working Archives - public sector NOMADS

O2 Flexible Working Survey

April 17, 2012 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

02 Press Release 2nd Apr 2012 09:00

LONDON. O2 today released the results of the biggest flexible working initiative of its kind. On 8th February 2012, O2 conducted an audacious experiment, asking the entire workforce in its head office to work away from the office for the day. Employees based at O2’s Slough HQ – a quarter of its 12,000-strong workforce – participated in the pilot, operating remotely for the day as the doors were shut and lights turned off at the business’ 200,000 sq ft office.

The pilot aimed to push the boundaries of what is possible through flexible working and has underpinned O2’s contingency plans to manage expected travel disruption and delays during the summer’s Olympic Games. The facts speak for themselves. More than 2,500 people successfully worked away from the office, with only 125 mission-critical staff left in the building. Thanks to newly strengthened networks and upgraded collaboration technology, everyone who needed to get online and communicate was able to do so. 88% of staff said that they were at least as productive as on a normal day at the office, with 36% claiming to have been more productive. 16% of people slept a bit longer than usual and 14% spent additional time with their families. In line with the company’s ambitious three year sustainability plan, the experiment also benefitted the environment, with approximately 12.2t of CO2eq saved.

O2 continues to believe that the initiative sends a clear signal to its employees, business customers and other UK organisations on the advantages of working flexibly and one of the key drivers of the flexible working pilot was to research and share the results of the day.

The People Tale
Persuading thousands of people to stay away from their offices for a day might sound easy enough, but it is much harder than it looks. O2 began communicating with its staff weeks in advance, to give people plenty of notice. What surprised O2 was just how much the staff embraced the idea and concept. And as an additional bonus, the lifestyles of the workforce benefited too.

• O2 employees saved 2,000 hours of commuting time
• The majority (52%) of saved commuting time was spent working
• 14% was spent on family time
• 16% on extra sleeping (hopefully in the morning not during the day!)
• 12% on relaxation (sport, reading, personal emails etc)
• 6% on commuting elsewhere
• 88% of people that took part in the flexible working pilot thought that they were at least as productive as normal
• Over a third (36%) claimed to have been more productive
• Only 125 people needed to work from the office that day – only 109 cars entered the car park (against 1,100 on an average day),
• Only 1 person in the whole of O2 HQ didn’t know anything about the flexible working pilot and consequently arrived for work (!)

Ben Dowd, Business Director for O2 said, “Line managers are used to managing people they can see. Managing them remotely is a completely different thing. Our Pilot on 8th February didn’t solve all of those problems, but it is a good start. We can do a lot more to support line managers in charge of remote teams, but we know it’s not going to happen overnight. We’re educating people about the whole future of work here and there’s still work to be done, but we’re pleased to say this is a fantastic start”.

The Sustainability Tale
O2’s flexible working day may have revolved around a single point in time but its results have implications across much bigger timescales.
• O2’s electricity consumption decreased by 12% on February 8th. This was not as dramatic as the 53% decrease in water usage, but a significant number nonetheless
• Approximately 12.2t of CO2eq was saved on the day (for the purposes of comparison, this is equivalent to the CO2 emissions from driving 42,000 miles in a medium-sized diesel car)
• In combination with the reduction in CO2 emissions achieved by the commuting cuts, 2,000 hours of travel time was saved. These numbers represent a very substantial all-round benefit to the environment and to the company’s energy costs. This is the equivalent of an average of 45 minutes per employee
• O2 employees saved nearly £9,000 on the day primarily through reduced commuting costs
• Perhaps inevitably, the sustainability issue around flexible working is more complicated than it might at first appear. Paradoxically, for example, gas usage in the building increased slightly – probably due to the loss of body heat in the building.

The Technology Tale
Technology was inevitably right at the heart of O2’s flexible working experiment – in particular, ensuring that the network was able to support a huge increase in the number of virtual workers. O2 upgraded its Virtual Private Network (VPN) technology ahead of time, as well, as its network infrastructure; this was always a planned upgrade ahead of this summer’s Olympic Games. The company also automatically redirected traffic between servers in the north and south of its offices to ensure that the load was spread efficiently and that there were no local bottlenecks.

