Tech Bitch

Three quarters of UK SMEs (74%) now claim to offer their employees some form of flexible working, according to a new report released today by BT Business. But the report says that the adoption of newly defined ‘third-generation’ flexible working is slow due to a lack of technical know-how across the workforce.

Researched by independent forecasting think tank, The Centre for Future Studies, and backed by new YouGov research, the IT Skills for Flexible Working report, for the first time introduces definitions for different types of flexible working. The first generation involves time flexibility - offering part time or short term working to employees, whilst the second generation involves both time and location flexibility; so in addition to offering flexi-hours to staff, technology is provided for employees to work while on the move.

Finally, the most sophisticated and revolutionary flexible working, third generation, involves the emergence of the ‘virtual office’, which has total location independence and employees are given greater autonomy in the way they manage and plan their work. While many SMEs have successfully adopted first and second generation practices, few SMEs are using the third generation practices where technology is fully integrated to create a virtual office. This limited application of technology is confirmed by the 62% that say that they lack the appropriate IT skills and training to properly exploit their existing technology and therefore third generation flexible working.

We are witnessing the emergence of flexible hours, flexible tasks and flexible locations. The technology to support this is available to businesses of all sizes and sectors and is delivering tangible business benefits. The bummer is if you work for a company that doesn’t recognise that by offering you the flexibility to work at home while watching Jeremy Kyle they can attract and retain the very laziest best people to bring business success.