A sutdy into the changes need across an organisation to succesfully implement home working

1. Lost In Translation Home Working

2. 2 1. Introduction 2. The Study Executive summary Home Working - State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? Conclusions

3. Introduction – the Topology of Work The Topology of Work is changing. The landscape that we call the ‘workplace’ is expanding beyond the traditional boundaries of the office and permeating many areas of public and private space. Through our Topology of Work research, we share the insights and opportunities offered by this new world of work. Office Elsewhere Home

4. Introduction – is Home Working still the next big thing? “10 years ago, ‘e-commerce’ was in the same situation that Home Working is now. Many predicted it was the future, the government had initiatives to promote e-commerce, some people embraced it but many others were cautious. Either way, everyone was talking about it. Now, no-one talks about e-commerce as a big ‘trend’ because it has become embedded in the way we do business. We will know when we’ve achieved a wholesale acceptance of Home Working, because people will stop talking about it – it will just be a normal part of the way we work” Phil Flaxton, Work Wise UK

5. Introduction – the benefits are clear but the barriers are high Benefits Cost savings from reduced real estate Attraction and retention of talent Employee wellbeing and fewer absences - improved health, decreased stress and better work life balance Upgraded management culture Increased productivity of employees Improved collaboration More agile and responsive business Safeguarded business continuity

6. Introduction – the benefits are clear but the barriers are high Barriers Organisational Culture (entitlement, trust) Manager Concerns Resistance / Fear of Change Executive buy-in / Endorsement Staff concerns over losing assigned seat or location Staff concerns over loss of contact with managers & other staff Funding Lack of IT / Infrastructure Support Staff resources available to support the programme Security Concerns Tools for mobility Ergonomic / Environment, H&S Concerns Other None

7. 7 Introduction Executive summary Home Working - State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? Conclusions 2. The Study

9. Managers of home workers

10. Representatives of home workers

11. Experienced home workersUK, Netherlands, Germany, Nordics and ‘Europe generalists’

12. 9 Introduction The Study Home Working - State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? Conclusions 3. Executive summary

13. Conclusions The scale of the transformation is underestimated. With this in mind, companies are trying to provide support for people making the transition to new ways of working. However in our view, this support is rarely adequate given the scale of the transformation taking place Home workers need some explicit training and skills development Even experienced workers can benefit from training and guidance in these new skills . Many of the skills involve EXPLICIT PLANNING of each interaction for home workers, where face to face interactions would usually allow these things to happen by TACIT EXCHANGE Home workers need guidance, coaching and support – not rules Many of the issues faced by home workers often require them to develop their own, unique solutions. There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Guidance, coaching, and support for employees as they find their own best way to work, is more important than setting rules and fixed processes. The organisation needs culture change – not structures and processes The issues faced by the organisation as a whole are usually around culture, in particular amongst middle managers. Acknowledging where the culture conflicts with the concept of new ways of working, and proactively working to shift attitudes and behaviours, will do far more for the acceptance and success of Home Working than policies, structures and work processes will ever achieve alone. Like climbing a mountain, preparation and expertise are critical. But the rewards are worth it. Barriers are high, but the rewards are worth it 10

14. 11 Introduction The Study Executive Summary Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? Conclusions 4. Home Working – State of play across Europe

15. State of Play - New ways of Working Mobile working – gaining momentum Global mobile worker population to increase from 919.4 million in 2008 to more than 1.19 billion in 2013 (35%) Led by the US Over 50% of Western Europe Workforce mobile by 2013 Southern European countries shifting to more services-based economies and adopting enabling technologies High levels of regional variation How long ago did you start your agile working programme? The IDC report Western Europe's mobile worker penetration was 48.7% (96.5 million) in 2008, and is expected to increase to 50.3% (129.5 million) in 2013. Frost and Sullivan report that in 2009, Web Conferencing Services in Europe grow by 19.3 % - a strong indication that distributed working is currently very much on the rise.