• A decision was made to accelerate the deployment of the new Microsoft Lync system – a risky move given the short timescales, but one which paid off by delivering a much more stable platform with better audio, video and sharing features.
• The flexible working pilot required a significantly higher use of O2’s internal network, with the reported maximum VPN users being 1,990 on the day against 1,300 on an average day. This represented 80% of the Slough HQ workforce
• The increase of VPN users compared with an average day was approximately 155%, with a reported increase in VPN data of about 110%. The network, however, remained stable, proving the potential for large scale flexible working
• At its peak, there was 162% of normal data traffic passing across the VPN, with no issues
• The IT helpdesk had a normal day with the usual volume of calls
• Instant messaging usage was up 40.8% over a normal working day. 146,876 IMs were sent over the course of the day, peaking at 17,843 IMs an hour at 3pm
• Lync Meetings hosted increased by 29%, with 406 meetings organised compared to 313 on a normal day
• Lync Meeting attendance increased by 25%, with 1,356 Lync meeting participants compared to 1,077 on a normal day
• Over 400 people attended training sessions in the run up to the flexible working day

Ben Dowd continued: “The success of O2’s experiment extends much further than just allowing some of the workforce to stay at home and work. It proves that with the right thinking and planning, even the largest organisations can protect themselves from the most severe disruptions to their business. It shows that given the right preparation and communication, conservative presenteeism-based attitudes to work can be changed, with great benefits for both managers and staff. It shows that businesses really can make significant and lasting reductions to their environmental impact, in a multitude of areas. Above all though, it demonstrates that the principles underlying flexible working really are the principles that will build the future of work, and determine the way that people, technology and buildings interact in the decades and centuries ahead. O2 is using these principles now, to build tomorrow’s businesses today.”

It is hoped that the pilot will also showcase the wider economic business case for flexible working in helping to drive efficiency, productivity and innovation. O2 has previously saved over £3 million in overheads through such measures. These learnings will be applied in line with the company’s ambitious three year sustainability plan, in which O2 pledges to help over 125,000 business employees work flexibly, and collectively save over 500,000 miles of travel and over 160,000 thousand tonnes of carbon emissions.

The initiative marks the latest phase in O2’s flexible working journey, following in the footsteps of previous efforts. These include O2’s Tomorrow’s Workspace initiative, which saw the business consolidate its operations into a single campus in Slough. By enabling the workforce to be more mobile, O2 achieved a 53 per cent reduction in its carbon footprint and despite having the same number of people HQ is now operating with 550 fewer desks.

Ben Dowd summarised the day, “Four weeks of intense preparation across the business – everywhere from HR and internal comms to IT and property services – laid the ground for an almost completely empty building and a widely distributed workforce. And thanks to this rigorous planning, the experiment was an astonishing success – not just in terms of the productivity of the workforce, but as a demonstration of the power of flexible working to forge lasting operational, cultural and environmental change within modern organisations.”

Flexible working has become an increasingly important aspect of British business culture, with a growing number of organisations and employees adopting a more flexible approach to working life as new technologies make it increasingly easy to conduct business from beyond the confines of the office. But figures from O2 suggest businesses’ policies and practices are typically narrow in their focus.

About Joined Up People
O2 has converted its understanding of businesses’ needs and objectives into solutions tailored to help organisations address the challenges they face as employees’ work and personal lives become blurred.
Joined Up People from O2 helps businesses embrace flexible working with a range of products and services that enables them to connect better and more easily with the things that matter most. It is a consultancy based approach which tailors advice and recommendations based on businesses’ specific needs. Flexible working can mean anything from using conference call on your mobile, getting emails on your phone, accessing the WiFi network via your laptop to full scale managed services.. And everything in between.

