Home working not an option for majority of staff

Survey reveals ‘social benefits’ of office work

The move towards home working is “a myth” as the majority of staff never work from home and many find an office environment more productive, a new study has claimed.

Four out of five of employees (79 per cent) said they never worked from home on any occasion, according to a YouGov poll conducted for the British Council for Offices (BCO).

The survey of 1,000 workers also revealed that employees greatly valued the “social benefits” of working in a communal space.

Meeting colleagues face to face and interacting with other employees were rated as the top office perks by 79 per cent of those canvassed, above access to technology, files and documents (61 per cent), and better computer hardware and software (35 per cent).

The council claimed the study “dispelled the myth that the bricks and mortar office is a thing of the past.”

Gary Wingrove, president of the BCO and head of construction programme management at BT Group Property, said: “We live in an age where – in theory – we can work almost anywhere. Despite this, the research suggests that employees are still inherently wedded to the office for collaboration and stimulation.”

However, the survey discovered the top complaint about working in an office setting was noise and distraction. Half of workers believed that fewer interruptions was one of the biggest benefits of working from home, with 35 per cent adding that a quieter environment made it easier to concentrate.

Almost four in five (77 per cent) respondents said an unattractive workplace would make them less proud to work for an employer, and 27 per cent claimed they would have to be paid 11 to 20 per cent more to remain at an organisation with very poor offices.

Two-thirds of those surveyed also felt their work space could have a positive impact on their ability to work efficiently. Six in ten said that having a view from a window was conducive to performance, with the same number citing the quality of facilities such as kitchens and toilets as important.

But the research found that only 35 per cent of employees had been consulted on the design of their office space, despite the fact that 77 per cent said they would like to be involved.

Wingrove urged employers to “prioritise their staff as the ultimate end users of the workplace” and to be more democratic when considering office design.

“In effect, offices need to become what has been referred to as ‘business hotels’, providing a range of settings to incorporate both the quiet and comfort of home with an interactive and social work space,” he said.

Last month, two academics predicted that a “work revolution” would occur in the next decade, with offices shifting from being nine-to-five workplaces to meeting places, as universal flexible working became the norm.

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Diannah Lowry 04 November 2011 17:15

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Interesting findings, however, what needs to be explicitly acknowledged in this study is that employees are not homogenous in working style preferences. Preferences are likely to depend on a number of key variables such as age, gender, career stage, and profession, just to name a few.....

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