Homelessness

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Mobile and Remote Working

1. This section describes the main issues related to mobile and remote working, and

demonstrates how public sector organisations can benefit from introducing

home-based working, and from using mobile devices and technology to help

deliver services.



Introduction

2. The majority of UK citizens now own a mobile phone, and recent technological

developments have led to a huge increase in their power and a reduction in their

price. Mobile phones now benefit from significantly increased functionality. Users

can surf the internet, check and send emails, access networked information,

listen to music, watch videos or take photographs through handheld devices. At

the same time, the connectivity infrastructure upon which they depend has

begun to provide the amount of capacity required to transmit large amounts of

mobile data. This infrastructure is made up of mobile phone masts, General

Packet Radio Systems (GPRS), Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) and third generation

networks (3G).



3. Private sector companies have sought to benefit from this by using the

technology to sell services (a practice that has become known as ‘m-commerce’)

and by taking advantage of it to change working practices. In the same way the

public sector can use mobile devices can reap benefits for their organisations

through mobile and flexible working. The Cabinet Office’s Transformational

Government strategy makes specific mention of the fact that the public sector

should make more use of mobile devices to improve service delivery.



4. In addition, the nature of ‘work’ for many people has changed over the past few

years – more emphasis is now placed on the tasks they carry out, rather than

the location in which they perform them. This has meant that managers are

more likely to recognise that staff may not do less work out of the office: indeed,

promoting home working could result in improved performance.



5. For the public sector, mobile devices that allow staff to work away from ‘the

office’, while maintaining connectivity with colleagues and access to relevant

information, can result in significant benefits. This reduces duplication, can save

on office costs and should deliver a better service for the customer.



Outline of section



6. Many public sector organisations have begun to communicate with their citizens

via mobile devices, to remind them of a hospital appointment, give them

information about local environmental issues, keep them updated about local

events and activities or inform them that their housing benefit has been paid.

However, this section concentrates on how and why mobile devices can reap

internal process improvements, rather than issues of delivering services to

customers. Furthermore, it focuses on the concepts behind and potential benefits

of mobile and remote working, rather than explaining the relevant technologies

in great detail.

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7. It covers the three main groups of staff that can be helped by the use of mobile

and other technology. They are:



 employees who are based at home;

 employees who work from home occasionally;

 employees who work remotely or ‘in the field’.

8. The first part of this section (Home Working) covers the first two groups,

whereas the second part (Mobile Working) discusses issues associated with the

third group. The final section looks at the human resources implications of mobile

and remote working.



Home Working

9. In the past few years, the number of people in the UK who work at home for

some or all of the time has increased rapidly. A 2005 study by the Office for

National Statistics found that around 3.1 million people in the UK worked mainly

in their own home, or used their home as a base, compared to 2.3 million eight

years previously.



10. In part, this has come as a response to employees seeking to balance their work

and family lives and an increase in the number of self-employed people.

However, it would not have been possible without the recent developments in

technology that allow staff to remain in contact with colleagues and clients,

regardless of their location. Indeed, 2.4 million of these home workers used a

telephone and computer to carry out their work.



11. Although private companies began the trend, local authorities have been quick to

see its potential benefits and offer their own staff the opportunity to work away

from the office. When introducing such initiatives, they have been wise to treat

home working projects in a similar way to other new ideas, by setting up a pilot

to assess the benefits (for both employee and employer), before rolling out if

successful.



Advantages



12. Home working is often popular with staff, for a number of reasons:



 increased freedom and flexibility of working hours;

 working in an environment of their choosing;

 reduced or eliminated commuting;

 lower home insurance premiums;

 improved ability to concentrate.

13. These factors often give the impression that home working will only benefit

employees, and projects tend to be the result of staff pressure. However, there

are many reasons why home working might also be attractive to employers,

some of which might not be immediately apparent:



 improved staff productivity;

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 a more flexible organisation that can provide services outside of ‘normal’

office hours;

 improved recruitment and retention;

 staff may be happier;

 reduced sickness absence;

 better relations with staff, as a result of trusting them to work alone;

 more efficient use of existing property assets;

 environmental benefit of reduced car usage;

 ability to employ more disabled people, who might otherwise have difficulty

getting to the office regularly;

 benefit to local communities where staff live (see the EU’s SUSTEL study for

more details).

