linkedin

Are you a new-age Luddite – and is it cutting into your profits?

HomeResourcesBlogAre you a new-age Luddite – and is it cutting into your profits?
Hot desk booking software

When the Industrial Revolution hit the UK, weavers known as Luddites smashed the machines they thought would put them out of work. But is there a modern day Luddite lurking in your office – and is it you?

Be bold and ask yourself these questions:

1) Do you have younger people working for you?

2) Is your office set up to allow flexible working?

3) Do you lie awake nights worrying about productivity?

These may seem separate issues, but they’re totally wound around each other. And if you are ignoring flexible working, you could be up a modern-day Luddite who just won’t accept that new ideas can be a good thing.

Your workplace is changing, whether you like it or not.

The new faces in your office, the Millennials – those born after 1980 – are one issue. They’re geared up for a cool workplace that fits with the more socially connected culture they’ve come to expect when it comes to connectivity and digital tools (watch this video).

If you don’t meet their demands a flexible workplace with options such as working from home, and booking hot desks and space online, you’ll be waving them goodbye.

That’s rubbing off on everyone around them.

And it makes a lot of sense for an employer, too. Workers with hands on the space and tools they need to do their jobs effectively are productive – and happy.

Having easy access to technologies such as video and audio-conferencing saves time and travel costs, as well as promoting collaboration.

So why are you holding back?

Are you afraid flexible working will actually reduce productivity or crash office relations?

In 2014, Jennie Willott, then UK Minister for Employment Relations in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, said “employers who introduce flexible working achieve tangible improvements to their recruitment, staff retention and overall employee relations.”

Happy workers are more loyal, she added – and they work harder.

Trust is a major part of making flexible working actually work – and with the right tools you can support that trust and enable your staff to get their jobs done wherever they are.

So change may not be your thing – but can empowering your staff ever be bad? Stop pointlessly ‘smashing the machines’ – find out how technology can make your business better.

* Is your business ready for the challenges and opportunities of flexible working? Ask an expert – 602-412-3602.