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Life:
Flexibility can benefit everyone
If there is a
top five of buzz-words that sum up the past few years, work-life
balance has to be among them. According to Aaron Ross, chairman of the
Work-Life Balance Trust, companies are committed to the concept
because it makes good business sense.
It s not just about having work-life balance policies on paper, but
also implementing them. Flexible working Improves staff retention and
the bottom line, he says.
For secretaries, flexible working could mean job-sharing or working
from home some of the time. With developments in technology, they can
keep in contact with the office.
These developments have allowed Karen Johnson, an office manager at
BT, to work from home most of the time for around two years. I support
the managing director of customer relations, she says. I live in
Stoke-on-Trent but I used to commute to London. On a good day it was a
six-hour round trip but sometimes it took me five hours to get home.
This was really difficult because I have small children. About
two-thirds of BT s 103,000 employees work flexible hours. The
management believes that people allowed to work flexibly are more
productive and have a higher retention rate. BT has people at every
level working from home or flexible hours and every job has elements
which can be done from home, says Johnson. However, you have to be
very organised and focused. It is easy to get distracted. I do miss
office life but I am busy so I don t have time to get lonely. When I
do go into the office now, I find it difficult to concentrate because
of the noise, she adds. Janet Smith, a PA in a London hospital, works
a full week in four days to enable her to study alternative medicine
one day a week. Smith agrees that being organised is vital. I try to
deal with all phone messages before I leave on Thursday. So if you
want to work flexibly what should you do?
- Make a sound business case for your request.
- Show your employer how it could work, describe the technology you
would need and indicate that you would be flexible.
- Demonstrate that you are motivated, well organised and a good time
manager- this will strengthen your argument.
- Flexible working can help you to achieve a good work-life balance,
but its up to you to make a good case to your employers.
Courtesy: Sunday Times
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