Disadvantages



14. Any decision to introduce home working should have the support of both the

employer and those employees that are affected, since it may involve a change

in the terms of their contracts. In spite of the apparent benefits, not everyone is

necessarily keen to work from home, for a number of reasons:



 there will be fewer networking and social opportunities;

 many people value the distinction between their job and home that arises

from working in the office;

 the employee may not have ‘their’ desk in the office, and may have to work

in a cramped environment if accommodation is rationalised;

 using the home as a workplace could change an employee’s tax status.

15. Persuading employers of the benefits of home working has proved more difficult.

The main reasons for this are as follows.



 The employer will need to measure outcomes (the resulting service

delivery) and outputs (work produced) as opposed to inputs (time spent

working). For many organisations this requires a significant change in the

managerial culture.

 Teleworking may be suitable for only a small number of staff.

 Flexible professionals might want administrative and IT support staff to

work more flexible hours so that they receive the necessary support.

 IT staff might have to travel relatively long distances to deal with software

or hardware problems in the individual’s home.

 Corporate IT systems are not able to function 24/7 because of the need for

interfacing databases, down time and upgrades etc.

 Communication and team-building may be affected if staff do not see each

other regularly.

 Flexible workers do not pick up tacit knowledge about the organisation

(such as which person to speak to about a specific issue) as easily as their

colleagues in the office.

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 Staff who remain in the office may be jealous of workers who can ‘enjoy’

home working.

Equipment and software



16. Employees in any location must be given the equipment that is necessary to

carry out their job. This is also true for home workers – providing them with the

right tools prevents problems associated with ownership and responsibility from

arising. For example, if employees use their own equipment for work purposes

and require IT assistance, the employer may face a dilemma in agreeing to

provide that support, particularly if the problem was not a result of their working

activity. Of course, this situation might also be reversed – an employee could

encounter difficulties when using work equipment for personal use. The

organisation should decide on a corporate policy for dealing with this, and ensure

home workers are aware of the position.



17. Necessary equipment may include a telephone, computer with relevant software

(a laptop and docking station will provide more flexibility than a PC), printer,

photocopier, fax machine and internet access (preferably via broadband). The

increased availability of broadband, which provides faster, ‘always-on’,

unmetered access to network files and the internet without occupying a phone

line, has made home working much more feasible. If it is expected that the

employee will work from home relatively frequently, or may need access to large

quantities of data, the employer should invest in broadband for their use.



18. Finally, managers should be aware that corporate software licence agreements

do not extend to an individual’s own computer, in addition to their work machine.

This may dissuade some people from taking up teleworking, since it requires

them to use an additional (work) computer as well as their personal machine and

they may have space limitations at home. One solution to this problem is to

provide laptops, which take up less space and can be designated as a ‘secondary’

work computer (in addition to one they have in the office) under the terms of the

software agreement.



Security



19. Staff opting to work away from the office take on additional responsibilities for

their equipment. They should ensure that the latest service updates are

downloaded, and back up files on the network drive or disks, in case of computer

crashes, theft or loss. Computers must be password-protected, and employees

should use screensavers if the machine is left unattended, particularly if the

computer contains confidential data.



20. They should also be reminded that corporate policies on internet and email abuse

apply as much in the home as the office. However, if a teleworker has been

provided with unmetered internet access the organisation incurs no extra charge

from them surfing the web for personal reasons. Consequently, many employers

are relaxed about home workers using their equipment for personal use,

provided they remain within the boundaries of corporate policies.



21. Nevertheless, home workers may not be accessing the internet through the

corporate firewall, and consequently their equipment could be more vulnerable

than computers in the office. Websites that are blocked by the server at

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headquarters might be accessible from home, something that could be

problematic. Difficulties could also arise where, for example, a child protection

social worker might require access to sites that are wholly inappropriate for an

accountant working within the same department. In addition, if an employee

contracts a virus at home and then uses their laptop in the office, the corporate

network could be affected.



22. To minimise these risks, organisations should consider installing personal

firewalls for each remote worker, along with virtual private networks (VPNs).

VPNs provide protected access through an internet connection and are a useful

way of ensuring that flexible staff can access networked information securely

while away from the main office. However, they are only effective from a fixed

location (such as the employee’s home), and therefore organisations should

ensure that other measures are in place to ensure mobile staff are properly

protected.



