Guest blog: Smarter working and Work Wise Week: a topic worthy of a proper conversation - and Bristol Business School is in!

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Guest blog: Smarter working and Work Wise Week: a topic worthy of a proper conversation - and Bristol Business School is in!

By Dr Harriet Shortt, Senior Lecturer in Organisation Studies, Bristol Business School, University of the South West of England.

David Lennan kicked off Work Wise Week by encouraging us all to have a proper discussion about how we work and what we achieve. His call to action advises that now is the time to really think about our working practices and to consider how and where people work.

And I say ‘hear, hear!’. Smarter working should be a topic of conversation in every organisation – whatever the size or industry – and this particularly interests me, given my research in organisation studies and work space.

Where we work is changing – in fact, as I write this blog I am sat at Bristol airport in the UK waiting for my flight to Crete – I’m off to present at the 12th Organization Studies Summer Workshop. As I work, I am surrounded by other people on their laptops, phones and other devices. We are mobile and we are connected, and more and more of us are working at home, in the car, on the train, and at the airport. Increasingly the notion of a ‘9am to 5pm’ in the office is being questioned and alternative ways of working are being adopted.

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Guest blog: The gig-economy: What needs to change? - By Steve Mosser, CEO of Sensee→

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Guest blog: The gig-economy: What needs to change? - By Steve Mosser, CEO of Sensee

Hardly a day goes by without an article on the gig-economy appearing in the media. And from high-profile court cases brought by workers that object to the lack of employment rights and benefits, to stories of individuals who are living happier, more fulfilling lives because of it, the gig economy is sure to provoke strong – often polarised – points of view.

According to the CIPD, 4% of working adults aged between 18 and 70 are working in the gig economy, with approximately 1.3 million people now working two jobs or more. Often referred to as “slashies” – think waiter/delivery driver, make-up artist/blogger and gardener/Uber driver - many choose to work this way, enjoying the freedom, variety and flexibility that this way of working brings. But others do it out of necessity when, for instance, they cannot secure a full-time job with a sufficient income (and benefits) to support a family.

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Guest blog: Why 2017 is the year to let more people work from home - By Frances O'Grady, TUC General Secretary

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Guest blog: Why 2017 is the year to let more people work from home - By Frances O'Grady, TUC General Secretary

Homeworking up by 7.7% this year, but millions more still want it.

More and more employees are working from home. This is welcome, but I am worried that progress is still much too slow. National Work from Home Day, which is organised by Work Wise UK, is an excellent opportunity to look at how we give our increasingly tech-savvy employees more choice about where they do their work. Therefore I urge employers to consider how homeworking might help both their workers and their business. 

During 2016 the number of employees regularly working from home increased by 118,000, taking the total to 1,639,000. The increase of 7.7% out-stripped the growth in employee jobs by a factor of 12 last year. This news is worth celebrating, but there are still millions more employees who would like to be able to work from home.

Homeworking must be well-thought out and fairly managed

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Guest blog: The learning curve - By Joanna Boyce, Founder of Jobot Social→

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Guest blog: The learning curve - By Joanna Boyce, Founder of Jobot Social

https://jobotsocial.wordpress.com/Making the decision to not only change career, but to try out working for yourself can be both daunting and exciting in equal measure. Whether you choose (or indeed have the choice) to stay at home to raise your children, work part-time or are a full-time working mum,  rest assured that you're doing what is best for your family. Feelings of guilt plague our choices but we have to all cut ourselves and each other some slack. There's no 'right' way, we choose the way that best suits our personal situation. The preferred choice isn't always there and the chance to have a good work-life balance can be difficult.

I made a decision right from the start. I wanted to dedicate time to my family and to be readily available for the school run, unexpected illness and school holidays. To do this I needed to find, or create, flexible work.

I'd been in the same industry since leaving university, and knew when I went on maternity leave that I wanted a fresh start and a change. I did some online training courses, borrowed books, sought advice and was lucky to have the full support of an understanding and encouraging partner.

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Guest blog: Work Wise Week can inspire new business owners - By Steve Byrne, Chief Executive of Travel Counsellors.→

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Guest blog: Work Wise Week can inspire new business owners - By Steve Byrne, Chief Executive of Travel Counsellors.

Work Wise Week does an incredibly valuable job. With flexible working on the rise, businesses and individuals alike need to be aware of the enormous potential that adopting modern working practices can offer. In particular, it sheds light on a growing trend which has already had an impact not just on our business, but across the travel sector as a whole.

A recent report stated that the number of people working from home in the UK hit a record 1.5 million last year, up by 20 per cent since 2006. I suspect that is under stated given the number of people who also work from home on an ad hoc basis, but simply goes to show the scale of the labour market currently either running their own business, or flexing the traditional definition of employment.

We have seen that this model of home working applies itself particularly well to the travel sector. Even working from a bricks and mortar environment, many agents try to make themselves available for customers beyond the traditional hours of a retail shop or even that of a call centre. For us, working from home has been the foundation for many of our franchisees’ customer relationships and enables them to provide a better level of customer service and care.

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