Notes to Editors:

Analysis of sustainability impacts conducted by Environmental Resources Management

For more information contact:

O2 Press Office
O2
t:01753565656
e: pressoffice@o2.com

Telefónica UK Limited is a leading communications company for consumers and businesses in the UK, with 23 million mobile, fixed line and broadband customers as at 31 December 2011.
Telefónica UK Limited is part of Telefónica Europe plc, a business division of Telefónica S.A. which uses O2 as its commercial brand in the UK, Ireland, Slovakia, Germany and the Czech Republic, and has 58.1 million customers across these markets.
Telefónica UK employs around 11,000 people in the UK and has 450 retail stores.
O2 is the naming rights partner of The O2, the world-class entertainment venue. · O2’s UK 2G mobile network provides voice and data services which are available to 99% of the UK’s population.
O2’s UK 3G (HSPA+ 900 / 2100 MHz) network currently provides voice and high speed data services to over 84% of the UK population at speeds of up to 14.4Mbp and 21Mbps in major cities.
O2 was the first UK operator to deploy a 4G/LTE trial network which has demonstrated peak speeds of over 100Mbps to a mobile device.
Telefónica Europe also owns 50% of Tesco Mobile, which operates in the UK and Ireland, and 50% of Tchibo Mobilfunk in Germany.

Filed Under: nomadNEWS Tagged With: flexible, O2, working

London Council’s Event

April 1, 2011 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

13 April 2011 09:00 – 13:45

Capital Ambition commissions a wide range of projects that focus on making efficiencies and improving services to tackle many of the issues facing local authorities in improving life for Londoners.

Supported by Public Sector Nomads they are organising a mobile and flexible working event for London’s Local Authorities.

Event Objectives:

To establish a common understanding of mobile and flexible working across London Councils
To share lessons learnt and best practice stories for either people, processes or technology surrounding the success of mobile and flexible working
To identify the current leaders in mobile and flexible working
To identify possible efficiency savings and productivity gains due to mobile and flexible working
To network and build relationships with other London boroughs and to support one another
To discuss technology partnerships and delivery partners that are experienced in mobile and flexible working.

Croydon Council have been leading on a project focusing on the creation of a ‘heat map’ which will capture the level of mobile and flexible working currently across all London boroughs. The heat map will be made available at the event and there will be ample opportunity to network and to discuss how a community of interest around new ways of working can be sustained across London.

Agenda

09.30 – Opening session – Introductions by Capital Ambition, Croydon Council and guest speaker, Ken Eastwood, Public Sector Nomads
10.00 – Workshops – Mobile and flexible working and home working workshops to consider the people, process and technology factors involved (45 minutes each)
12.15 – Lunch – Buffet style, with opportunities to chat with other council representatives
12.45 – Panel discussion – Open Q&A with the leaders of the workshops and a technical sponsor representative

Download the event flyer here.

There are 60 free spaces available on a first come, first served basis. Due to limited spaces, there will be a no show fee of £20.

Contact charlotte.stothert@croydon.gov.uk to reserve your place.

The event is being supported by a small number of carefully selected suppliers who will exhibit and participate in the final panel discussion.

Public Sector Nomads - all rights protected, request permission to use.

Filed Under: nomadEVENTS Tagged With: capital ambition, flexible, london, Mobile, working

Has Mobile Working Come Of Age?

February 25, 2011 By Ken Eastwood 1 Comment

By Iain MackenzieTechnology reporter, BBC News, Washington

First published by the BBC, 13 February 2011.

Has mobile working come of age?

I call it my lifeline,” says Fernando Ferrufino, showing off his new 4G datacard.

The Washington DC-based real estate agent has just started using the latest mobile broadband system and says the increased speed makes a big difference to how he works.

“It is definitely noticeably faster than 3G,” he notes.

Mr Ferrufino is busy ploughing through his e-mail inbox, while listening to voicemail messages on speakerphone.

His office this morning is a comfortable two-bedroom apartment that one of his clients hopes to buy. Later in the day, he may find himself working from the passenger seat of his car.

Times have changed, he explains, since he first started in the property business. Agents would return to their office several times a day to collect documents, keys and catch-up on paperwork.

Mr Ferrufino’s employer, Redfin, like many companies, is facing the challenge of picking the right hardware and software solutions to equip its staff for remote working.

A deluge of new devices, including smartphones and tablets, has brought fresh challenges for corporate technology managers.