16. State of play across European Markets % of employees who work from home at some point in their jobs % of employees who work from home or Telework at least a quarter of the time

17. State of play across European Markets Telecommunications: ‘Young infrastructure’; mostly broadband, high proportion fibre, wireless and mobile Geography: Highly dispersed workforce and potential for long commutes or high levels of pressure on the national transport network Business Culture: ‘New Forms of Work’ organisation, flatter authority structures, more autonomy at all hierarchy levels, and greater teamwork .Leaders: Nordics – Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden Netherlands Runners up: UK Germany Telecommunications: ‘Older infrastructure’ (copper wires) or hybrid (Germany) Geography: High levels of pressure on the national transport network Business Culture: ‘Hybrid’ of both new and traditional organisations Lagging behind: France Southern Europe Telecommunications: ‘More Limited infrastructure’; inhibiting large-scale uptake of remote or mobile working (Southern Europe) Geography: Professional, knowledge worker workforce concentrated around urban hubs Business Culture: ‘Traditional Industrial’ model, characterised by centralised, top-down organisation, with limited autonomy and rigid hierarchies

18. Netherlands – Home Working ‘on the crest of a wave’! “The concept of New Work is ‘on the crest of a wave’ in the Netherlands at the moment. There is almost ‘so much hype’ around New Work that some people think it is now almost ‘old’ work” Mark Mobach “Home Working in the Netherlands is helped by the fact that we have a 97% penetration of broadband in the home. Cloud computing will further enable new ways of working by cutting the time it takes to set up remote working infrastructure from a matter of months to just a few days. ‘Tipping points’ in favour of Home Working include the traffic issues we face as a country... ...and the fight for talent (The Netherlands faces a 400,000 person gap in highly qualified employees over the next 10-15 years) and the high cost of real-estate pressuring companies to take up less space, or even close offices” Hans van der Meer, Microsoft Highest levels of uptake 21% of working population are e-workers Expected to increase dramatically 97% penetration of broadband Traffic issue Fight for talent

19. Netherlands – "Het nieuwewerken" Microsoft are advertising for a "Het nieuwewerken“- business and marketing manager, and even the Amsterdam Police Department are taking up New Working practices. Whole new philosophy Future of Dutch economy Supported by environmentalists Increase in freelancers & contractors Culture and culture change still a huge issue New consulting practices emerging Huge programmes of employee consultation and co-creating solutions to the challenges Advanced, unified communications to help people to stay in touch, manage their time and to facilitate a new level of transparency across the organisation (such as access to all diaries) Myers Brigs profiling, and sharing of profiles so that everyone knows the preferred work-styles of colleagues Openness, honesty and approachability of senior leaders, clearly demonstrated to the whole organisation in a very ‘human’ way

20. Nordics – Ahead of the game Teleworking since early 1990s Highly sophisticated telecommunications network High autonomy Low hierarchy High employee consultation Cultural differences still apparent between organisations and culture change still a big hurdle to overcome Functional flexibility and teamwork, by country (% of employees) Number of fixed broadband subscription with capacity of 10 Mbps or more per capita Autonomy over your own work methods Team autonomy over distribution of tasks “Finland is the first country which has made broadband a legal right for every citizen. Every citizen will have the right to access to a one megabit per second broadband connection.” TuomoAlesoini

21. UK – Mixed views, picking up speed Transport network Decline Lagging behind Half-hearted attempts ‘Change fatigue’ and ‘management fears’ to blame? Approaching ‘tipping points’ Large public sector employers Spending Cuts Management fear Change fatigue Transport network Decline Change fatigue

22. Germany – Catching up More ambivalent Heavy industry & manufacturing heritage Hierarchy & tradition Growing fast Prolific in small pockets? Complex labour market – ‘micro jobs’ Increased ‘freelancing’ “We see that the coverage of Teleworking has increased in the last 10 years, in 2003 about 8% of companies offered Teleworking to employees, and this had increased to 22% in 2009 in Germany.” Oliver Settes “It is our prediction that by 2020 about 50% of the German workforce will be freelance workers, and there is a huge trend towards working in a freelance way”. Peter Bihr

