Home working helps retain talent
Tue, 30 Jun 2009
The ability to work remotely leads to significant improvements in work-life flexibility, productivity and overall satisfaction, a new study has indicated.
According to global networking firm Cisco, as the modern workforce continues to evolve and globalise, more companies are evaluating a telecommuting strategy to save costs and reduce staff attrition.
The firm has found that Cisco employees spend about 63 per cent of their time communicating and collaborating with managers and colleagues, although as many as 40 per cent of them are located in a different city to their direct senior.
Cisco employees now telecommute for an average of two days per week, with 60 per cent of the time saved spent working and 40 per cent spent on personal time.
For the firm this has led to savings of more than £150 million, it is reported, through greater productivity and lower costs in areas such as recruitment and training.
Rami Mazid, vice-president for global client services and operations at Cisco, said that in the age of a global market, time and distance separates people and workspaces.
He added: "Telecommuting and collaborative technologies are effective in breaking down separation barriers and enabling the transition to the borderless enterprise.
"In addition, as demonstrated by our recent study, a properly executed program for telecommuting can be extremely effective at unlocking employee potential by increasing work-life balance, productivity and overall satisfaction."
George Derbyshire, chief executive of the national enterprise network NFEA, recently claimed that the economic downturn has encouraged more people to start home-based businesses.
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