Surveys show that allowing staff to work remotely improves productivity

A 2010 study, carried out by Cisco systems, found that 45% of IT professionals were unprepared or struggling to implement mobile workforce systems.

However, the need to get it right, from both a staffing and productivity standpoint, is apparent.

The same Cisco study found two-thirds of employees desire work flexibility, with more than half of respondents claiming they would take a lower-paying job that offered more flexible working.

Yet responses to the demand for mobile working are mixed, according to Prof Kevin Rockmann, of George Mason University.

“I think organisations are struggling to know which technologies to support,” he said.

“A lot of people that I know have multiple cellphones or laptops. They have an iPad that is theirs and one that belongs to work.

“How does the organisation decide what it is going to take care of?” he added.

Trying to set broad policies is less effective than ad-hoc solutions, according to Prof Rockmann.

“Let your employees innovate and use the technologies they want to use. Help them do that and don’t restrict,” he said.

Security concerns

The most significant barrier to allowing staff to drive innovation and bring their own mobile devices of choice is security.

Among IT decision makers, surveyed by Cisco Systems, 57% rated security as the biggest challenge to enabling remote working.

Traditionally, companies have chosen to issue staff with customised, secure laptops.

In many cases, employees find their user experience is severely compromised by the many layers of protection needed to safeguard corporate networks.

One potential solution, being put forward by security firms such as Citrix, is to host office software in the cloud.

Instead of running locally on the user’s machine, they log on to a virtualised work environment through dedicated applications or a web browser.

“We really can provide access to all that information while keeping it within our infrastructure – behind the firewall, if you will,” says Tom Simmons, area vice-president, US Public Sector at Citrix.

New devices

Mr Simmons explains that such an approach allows staff to access a common user interface from a wide range of devices.

Among those is the seemingly ubiquitous iPad. According to research by Forrester, three quarters of companies in Europe and North America are already using or planning to make use of Apple’s handheld device.

In some cases, the iPad will displace existing laptops. However, the study found that many companies plan to make use of it for tasks where no electronic device is currently involved.

Supporters of the cloud-based model claim it is the best way to deal with an ever-changing hardware market.

“It is that ability for the technology innovators on the device side to keep coming out with new capabilities, new formats, and yet not put the pressure on the IT organisations that have to service the user community,” said Tom Simmons.

Beyond the technical challenges, there remain simpler, more human, obstacles to mobile working.

Lazy workers

For some, there is still a stigma attached to those colleagues who shun the office, with a perception that “working from home” is shorthand for “taking it easy”.

“You find a lot of middle and upper managers don’t feel comfortable letting people out of their sight,” says Prof Rockmann.

The reality, he points out, is quite different: “When employees get more autonomy, they work harder, they are more grateful, they’ll stay connected and you can be even more productive.”

That assertion is supported by the boss of mobile estate agent Fernando Ferrufino.

“I can see exactly what they are doing,” said Karen Krupshaw, market manager for Redfin.

“I am very connected real-time through some wonderful systems that allow me to understand exactly what my agents are doing.

“It’s not a concern at all,” she said.

Filed Under: nomadNEWS Tagged With: bbc, Mobile, working

21 Hour Working Week – The Future?

February 13, 2010 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

A report published today by the New Economics Foundation (nef) forecasts a major shift in the length of the formal working week as a consequence of dealing with key economic, social and environmental problems.

According to nef, there are several forces pushing us towards a shorter working week: lasting damage to the economy caused by the banking crisis, an increasingly divided society with too much over-work alongside too much unemployment, and an urgent need for deep cuts in environmentally damaging over-consumption. These combine with a growing interest in people spending more time producing and delivering a share of their own goods and services – from co-produced care and neighbourhood-based activities, to food, clothing and other necessities.

“So many of us live to work, work to earn, and earn to consume. And our consumption habits are squandering the earth’s natural resources”, says Anna Coote, co-author of the report and Head of Social Policy at nef. “Spending less time in paid work could help us to break this pattern. We’d have more time to be better parents, better citizens, better carers and better neighbours. And we could even become better employees: less stressed, more in control, happier in our jobs and more productive. It is time to break the power of the old industrial clock, take back our lives and work for a sustainable future.”

