The benefits of flexible working are "unrealised" in SA, with mobile workers accounting for less than 20% of the workforce in nearly seven out of 10 companies, a recent survey found.
The survey, conducted by Coleman Parkes research house, included 50 interviews with senior director-level staff and 50 interviews with staff at an employee level.
In the eyes of senior management, hurdles in the way of greater mobile office implementation include company knowledge, data security concerns and the high cost of bandwidth and mobile technologies.
Difficulties in managing and controlling staff were also highlighted as problems at the round table discussion on the research findings, which was held at the Citrix iForum 2005 yesterday.
Graham Coleman, director of Coleman Parkes, says it is not the cost of enabling technology that is hindering the adoption of flexible working in SA, but rather soft issues such as company culture, trust and staff management.
"Companies can go out and buy the technology, equipment and tools needed to mobilise their workforce, but the challenge lies in changing a deeply ingrained culture that suggests work is somewhere that I have to be in order to do," says Coleman.
Chris Norton, country manager for Citrix SA, says managers can get around this by implementing performance-based work.
"We would suggest management adopt employee measurement based on deliverable performance, rather than time-and-attendance. Not only are employees made to be responsible for their outputs, but it also instils a feeling of trust between employer and employee, which has other positive knock-on effects for an organisation," he says.
The expense of broadband in SA is just an excuse, says Lewis Gee, Citrix VP for UK, Ireland and SA.
However, Gee concedes that it is difficult to look beyond the hard costs of adopting flexible working. He says the 20% gain in productivity British Telecoms achieved when it offered flexible-working options shows the increase in productivity will actually cover the costs.
"GPRS can also be used when working flexibly," says Gee.
The research indicates that, although adoption levels are still low, both employees and directors believe improved employee efficiency and productivity to be the main benefits derived by mobile working.
Three out of 10 directors say flexible working will grow rapidly in their company over the next few years and a further quarter anticipate steady growth.
Citrix also used iForum 2005 to announce it would soon release a flexible working product targeted at small and medium enterprises.
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