Work-Life Balance Fund
Pauline Henderson set the scene by describing the Work-Life Balance Fund initiative based in the DTI. The campaign was launched by the Government in March 2000 with the aims of raising employers awareness of the business benefits from helping employees create a better balance between life and work. Her presentation outlined all the advantages and disadvantages of flexible working , primarily home based. It became clear that there were barriers to it's adoption, notably the culture of "face management" ( where if you can't be seen you can't be working!). It was also clear that it shouldn't be applied without careful consideration on an individual basis as not all jobs are suitable for such an approach and in any case 100% homeworking was not seen as a desirable outcome. She rounded off a very interesting and challenging presentation with a vigorous question and answer session.
Contact: : pauline.henderson@dfes.gsi.gov.uk

Case studies from British Telecom and the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea
"The BT experience of implementing flexible working" - Peter Jones of the BT Workstyle Consultancy Group described how BT introduced flexible working and the lessons learned from their approach to managing remote workforces. A web site was designed for their extensive Intranet to allow staff to register their interest and advising them on the implications and benefits of flexible working. The key approach was described as "Supporting people not buildings". This allowed the company to make significant reductions in office space and realised increased productivity, and less travel and more leisure time for their staff. Peter's presentation led to a lively exchange of ideas and questions on flexible working which continued well into the coffee break.
Contact: Peter.h.jones@bt.com

What do the staff think?
The second case study was presented by Derek Graham, Business Development Manager of the RB of Kensington & Chelsea and also the Vice-Chairman of the Association.
Derek described a body of research that had been carried out in his department of the council on the application of home working. Web based questionnaires, focus groups were used to determine the level of interest and application and the drivers/impediments to the initiative. Activity sampling was used to determine space utilisation to inform on the feasibility of "hot desking".
The conclusions were that 75% of staff would like to work from home, saw reduced travel and improved work-life balance as key drivers. Employers saw improved recruitment/retention, reduced sickness and greater efficiency arising from it's application. Concerns were expressed over loss of social contact and there was little support for "hot desking". Future plans included extending the pilot into other departments and gaining the commitment to a work/life balance policy.
Contact: Derek.Graham@rbkc.gov.uk

Achieving personal balance
Peter Cook, Principal of Human Dynamics, a creative management consultancy, conducted a mini-workshop aimed at getting groups of delegates to take a creative and critical look at their own work/life balance in the 4 spheres of Work, Financial, Family & Leisure. Outcomes were discussed and delegates were able to take away a "map" of their personal balance situation. Although it was necessarily a shortened version of the full workshop, they found it interesting and informative and feedback was positive from the delegates.
Contact Peter@humandynamics.demon.co.uk

After a good lunch, Clive Leversha of Computacenter demonstrated an interesting application of the technology associated with flexible working at Sun Microsystems. The system shown was one which employed a smart card approach where users could access their working files and applications from anywhere in the organisation by inserting the card into any convenient terminal. Benefits were, low legacy costs, thin client approach and using the Sun Solaris system and Office applications incurring zero update costs.
Contact: Clive_leversha@computacenter.com

The seminar was brought to a close by the last speaker, Mairi McLean, the Chief Executive of Waveney District Council. Her presentation, "Balancing Life and Work", incorporated interesting and highly relevant research into the realities of working life. This showed that in the higher echelons of the public and private sector, managers were still expected to put in longer hours and accept significant imbalances in their personal/family relationships. Working conditions and hours were totally out of line with Work-life balance. In Waveney, Mairi had started a process aimed at Members, managers and staff identifying the stumbling blocks to achieving a work-life balance and encouraging actions to address the causes, whether cultural or personal. An interesting question and answer session ensued and was only drawn to a close by the need to vacate the presentation room.
Contact: Claire.Moore@waveney.gov.uk

Paul Talbot. Chairman ALABC.
26 November 2001