If we are to seize these opportunities, says nef, the inevitable consequence is a much shorter standard working week, with 21 hours as the goal. The report shows that:

Many people work longer hours than 30 years ago. Since 1981 two-adult households have added six hours – nearly a whole working day – to their combined weekly workload.
Today, nearly 2.5 million people can’t find jobs. Cutting labour to save money without changing working hours means some are burdened with overwork while others lose their livelihoods.
As a result of this growing inequality in working time, the unpaid components of life are suffering. Family life, neighbourhood networks, time with children and quality of life for older people are all diminished, with painful results for society that sometimes get lumped together and lamented as ‘Broken Britain’.

The authors of 21 hours argue that a much shorter working week could help to tackle a range of urgent and closely related problems: overwork, unemployment, over-consumption, high carbon emissions, low well-being, entrenched inequalities, and the lack of time to live sustainably, to care for each other, and simply to enjoy life. It would enable many more people to join the workforce and allow for measures to reduce damaging levels of inequality. [Read more…]

Filed Under: nomadGENERAL, nomadNEWS Tagged With: 21hrs, week, working

Nomad News

October 30, 2009 By Ken Eastwood Leave a Comment

I have been a board member of the Nomad mobile and flexible working forum since 2003 and have long recognised the importance and value of Nomad in terms of promoting innovation in local government and sharing best practice. I passionately believe that mobile and flexible working is going to be critical to the future of local public service delivery.

I’m very pleased to have brokered transitional arrangements with Cambridgeshire County Council to ensure that Nomad can continue. Under new arrangements I will assume the national lead for Nomad and I’m working on proposals to develop a revised and rejuvenated programme, supporting regional groupings including Nomad Scotland.

I am particularly interested in exploring the opportunity to broaden the community to include all of the public sector.

I recently presented on local government experiences to the Department of Health and a Strategic Health Authority and was struck, for example, by the synergy and overlap between work just commencing in the NHS and our experiences in local government. The state of the public purse surely means we need to find ways of collaborating across the public sector and ‘Total Place’ may well prove to be the strategic catalyst we need here.

I also hope to take Nomad into new and emerging areas and to get closer to the leading edge of technological and social innovation.

We face challenging times and I genuinely believe that by working together we can find new and creative ways of delivering services in the future. Widespread adoption of new work styles is going to be critical to that.

The forthcoming swingeing cuts in public expenditure will mandate radical and creative thinking, including around options to deliver services across organisational and geographical boundaries. Changes of this nature will inevitably require remote access to different back offices, effective data sharing and the ability to work across these boundaries in a time efficient way. Mobile and flexible working and associated technology implementations are going to be fundamental here.

Across the wider public sector there is significant opportunity to implement new work styles. NHS community health services, for example, overlap with local authority social care services and present enormous opportunity to take a whole area approach to re-engineering service delivery. Even modest efficiency improvements in these areas could net £billions in savings and there is proven opportunity to implement mobile and flexible working solutions in these and other areas.

Nomad is well placed to support the public sector in implementing change. It seems essential that in striving to deliver efficiencies we avoid duplication of effort and take steps to ensure we share what we find works and, perhaps even more importantly, what we find doesn’t.

I am in detailed discussions with potential partners and possible sponsors and have been working hard to put Nomad on a sustainable footing. I have also given some thought to a possible future low-cost subscription service as a means to support Nomad’s future.

I would be very interested to hear from others on how you would like to see Nomad progress. Share your views and enter a draw to win an iPod Touch by completing the short mobile working survey, designed with our friends at Public Sector Forums, accessible here.

Alternatively, post comments below or get in touch directly at mail@nomadpublicsector.com. Please let me know how you think Nomad can help support and develop 21st century public services.

The existing website at www.nomadpublicsector.com remains accessible pending replacement with a new community site, harnessing social web functionality to support a vibrant online community of Nomads.

Filed Under: nomadGENERAL Tagged With: flexible, Mobile, nomad, working