23. One way of avoid most of the above difficulties is to use remote access software

such as Citrix. The only software installed in the individual’s home is the client

software. The individual also has an access key generator that ensures the

security and integrity of the connection. All the other software and data remains

on the organisation’s servers. The user sees an image of the computer desktop

that is the same as they would see if they were directly logged on to the

organisation’s network. Access to downloading and uploading files can be

controlled. Issues around corporate firewalls and mobile devices can be solved.



24. Some software does not work well or at all over these types of remote

connections but most software suppliers are now updating their software to work

since so many customers are using these remote working tools.



Hot-desking



25. Organisations that allow home working should set aside some office space for

‘hot-desks’. These allow remote staff to log on to the network through a spare PC

or, where the employee has a laptop, through a wireless LAN or network cable.

As a result, they can work with their own personal settings and access files that

were saved locally. In order to ensure that all home workers have the same right

to each desk, it is probably best to determine occupancy through a booking

system, via the intranet or an electronic calendar.



26. If managers are serious about wanting to reduce office space, they should

encourage staff to work away from headquarters as often as possible. While an

organisation is in the process of setting up home working, the ratio of remote

staff to hot desks can only be estimated. However, some private sector

organisations work on a basis of up to 7:1. Once the project is up and running,

occupancy of hot desks should be managed and monitored to ensure that they

are being used correctly, and that they are reduced in number if this is feasible.



27. Administrative support is required to ensure that home workers are supported

and messages etc. from the public are passed on to the home worker. Other

activities, such as change of passwords, building access etc also need to be

communicated to homeworkers. There can also be a knock-on effect for support

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who may have to turn around information requests on a particular day, as that is

the only day when the homeworker visits the office.



Teambuilding and support



28. Developing coherent teams from a group of dispersed individuals can be difficult.

Managers should ensure that they maintain communication with remote staff, by

telephone, email and in team meetings. Telephone conferences can be a good

(and cheap) way of dealing with issues, and some private companies have

invested in video conferencing to facilitate dialogue between staff in different

locations.



29. When used correctly, the ‘out of office’ function in email programs, along with

voicemail messages, can be extremely helpful to customers and colleagues. If

team members share their calendars electronically, colleagues will know where

they are based on any particular day. However, as mobile phones become more

advanced, staff are able to access relevant information and contact others

regardless of location and it may be that these functions become less important

in the future.



30. Corporate intranets are a good way for remote staff to remain connected to the

organisation, keeping them informed of developments and providing an easy way

of accessing information. Some organisations may want to set aside a section of

their intranet to facilitate online discussions in real time – this can be password-

protected if the topic is confidential. Other technologies, such as instant

messaging (text, voice and picture) can also help with communication.



31. More traditionally, face-to-face meetings are still probably the best way to

promote team working and good relationships between colleagues. However,

these assume much greater importance when they involve home workers. It is

vital to make them productive and relevant to all of those present, otherwise

some may feel that their attendance was unnecessary. Team members might live

a long way from any meeting place and could become resentful if the issues

under discussion did not need their input or could be resolved by telephone or

email. Consequently, managers should not feel that they must hold a team

meeting unless there is sufficient material on the agenda.



32. In addition to team meetings, employers should hold regular formal appraisals to

support, praise and encourage staff where appropriate. These should focus on

the extent to which mutual targets have been achieved, as outlined in part 3 of

this section. To ensure that staff feel valued, managers should also support them

in more informal ways, with a few words of encouragement or congratulations by

email or over the phone.



Financial implications



33. The costs and benefits of home working can be difficult to assess. Costs can

occur over time or be one-off investments, and benefits normally only appear

later. It is also important to recognise that they are likely to fall unevenly on

departments or units (IT and line managers, for example), and this is likely to

mean that different stakeholders will have varying levels of enthusiasm for

teleworking.

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34. In any assessment, it is important to ascertain whether the cost of allowing

someone to work from home will duplicate or replace the costs of keeping him or

her in the office. However, the following potential costs should be considered.

