UK working laws will change on 30th June 2014,
giving all UK employees* the legal right to request flexible
working. But new research amongst British SMBs reveals that with
less than three weeks to go:
- Only half (55%) of SMB decision makers
are aware of the new legislation
- Almost half (46%) of SMBs have no
flexible working policy in place
- Only 43% of SMB decision makers support
the legislation, 21% believe it will negatively impact their
business
- Trust and perceived impact on culture
are the main barriers to change, not technology
- There are significant generational
differences in attitude as SMB bosses 25 to 34 are twice as likely
to support the legislation as those over 55
A new study by YouGov on behalf of Citrix has found almost half
(45%) of small and medium business (SMB) decision makers in Britain
remain unaware of significant changes to UK employment laws on
flexible working, less than three weeks before they are due to come
into effect.
According to a report from the Office of National Statistics,
the number of people regularly working from home in the UK
currently stands at 4.2 million (13.9% of the country’s workforce).
This figure is set to rise dramatically once new laws have come
into force on June 30th granting UK employees with more than 26
weeks continuous employment the legal right to request* flexible
working options (something previously only available to those with
young children and certain careers) and their employer will have a
legal obligation to consider their request. However, according to
the study commissioned by Citrix there is a significant lack of
awareness, preparation and support for the new legislation amongst
UK SMBs, potentially leading to severe friction between
ill-prepared employers and staff who wish to work more
flexibly.
Stats Suggest Benefits of Flexible Working but SMBs Are
Wary
The Department of Business Innovation and Skills estimates that
in its first 10 years, the change in flexible working opportunities
will bring overall economic benefits of £475 million through
improved business efficiency and employee satisfaction. However, of
the SMBs polled that don’t offer flexible working options at
present, only one in twenty (5%) believe that the new legislation
will have a positive impact on their business, while one in five
(21%) believed it would in fact have a negative impact. Increased
productivity is cited by the Government as a key outcome of the
legislation, yet only 16% of those small and medium businesses that
don’t offer flexible working believed this would be a benefit from
the change.
Millennial Generation Most Favourable to the Flexible Work
Movement
When announcing the legislation changes, the Government stated
they would help to remove ‘cultural assumptions’ and make
workplaces fit for the 21st Century, but the data revealed a clear
divide in attitude between those whose working life has been spent
in the 21st Century and those whose has predominantly been in the
20th Century. SMB leaders aged 25-34 were more than twice as likely
to be in favour of flexible working as their older counterparts
aged 55+ (68% vs. 32% respectively), and three times as likely to
see it having a positive impact on their business (21% vs. 7%).
Mobile Workspace Technologies Critical to Helping Flexible
Work Overcome Existing Perception Problem
Despite 4.2 million people now regularly working from home, it
appears many small business managers retain the view that ‘those
working from home are not working as hard’. Almost a quarter of
those polled (23%) named ‘trust’ as a barrier to adoption of a more
flexible approach while ‘culture change’ was cited as the second
most common barrier cited (16%). However, rapid advances in
technology and it’s ever increasing affordability mean that just
over one in ten (11%) view this as a potential barrier.
“Thanks to modern technology, putting efficient flexible working
processes in place can be done both quickly and easily,” said
Andrew Millard, Senior Director International Marketing, Citrix.
“Whilst trust clearly remains a major issue, mobile workspace
technology, which includes video conferencing, secure file sharing
and real-time collaboration software, helps businesses overcome
this by allowing employees to work together regardless of where
they are. Work is something you do, not somewhere you go. As our
own customers show us every day, those who are most flexible are
increasingly the most successful.”
Conversion Rate Experts (CRE) is a Citrix customer who has built
a successful international business using remote working. Overall,
CRE’s main motivation in adopting a flexible culture has been to
cut down on wasted time and cost. The firm seldom visits clients
during the course of projects and often doesn’t meet with them to
begin with either: everything is done using GoToMeeting.
“In just one week, a member of our team had 39 online meetings
with people in 11 countries,” said Dr. Karl Blanks, co-founder of
CRE. “Being set up with GoToMeeting means he can not only talk to
clients at the touch of a button but also share his screen and give
them high-quality visual presentations. All our consultants are
well paid and real experts at what they do, so the idea of making
them spend lots of time travelling is crazy and would be
counterproductive.”
Related Links
- Blog: Guest Blog: The Future of
Working
- Blog: 6 Tips for Successfully Working
from Anywhere
- Video: Small Business Stories:
Conversion Rate Experts Go Global with GoToMeeting
Follow Citrix
- Citrix Small Business product page
- Twitter: @Citrix,
@GoToMeetingUK
- Facebook: Citrix
About Citrix
Citrix (NASDAQ: CTXS) is a leader in mobile workspaces,
providing virtualization, mobility management, networking and cloud
services to enable new ways to work better. Citrix solutions power
business mobility through secure, personal workspaces that provide
people with instant access to apps, desktops, data and
communications on any device, over any network and cloud. This year
Citrix is celebrating 25 years of innovation, making IT simpler and
people more productive. With annual revenue in 2013 of $2.9
billion, Citrix solutions are in use at more than 330,000
organizations and by over 100 million users globally. Learn more at
www.citrix.com.
For Citrix Investors
This release contains forward-looking statements which are made
pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and of Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements in this
release do not constitute guarantees of future performance. Those
statements involve a number of factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially, including risks associated with the
impact of the global economy and uncertainty in the IT spending
environment, revenue growth and recognition of revenue, products
and services, their development and distribution, product demand
and pipeline, economic and competitive factors, the Company’s key
strategic relationships, acquisition and related integration risks
as well as other risks detailed in the Company’s filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Citrix assumes no obligation to
update any forward-looking information contained in this press
release or with respect to the announcements described herein.
The development, release and timing of any features or
functionality described for our products remains at our sole
discretion and is subject to change without notice or consultation.
The information provided is for informational purposes only and is
not a commitment, promise or legal obligation to deliver any
material, code or functionality and should not be relied upon in
making purchasing decisions or incorporated into any contract.
###
©2014 Citrix Systems, Inc. All rights reserved. GoToMeeting and
Podio are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems,
Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered
in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and in other
countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are
property of their respective owners.
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total
sample size was 713 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 27th -
29th May 2014. The survey was carried out online. The figures have
been weighted and are representative of all GB business size.
* Employees must have 26 weeks continuous employment at the same
business at the date the application is made.
** New legislation gives employees the right to ask for flexible
working, not the right to have it
For CitrixLindsey Maclean0207 067 0447Lindsey.maclean@webershandwick.com
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