23. 20 Introduction The Study Executive Summary Home Working – State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? Conclusions 5. Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives

24. Lost in Translation – Organisational Perspectives There is no single translation for what ‘Home Working’ means for organisations today ‘Home Working’ can be used to describe several different work scenarios Different organisations can view Home Working from very different angles 1 2 + =

25. 1 Home Working – different scenarios

26. Scenario – home as an overflow A Working from home is a ‘top-up’ By exception - little concern for support Performance & trust not an issue Work chosen to suit being at home Not a main focus for the research

27. Scenario – home as an alternative work-setting B Working from home is often ad hoc rather than strategic Suitability based on ‘logistics’ and manager approval Performance & trust are important Fast growing group and face greatest challenges Need support and tools to gain the benefits and avoid the pitfalls

28. Scenario – home as The Hub C Fully autonomous, few ‘cultural’ barriers Practicalities tend to be main issue Need to be well equipped and professional Early adopters of home working practices, hungry for support Largest group of home workers and growing, but fragmented?

29. D Scenario – home as a docking station Long established Equipped well from the outset Often output based targets (e.g. Sales) Relatively easy to adapt for the home environment Not a main focus for the research

31. Low communication / collaboration needs

33. High communication needs

35. Normal support requirements

37. 2 Organisations – different view points Size of the organisation Public sector vs. private sector Cultural heritage Who you talk to – managers or employees Economic downturn Green agenda Generation Y Extrinsic factors Intrinsic factors

38. Size of the Organisation (intrinsic) Harder to change culture Large investment in IT & change More to gain Keen to publicise success Generally more homogenous than small companies Large companies Small companies New Start-ups, entrepreneurs Vs. ‘Traditional’ small businesses Very polarised group “The biggest challenge for the UK is getting the ‘long tail’ of small and medium sized businesses to accept the idea of Home and Smarter Working. Many of them are violently opposed to it, because of their more traditional command and control style of management” Phil Flaxton, Work Wise UK

39. Public sector vs. Private sector (intrinsic) However when they do it, they are often doing a REALLY GOOD JOB: Perhaps public sector organisations are under fewer illusions about the ‘scale’ of change they need to undergo, and are therefore approaching the challenge with more forethought and rigour and are hence, very successful. Public sector employees are still less likely to be working remotely than those in the private sector Public sector Private sector 46% Never work remotely 33% Never work remotely

40. Cultural Heritage (intrinsic) Acceptance*: Mixed Benefits: Employee productivity; W/L balance Issues: Loss of team spirit; difficulty of remote collaboration; potential workload inequalities Acceptance: High Benefits: Employee productivity; variety of work environments; stimulus from outside world; empowerment Issues: Challenges of remote collaboration * of home working Acceptance: Low Benefits: Efficiency; cost savings Issues: Loss of control; Performance monitoring Acceptance: Mixed Benefits: Contact with ‘outside world’; cost savings; attracting talent Issues: Performance monitoring; Peer and manager perceptions; potential for overwork

41. Who you talk to – managers or employees (intrinsic) Value flexible working and home working more than any benefit Rated above bonuses! 75% would consider pay cut Better work life balance Employees “Two years of recession have changed people’s attitude towards work. With companies mindful of taking on new employees, existing staff have been expected to do more with less. Our survey indicates that employees may be feeling the pressure, with large numbers hoping for a better work- life balance in the future, and half saying they would rather work for themselves. “With bonuses unpredictable in uncertain economic conditions, employees are looking for broader benefits.” Michael Rendell, head of human resource services, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

42. Who you talk to – managers or employees (intrinsic) Managers only 7% of managers, but 31% of employees, felt that managers ‘discouraged’ people from working outside the office Management fear frequently highlighted as key barrier Until leaders are more credible in their commitment to embracing new and diverse ways of working, Home Working will not be an effective tool for releasing the potential of individuals or the organisation.

