ROI of every metre of space I am using?"
Caroline Waters, BT's director of people and policy, added that flexible working was "an incredibly compelling proposition" which increased productivity and engagement while reducing property and travel costs.
Nicola Millard, futurologist at BT, said that globalisation and the increase in mobile devices, including staff bringing their own devices to work, meant that the "9-5 job is definitely dead." "Office spaces are becoming places we go to socialise about work, not to work," she added.
The BT survey, 'Powering up Britain's professional workforce', featured the views of 650 UK executives from professional services companies.
