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Throughout the current week, 20th-24th September, Work Wise, the national campaign that promotes smarter working practices, gets underway. Work Wise North East (WWNE) is part of this national initiative, which aims to make the UK one of the most progressive economies in the world by encouraging the widespread adoption of smarter working practices. The campaign comprises five themed days and during the week, whether you are self-employed, work in the public or third sector, or for a multi-national corporation, there are many ways that you and your organisation can take part. The themed days are:
An increasingly complex world means that employers and employees have to strive to use their resources effectively, to gain better productivity and to balance work-life pressures. The Work Wise campaign addresses all of these issues and is gaining many new advocates. Work Wise Week Day by Day Smarter Travel Day – In the region, the first day of Work Wise Week just catches the tail end of Go Smarter Week (16th-22nd September) when the team from Nexus will be sweeping across Tyne and Wear, asking you to think about leaving your car behind and travelling differently. At Team Valley, car users are being offered the opportunity to sample one week’s free bus travel with the compliments of www.teamvalleylinks.com and Go North East. There is also a Team Valley Bus Guide to promote travel by bus. Mobile Working Day: September 21st is Mobile Working Day and the North East Employer Coalition can give a big ‘thumbs up’ to any organisation thinking of using this business model. It is almost two years since the Coalition opted to work more flexibly. Paul Cuskin, strategic operations director, said: “With changing labour markets more flexible approaches are being sought as to how, when and where to work. Although the Coalition is now based at Seaham, most of the time we are working from our partners’ offices, cafes, cars or our homes. Working this way promotes a much better work~life balance and we would now find it hard to work any other way.” Virtual Meeting Day: Cundall, based in Gosforth, is a consulting engineering company whose focus is on designing environmentally-friendly, sustainable buildings. Cundall’s teams of engineers work in five offices throughout the UK – collaborating on a regular basis through their virtual meeting technology consisting of video conferencing, desktop sharing and interactive whiteboards. Being one of the first companies to use this equipment to their advantage, Cundall has been able to work with architects in America to complete a project in London. The virtual meetings save thousands of pounds each week on transportation costs and create new opportunities which otherwise would not be possible. Remote Office Day: Amy Abela, lives with her husband and daughter in Whitley Bay. As BT’s Media Relations Manager for the North East, Yorkshire and The Humber, she has a busy role. Employed by BT for over 12 years, she has worked remotely, from her home based office for three years. She says: “We have a team of eight people spread throughout the region and it just made sense for us to become home based. I could not imagine working in an office again. As a working mum, being based at home gives me so much more flexibility.” Working from Home Day: The growth of home-based businesses continues apace and becoming part of the 5 to 9 economy, as it is called, is worth considering or if you find yourself without a day job and have always entertained the idea of running your own business. The website www.enterprisenation.com is a free resource to help you start and grow your business and the ultimate resource for home workers in the UK. If you would like to know more about smarter working, the WWNE campaign, or how to make changes to your current working model, contact WWNE Chairman, Simon Roberson at simon.roberson@bt.com or visit the website www.workwiseuk.org/northeast
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