43. Economic Downturn – a watershed? (extrinsic) Avoid mistakes of 80s? Creative way to cut costs? Un-necessary cost Additional change pressure Need to ‘tighten-control’ Less pressure on space Vs. What impact has the recession had on agile working programmes?

44. Economic Downturn – a watershed? (extrinsic) Business Drivers for Agile Working – NWOW Foundation, 2009: Space Optimisation / Increased Capacity Cost Savings Employee Work / Life Balance Employee Attraction / Retention Employee Productivity Business Agility Improved Collaboration Access to Customers / Colleagues & Co-workers Business Continuity Eco-responsibility / Reduce Carbon Footprint Other

45. Green Agenda (extrinsic) "A green IT strategy is becoming a necessity for organisations in both public and private sectors. Tele-presence and UC tools offer virtual meeting alternatives that reduce the necessity of traditional face-to-face contact. Companies already recognized the benefits of these solutions: Web conferencing services market in Europe grew by 19.3 per cent in 2009” Dorota Oviedo, Industry Analyst for Frost & Sullivan Unified Communications & Collaboration Environmental benefits rank low No strong business motivations Only 7% of business consider the benefits a driver of NWOW But this HAS to change Helped by green IT trend for UC and remote collaboration tools

46. Generation Y (extrinsic) They have greater need to learn from colleagues, and can do so more easily if they are co-located in the office They are less likely to have a suitable space to work in at home, often still living with parents or in a shared house with less space or privacy for Home Working With less experience, they are less confident in their jobs and more likely to want to work with the support of colleagues close by They appreciate the social aspect of working in an office and see it as an important aspect of their work life Expect / demand NWOW Prefer the culture of trust, autonomy and collaboration Expect the latest technologies to support a mobile way of working Experienced at ‘virtual relationships’ But LEAST likely group to actually work from home

47. 39 Introduction The Study Executive Summary Home Working – State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? Conclusions 6. Lost in translation – Operational Aspects

48. Lost in Translation – Operational Aspects 1 2 4 3

49. 41 Introduction The Study Executive Summary Home Working – State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Conclusions 7. Lost in translation – Virtual Interactions

50. Lost in Translation – Virtual Interaction 1 5 2 We loose an important layer of communication without face 2 face contact 3 4

51. 43 Introduction The Study Executive Summary Home Working – State of play across Europe Lost in translation – Organisational Perspectives - Why do organisations interpret ‘Home Working’ in different ways? Lost in translation – Operational Aspects - How does the process of work translate from the office to the home? Lost in translation – Virtual Interaction – How can people communicate, collaborate and engage from home? 8. Conclusions

52. Home working is reaching a tipping point – it’s here to stay Differences across Europe affect the rate of uptake, NOT the experience of home working once it arrives Netherlands (Benelux) & Nordics are leading in Europe, but the US may have overtaken... Cultural factors – by country & by organisation – seem to have the biggest impact on uptake & creates the most challenges The benefits of home working are getting lost in translation – due to poor appreciation of the different ‘scenarios’ and due to different organisational perspectives affecting how they view the opportunities

53. Translating ‘work processes’ into the home, and ‘communication, collaboration and engagement’ between individuals, create huge challenges for home workers to overcome (see the report for full details!) Home based businesses and freelancers are a major opportunity – a large & growing group who need better tools, technologies and support. However can you get to them?! Ultimately the benefits of home working can be huge, and we are confident that Smarter Working in general will become the rule, rather than the exception Investment in tools & technologies for the home, especially when made by the individual, is often neglected However there ARE solutions – but organisations often underestimate the scale of the change, and the support that needs to accompany it to reap the rewards