Review of a Hawksmere Report, New Ways of Working, by Stephen Jupp.

[Published March 2000]

There are many ways to implement flexible working, and most of them will fail to maximise the benefits. And most often this is because the implementation has too narrow a focus. If your goals are small the benefits will be limited.

For example, are you tackling hours of work in isolation from business processes? Are you considering home working without considering the effect on the office? Are you introducing new information and communications technology without taking advantage of the opportunities for reducing property requirements and business travel? Or are you trying to cut business mileage without re-examining where, when and how your employees work?

The ramifications of introducing new ways of working are big. They affect the whole organisation. But rarely are the issues and opportunities addressed on a whole organisation basis. Doing the job properly is a scary prospect - it's a mixture of ignorance, scepticism, departmentalism and entrenched culture that normally gets in the way. Organisations often prefer to tackle a single issue, like flexitime, or let one department go it alone, or to fudge it with a pilot (as if nothing like this had ever been tried before).

But part of the scariness is in knowing what to do, even once the principle of change is accepted. There are so many kinds of "new ways of working":

• variations involving flexibility time
• variations involving flexibility of location
• variations involving flexibility of contract/"atypical" contracts 

 - where does one start?

Apart from this website and apart from (or before!) calling in the consultants, one can read up on the subject. And a good place to start would be the Hawksmere report New Ways of Working, by Stephen Jupp.

The author has over 20 years of experience delivering flexible working solutions, formerly with Digital and with HOP Associates and more recently with his own company. A strong advocate of the "holistic" approach, in this report he sets out a blueprint for success, linking flexibility to business goals: 

• take the "whole organisation approach - look to perspectives of environment, work processes, business goals, individual motivation, support from central corporate services...
• acknowledge the social dimension of work, ensuring there are opportunities for face to face contact...
• develop infrastructure and policies which are organisation wide and integrated...
• set goals for individuals and the organisation which are integrated with SMART business goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Targeted)"

The author sets out what is in many ways a radical vision, of the streamlined organisation which 

• eliminates wasteful practices (like having underused property, indulging in unnecessary business travel, producing excessive amounts of paper and stifling the skills development of their staff)
• undertakes all tasks at the most effective time, from the most effective location for each task, and 
• motivates its staff to achieve more and to take responsibility for achieving business goals.

And he maps out the path for delivering the vision.

Unlike many other works on new ways of working, this report homes in on the practical. As well as guidance on how to set up schemes and develop policies, there are Appendices covering 

• general practical issues such as communications, document handling, coping with stress, 
• setting up a home office - equipment, legalities, tax, insurance etc
• working from a telecentre
• health and safety checklists.

If one is looking for a manual covering the whole range of flexible time options and non-standard contract variations, this report is not it. The emphasis, perhaps in line with the "whole hog" philosophy espoused, is on having the capacity to work anywhere, anytime. It deals most with the more difficult areas of flexible location, where in practice organisations usually offer most resistance.

For someone looking to set the stage for implementing new ways of working and creating a flexible organisation, this report is a valuable resource for responding to the Adullamites who wheel out the objections about isolation, control, H&S, career development etc

A key feature of Jupp's approach is the focus on people - not just in the business sense of human resources, but also in terms of their own humanity, as people having a life beyond work.

"In all areas of the workforce, the demand on staff is to become more multi-skilled". In some senses this can be seen as a negative development, associated with work intensification and unreasonable demands on staff. - see our report on Flexibility and Insecurity for instances of that view.

But, done properly, there are opportunities for employee development, and the opening up of enhanced career options. Training is clearly key to success in this. Developing the right culture of continuous learning can stimulate the motivation for achieving success in implementing the new ways of working, which in turn leads to the achievement of business goals.

The personal benefits are also emphasised. Flexible working should lead to "better integration of home and work life, reduced stress, better control of the work environment [by the individual], increased job satisfaction, and no regular commuting, only necessary travel".

Again, if it's done properly. Ignoring or suppressing the people dimension is likely to limit, or even negate, the potential benefits. And it helps to consider the whole person, not just the bit that turns up at the office.

At £99 the report is not especially cheap. But for a company tasking someone with finding out about new ways of working it will save many days worth of research, time which would in effect be spent "reinventing the wheel" - and very possibly ending up with a square one! It forms the basis on which to take the first informed steps, build the business case for introducing change, and set the ball rolling towards significant and positive change.

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Stephen Jupp can be contacted via:

Tel: 07000 745877
email: stephen.jupp@iee.org 
website: www.new-ways-of-working.co.uk