Reducing the need to travel is a key element of sustainable travel planning. And Transport for London, the largest transport authority in the country, is throwing its weight behind moves to flexible working with the publication of a Smarter Working Guide. According to Ben Plowden, Director of
Travel Demand Management at TfL:
"As London's population continues to grow, it's more
important than ever for employers to take advantage of the
opportunities smarter working practices can offer both their
organisations and their employees.
"The Smarter Working Guide is a really practical way to help
organisations put more flexible working practices into place."
The Guide has been produced in association with
Work Wise UK, the
national campaign to promote flexible working. It is very
attractively produced, and summarises the main options for flexible
work, the link with travel planning and the main business and
personal benefits.
The primary target audience is organisations who maybe haven't
yet begun to think systematically about flexible working, and for
those who are making their first foray into flexible working, or are
muddling along and want to think about it in a more integrated way,
this guide is great.
It's very attractively produced and easy to follow. It's
also very level-headed, so you can see the people at Work Wise UK
who produced it have got their feet firmly on the ground and
understand the practical issues facing companies. And
the Guide also recognises the importance of mobility for the modern
workforce, and the options for mobile working, working in virtual
teams and working from satellite sites are addressed as well as the
more familiar field of homeworking.
A 7 step process for planning and adopting flexible working is
included, though due to the length of the guide there is not much
detail in how to go about this. For more detail there are a
range of practical resources in Flexibility to provide the
framework for implementing a programme, for example in the
Complete Guide to Flexible Work (and see box below).
The Guide also contains useful checklists and case studies, and
is a welcome and soundly-based addition to the resources
available for flexible working.
There's also a section outlining how Smarter Working links to
travel planning. Transport for London is able to advise
companies on how to implement workplace travel plans, and it's great
to see that flexible working is now a key measure they promote.
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