This is what they had to say
The Smarter Working Initiative returns for a second year to champion flexible working
Business leaders across the UK are being called on to encourage their employees to work flexibly for one day as part of the Smarter Working Initiative, a campaign taking place on the first day of the school summer holidays.
The awareness day on Monday, 24 July asks companies to give their staff the opportunity to spend one day working from any location and at the hours that suit them best, in an effort to show organisations the positive impact of smarter working.
Last year’s inaugural campaign, supported by conference call company Powwownow, saw over 100,000 British workers from 114 companies given the opportunity to work flexibly, including staff from major British employers like RED Driving School Purplebricks.com and Mediacom, and boutique firms like Farfetch.
The initiative was launched last year in response to the widespread reluctance to offer flexible working and the overwhelming misunderstanding of the term itself. Research from Powwownow has found that nearly half of employers (48 per cent) do not encourage flexible working, despite 70 per cent of workers saying the option would make a job more attractive to them.
The campaign aims to demonstrate how efficient workers can be when they’re not tied to the desk or the traditional 9-5 working hours. Over half of workers (53 per cent) stated they would be more productive if they could spend some time working out of the office.
Additionally, with 44 per cent of British employees feeling like they don’t have enough time in the week for spending time with family and friends, the Smarter Working Initiative helps working parents to spend more time with their children on the first day of the school summer holidays.
Jason Downes, founder of the Smarter Working Initiative, said: “Our aim is to show companies that smarter working has an incredibly positive impact on employees and employers alike. Understanding these business benefits is the first step towards making a change in workplace culture, so we’re encouraging businesses to sign up and embrace flexible working for one day, with the goal of demonstrating the advantages in increased productivity and morale.”
You can sign your company up to the Smarter Working Initiative at www.smarterworkinginitiative.com
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