As the threat of swine flu continues to worsen in the UK, government figures suggest that one in eight workers will be forced to take time off. This figure not only refers to those who are suffering from the virus, but also those who will need to stay at home to care for family members or due to office closures in an attempt to contain the illness. 

As a result, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has recommended remote working as a way to ensure business continuity and has subsequently suggested that companies put measures in place to enable employees to access the same applications and enjoy the same IT experience from home as they would in the office. 

In short, employers need to make sure that employee work patterns can continue as close to normal as possible when working from home to ensure true business continuity.

In the midst of all the media attention, many companies are starting to re-evaluate existing remote working policies and bring them up-to-date. However, many employers have traditionally shied away from granting staff homeworking privileges, as they still associate the practice with increased idle time, managerial headaches and low employee productivity.  What’s more, there is an ongoing perception that when staff work away from the office, adherence to regulations, deadlines, billing of time and general office protocol will fall by the wayside because ‘management by walking around’ is no longer possible.

For employees, there are also specific Challenges to overcome. For instance, without the presence of a team or colleagues or a proper office infrastructure, many remote workers can be left feeling isolated, stressed and, as a result, less productive.

On the flip side, as the swine flu epidemic has hit at a time when many workers are concerned about job security, there emerges the risk of staff facing added pressure to perform or to be seemingly available 24 hours a day. This can lead to an ‘always on’ approach that far exceeds the working hours of their office-based colleagues, and ultimately has a negative impact on the work/life balance.

This being said, the positive impact on work/life balance is still the most recognised benefit of flexible working. By working from home, individuals are able to create a working pattern that suits them best, no longer constrained to the traditional nine-to-five day in the office. Some may be more productive working in the evening and this may also be more convenient for communicating with colleagues in different time zones. It's important to note however, that if workers do not keep traditional office hours, they should keep track of how much work they are doing. This will minimise the possibility of staff members over or under working.

Decision makers too can experience tangible business Benefits by implementing flexible working schemes. By eliminating workers’ daily commutes, stress is reduced and there is also the environmental benefit of having fewer cars on the road. In addition to this, employers can reduce their carbon footprint further by no longer needing heating and air conditioning or electricity for lighting and for IT requirements. These environmental savings have a direct correlation with financial savings as businesses can save on bills and also on costly overheads for office space.

A final benefit is the impact that homeworking can have on staff morale. At this time, many companies are unable to offer pay rises and promotions. By offering homeworking, decision makers can improve employee morale and implement flexible working schemes as non-monetary incentives.

Rather than jumping straight onto the remote working bandwagon, employers must acknowledge the amount of preparation and the gradual transition required to implement robust, workable, future-proof policies.

With the duration and prognosis of the flu pandemic still unknown, the transition to homeworking needs to be as seamless as possible, and managers must be confident that work will continue as normal – for any given employee, for any length of time.

Most organisations are relatively well set up to facilitate occasional remote working for some employees – providing casual access to corporate email, applications and servers from the home. However, the ambiguity of this pandemic calls for more flexible measures that go beyond the traditional ‘laptop and internet connection’ approach to a more holistic, manageable set of procedures that takes into account various management techniques, employee morale, training and technology requirements.

Without the proper implementation of these infrastructures, most companies introducing remote working with almost certainly fall at the first hurdle.

As mentioned, one of the most cited hindrances for managers looking to set up flexible working schemes, is the fear of the negative impact on remote staff productivity compared to their office-based counterparts. 

Managers often believe that because they cannot physically see when homeworkers start and end their working day and are unable to see if they are spending too much time browsing personal websites, the overall output and functionality of the business will suffer. Productivity management software can provide a solution to this that not only gives managers peace of mind that business is continuing as usual regardless of staff location, but also offers an advantage to the individual employee. 

By giving remote staff the insight in to their daily work pattern when they are working from home, employees can ensure that they are maintaining the same operating standards wherever they are based. Individuals can assess how much time they are spending on different applications and can view automatically generated time sheets to assess their own output and productivity. This creates a transparency between workers and decision makers as the information generated is available to all. 

During the swine flu pandemic, and other unforeseen circumstances that will lead to an influx of homeworkers such as the snow storms the UK experienced this winter, the implementation of productivity management software will help to ensure a smoother transition between office and remote working.

So, while the flu threat will see many organisations rushing to put remote working in place over the coming months, there are definite long term Benefits that productivity management tools can bring once the pandemic has died down, and these will apply to both remote and office-based workers.

For example, under current legislation company directors are liable for any misuse of company resources, such as an employee using a company computer to browse inappropriate web sites. By recording each web site that an employee visits and classifying according to content, it becomes easy for employers to identify and deal with employees who abuse the system. In fact, by sharing that activity information with the employee, they are much less likely to engage in any questionable activity in the first place.

What’s more, with changes to UK flexible working legislation this year and an increasing demand for an improved work/life balance, employers will see many more requests for teleworking from employees. With the right software, companies can share Key Performance Indicators among employees and their managers and remove the age-old issue of distrust, making teleworking an open and transparent process. Through a series of simple, graphical web based reports, managers can easily ensure remote workers and contractors are punctual, hard working and performing to agreed goals.  

Finally, many organisations are using the software as a means of performance management and a basis for reward and recognition schemes. By recording when an employee logs on and off their computer and analysing how time is spent on the computer, managers can identify hard working staff. That way, employers and employees are able to work together and reap the Benefits of maximum output and minimum downtime during working hours. 

• www.officemetrics.com