Although most of them do not amount to a great financial commitment, when

taken together they could be significant:



 the one-off, direct cost of hardware and software (whether purchased, hired

or leased), followed by ongoing costs of maintenance, upgrades or

replacement where necessary;

 additional printers and photocopiers (each home-based employee will

require one, rather than sharing them on the network);

 communications media (telephone, ISDN or ADSL, video-conferencing,

etc.);

 cost of internet connection – connectivity to the home may be more

expensive than leased lines;

 support and maintenance costs, whether provided in house or by a third

party;

 consumables, such as disks, CDs, toner cartridges, stationery and paper;

 ancillary accessories, including computer furniture and cabling;

 costs incurred by planning, management, implementation, development and

evaluation of the home working project;

 ongoing support from the IT department;

 training of home workers;

 modifications to the home site to ensure that it complies with health and

safety requirements;

 modifications to the main office site, such as installing hot desks and extra

meeting spaces;

 paying for meetings and possible staff accommodation in external premises

(e.g. hotels);

 transition to the new system, including rewriting software, setting up files

and databases, converting existing data, or use of temporary staff during

the transition phase;

 installation and delivery of equipment to the employee’s home;

 insurance for loss or damage to the equipment;

 business continuity guarantee and disaster recovery;

 travel of employee to meetings from home;

 payment of home workers’ heating and lighting bills – managers should

contact HR to identify the financial implications of this.

35. Major financial benefits of home working can result from reduced office costs.

The average office desk is unoccupied for up to 90% of the calendar year, yet is

paid for on a 24/7/365 basis and costs over £10,000 per annum. Consequently,

reducing the required office space by increasing staff to desk ratios can result in

significant savings.

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Case study: London Borough of Hillingdon



36. Hillingdon analysed 520 jobs in its housing department and identified 300 that

were suitable for remote working (via telework and mobile work). With a

supporting hot desk ratio of one workspace to 3.5 employees, the department

calculated that it could sell off half of its office space.



37. These calculations helped to develop a business case that estimated a return on

investment within four years, with ongoing net savings of £0.45m from year five.

Hillingdon’s analysis was later verified by Cisco.



38. However, very few organisations are aware of how much money they spend on

property to begin with – some might not even know how many people work for

them. Managers should identify these figures before beginning any home working

project, to ensure a reliable benchmark against which occupancy costs can be

measured. Some private sector companies (such as BT) have saved millions of

pounds in recent years as a result of their home working policies.



Mobile Working

39. Some types of work are particularly suited to flexible modes. For example, social

services, environmental health, highways or property staff often want to access

real-time information while they are ‘in the field’ rather than at a desk. For the

purposes of this section, they are termed ‘mobile’ rather than ‘home’ workers.



40. Since these employees are much less likely to require central office space, staff

to desk ratios for mobile workers are usually different when compared with their

home-based colleagues. If they can receive the necessary information

electronically on a hand-held device, they will not need to report centrally for

details of their next task and therefore should not require as much space in the

office. If they can input information directly into back-office databases while on

site via GPRS or third generation mobile networks, this would also reduce

duplication.



41. Consequently, mobile working can result in significant savings in office, process

and transport costs, as well as the time spent between jobs. This makes the

business case for remote working relatively easy to build.



42. Most of the technology is already available to enable mobile working – the key is

to identify it, use it in the right way and manage the change properly. In

addition, standards will need to be developed on issues such as integrating

mobile devices with back office systems.



Mobile working in local authority departments



43. In a local authority context, the following areas are well placed to benefit from

mobile technology:



 property services;

 building inspection;

 environmental health;

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 trading standards;

 social services;

 benefits;

 internal audit;

 community wardens;

 councillors.

44. In property services, staff responsible for building maintenance or repairs rarely

need to be in the office and would be able to work more efficiently if they

received real-time updates about jobs while in the field. Similarly, the ability to

input data about housing repairs directly into the back-office while on site should

remove unnecessary duplication and ensure that the service is delivered quicker.



Case study: Harlow Council



45. Following a critical Best Value review, Harlow improved the way in which its

housing repair service was delivered. Tenants with a problem now phone a

contact centre, from where the agent has access to each craftsperson’s diary and

can thus schedule appointments accordingly. The agent fills in a form on screen

according to how tenants describe the problem, and a workflow system then sets

processes in train by sending jobs to the relevant people – plumbers,

electricians, engineers, etc.



46. The craftspeople can then access their job information from the central database

in real time using PDAs. This also means that they do not need to report to any

office before visiting a property and can fit in extra jobs during the working day.



