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The City of London "has largely failed to adapt
to changing social expectations and new ways of working. It is dominated by a
"macho" and long hours culture, and has failed to take advantage of
new technologies in the way that other sectors have. As a result, City firms are
in danger of losing key personnel and being unable to replace them, as both new
attitudes to work and demographic changes make themselves felt.
These are the findings of a new report by Parents
at Work. The survey of City workers, directors and partners found that
although there are often in principle work-life balance polices in place,
workers who attempt to take them up are penalised.
The report identifies 3 "challenges"
for the City:
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City employers have a broad range of work-life balance
policies in place, but must now move the culture forward to fully
include employees who take them up.
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City organisations appear to lag behind counterparts in
other sectors when it comes to exploiting technology to facilitate
flexibility.
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Consistently high staff attrition in the face of
changing demographic patterns suggests the City may be in danger of losing
key skills and of being unable to replace them.
Focus groups however identified 2 solutions to overcome the
barriers to flexible work:
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the need for new, non-standard role models of success,
and
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sharing experience of successful flexible working.
The report is peppered throughout with quotes, highlighting
issues and individual responses. It also contains case studies showing where
and how flexible work patterns have been introduced. The findings are also
set within the context of other studies and the developing public policy
context.
For readers of the Flexibility
Guide to Flexible Working and the irreverent 12
Ways to Screw up a Flexible Work Project many of the findings,
particularly on the intransigence of culture and the failure to use
technology effectively, will not come as a great surprise.
It is still enlightening, however, to explore such a
detailed and informative study. The main issue is, of course, how will City
firms respond?
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The research for Quality of Life in the City: A report on
Work-Life Balance in the City of London was carried out by Parents
at Work, supported by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, Goldman Sachs and Simmons
& Simmons.
For further details see the Parents
at Work website. |
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