Tag Archive for Flexible working

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Flexible working from day one – what it means for SMEs

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By Sue Tumelty on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

This week the Government puts out proposals to consultation for laws which could see employees have the legal right to submit flexible working requests (FWRs) from the first day on a new job.

This is a significant reduction from the six months limit currently in legislation and would be matched, under the proposals, by a shortened requisite response time on the part of employers.

As a company which supports more than 6,500 SMEs around the UK, we broadly welcome proposals to speed up the process. Aside from giving employees a better work life balance, there are clear benefits to employers of offering more flexibility, including improved ability to recruit and retain staff across the age spectrum.

‘New laws can have unforeseen consequences … it is usually smaller businesses which feel those the most’

However, there are always knock-on effects of new legislation and it is usually smaller businesses which feel those the most.

The consultation is part of the Government’s Good Work Plan programme, under which The HR Dept has represented the views of UK SMEs since it was set up in 2018.

>See also: Is flexible working more valuable to

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How to enable mobile working in the modern workplace

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Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
The workplace has changed for both large incumbents and smaller businesses. Flexibility and mobile working are now key ingredients for success, especially for business leaders aiming to grow their business. As technology evolves and improves as well, the means to achieve these new ways of working has led to a significant increase in competition; moving from an idea to a product or business has never been more achievable and the existence of hundreds of billion dollar companies today compared to only a handful 10 years ago is testament to this. Most of these businesses started with a small number of talented employees, such as Instagram or Rubrik, before they were either acquired by larger entities or experienced tremendous growth and became the now not-so-fabled unicorn. Technology is the enabler and is empowering creativity, collaboration and success.

The modern workplace is one of opportunity, but it needs modern solutions to turn those opportunities into success; solutions which can help eager founders work on-the-go and champion their business, while also enticing the very best talent who want to work flexibly in an environment that reflects their ideologies and requirements.
The facts support this. According to the Steelcase

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Top tips for finding your first office space

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Originally written by Abby Hardoon on Small Business
Paul Slinn, founder of Flexioffices, a provider of virtual and serviced office spaces, has a few useful tips about what to do when you are setting up your own company. Quite a few household names have started in their founders’ garages: Apple, Amazon, Google, HP, Disney and many more have all been there.
What are serviced offices and how do they work?
Serviced offices are simply flexible office spaces where you pay a monthly cost fully inclusive of your outgoings with additional services included or available on a pay-as-you-go basis. Typically the costs will include rent rates, service charge, heat, lighting, cleaning, office furniture, shared kitchen and reception facilities. Internet and telephone will be provided but charged separately, as will the use of meeting rooms.
Related: Co-working space versus traditional office – which is better?
Who uses them?
All types of companies use serviced offices – start-ups, small to medium-sized companies and multi-nationals. Flexioffices has helped more than 1,000 clients find office space including Spotify, British Airways, BBC, Transport for London, Disney, IBM, HP, Pizza Express, DreamWorks, Adecco, various government departments, major UK charities, to name just a few.
What are the benefits of serviced offices for start-ups and

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Flex space: why your office is the key to boosting productivity

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Originally written by Tom Carroll on Small Business
A gym on the roof. Extensive gardens with areas to relax and unwind. Employees bringing their dogs into the office. This might sound like a modern, cutting-edge workplace experimenting with measures to boost engagement, but it actually describes the US Department of Justice under Robert Kennedy.
And just as modern businesses are discovering now, these measures had a huge effect on morale, according to Larry Tye, Kennedy’s biographer. Ultimately, Kennedy demonstrated that he trusted his staff to let them use their time effectively; to step away from their desks regularly during the working day. The lesson is clear: flexibility and trust create loyalty and engagement.
The lesson is similar for productivity. Empowering employees with the choice to work from a range of locations provides a real fillip to productivity. Research from HSBC, for instance, has found that nine in 10 employees feel that the ability to work remotely has the greatest effect on their productivity.
And where Kennedy may have been something of a workplace pioneer in offering flexibility in the working day, nearly 60 years on, remote working is all the rage. The traditional desk-based nine to five is giving way to a remote, flexible

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Small Business Q&A with Sanj Mahal, CEO and Founder of AndCo

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Increased popularity of flexible working among millennials gave AndCo’s founder, Sanj Mahal, the idea to set up an online platform (not to be confused with Fiverr owned ‘And Co’) to give employees more options and flexibility to work away from the home and office. Here, he talks about how he set up the business and how
The post Small Business Q&A with Sanj Mahal, CEO and Founder of AndCo appeared first on Small Business.

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How the right technology can transform your business

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Transforming businesses with technology isn’t a new idea by any means, but incorporating technology is now a must-have for a business. From manufacturing and retail to design and creative services, all businesses – no matter how small – can improve, innovate and grow. Taking advantage of new technological advances is one way to immeasurably improve productivity,
The post How the right technology can transform your business appeared first on Small Business.

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Is flexible working more valuable to employees than a pay rise?

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New research from HSBC highlights flexible and remote working practices are more likely to motivate staff and increase workplace productivity than financial incentives. Nine out of ten employees (89 per cent) claim that remote working is their number one motivator to boost their productivity at work, compared with 77 per cent of respondents who say
The post Is flexible working more valuable to employees than a pay rise? appeared first on Small Business.

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Half of the UK workforce to work remotely by 2020

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Remote and flexible working is becoming more and more popular for businesses across the UK. OddsMonkey have created a report on how many people work remotely or flexibly in the UK. Flexi-time has increased by 12.35 per cent from 2012 – 2016 (ONS), and last year, the TUC found that the amount of people remote
The post Half of the UK workforce to work remotely by 2020 appeared first on Small Business.

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Are young professionals being excluded from flexible working?

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Following recent reports which show the UK falling behind in the global drive for flexible working, new research from Michael Page reveals that more than eight in ten (84 per cent) office based millennial employees do not work from home in an average working week – with 82 per cent of those saying they are
The post Are young professionals being excluded from flexible working? appeared first on Small Business.

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Top tips for flexible working businesses

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Home based working has been increasing in popularity in recent years. Workers recognise the benefits of a more flexible approach to working, and employers are happy to make those allowances in favour of happier, more productive workforces. At the same time, entrepreneurship is also on the rise. According to the FSB, in 2016, 76 per cent
The post Top tips for flexible working businesses appeared first on Small Business.

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