47. The new approach ensures a better and more efficient service to the tenants

(91% of problems are dealt with at the first visit to the property, compared to

60% beforehand). In addition, the system provides council managers with

valuable information about how jobs are progressing, how much they will cost

and how long they may take.





48. A similar approach could be taken in environmental health or trading standards,

both of which require staff to travel to various sites and collect data in the field.

Many unitary and county councils have begun to provide social workers with

mobile devices to help them with client assessments.



Case study: Cambridgeshire County Council



49. Cambridgeshire issued tablet PCs to its social services staff, who now enter

information straight into the system while assessing and meeting with clients.

This has had a number of hard and soft benefits:



 carers can identify any existing problems the client may have much quicker;

 carers do not need to report into the office at the start of the day as they

can access information remotely;

 difficulties with reading handwriting are overcome;

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 tablets do not form as big a barrier as laptops between staff and clients and

can thus help to develop trust;

 the council is expecting to reap annual savings of around £5m from the

initiative, as a result of reduced duplication and office occupancy.





50. Benefits staff could also be equipped with mobile devices, enabling them to make

assessments in clients’ homes and help them through applications. If officers

meet claimants face-to-face in this way, it could also deter fraudulent

applications.



Case study: Halton BC and ‘Benefits Express’



51. Benefits claimants at Halton were having difficulty filling in their application

forms, which led to frustration and delays in the payment of council tax rebate.

Halton decided that if its staff went into people's homes they would be able to

explain things better and get the correct answers first time. As a result, 'Benefits

Express', essentially an office on a bus that provides access to benefits

information and systems, was born.



52. The bus travels around estates, informing those people who need to renew their

benefit applications of what they need to do, before processing their claims. This

is normally done in the applicants' homes, using GPRS to access the benefits’

back-office systems, with the result that queries are answered and claims

updated and processed in real time. Staff also capture images (of signatures for

example) with digital cameras, which can then be put on to the council's

document imaging system.



53. Not only do claimants find out immediately whether they qualify for benefits, but

it also saves data duplication and paper chasing in the office, thus helping to

improve staff morale. Claims are now processed in a month rather than 50 days,

as was the case previously.



54. Once word about the bus got around, demand for benefits services mushroomed

and claimants began to ask questions about other related issues. Consequently,

Halton has introduced other services through the bus to create a mobile one-stop

shop.



Mobile working in healthcare



55. New technology provides the possibility that non-urgent healthcare could be

carried out without the patient needing to attend hospital. This could have a

particularly beneficial impact in rural areas.



Case study: Telemedicine in Cornwall



56. Despite having a population of nearly half a million, Cornwall has no towns with

more than 20,000 inhabitants, and only one hospital. However, the county has

12 minor injury units (MIUs), which are staffed primarily by nurses.



57. The nurses are trained in IT, injury assessment and treatment skills, and can

also supply some medication. When a patient enters the unit, the nurses film

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their symptoms and the pictures are streamed over an internal network that

links the various MIUs with an A&E specialist in Truro and radiologists in Truro

and Plymouth. Based on the pictures, these experts provide assessments and

diagnosis and either recommend that the patient travel to hospital or advise the

nurse to pursue a particular course of minor treatment.





58. The potential of mobile devices to improve patient care in hospital is huge. If

doctors are able to call up electronic care records on PDAs or tablet PCs while at

a patient’s bed, they may be able identify additional reasons for their illness. The

ability to input data straight into their record will also reduce the potential for

error, as well as cut out duplication. Some hospital trusts have begun to install

wireless networks into wards or surgery departments, giving clinicians who move

around access to real-time information about patients' conditions.



59. After serious incidents, valuable time is often taken up assessing the extent of

injuries once a patient arrives at hospital. If hospital staff had a better indication

of their injuries, patients could be treated immediately on arrival – or by

paramedics on the way to hospital.



Case study: Fife Fire and Rescue Service



60. Fife Fire and Rescue Service uses photo messaging at the scene of accidents to

take photographs of casualties. It then sends these images to the Accident and

Emergency (A&E) Unit at Dunfermline's Queen Margaret Hospital, which receives

them in real time.



61. This allows resident consultants at the hospital to examine the pictures and

assess the extent of injuries and mobilise the appropriate medical teams before

the patient arrives. Consultants can also decide whether it is more valuable for

them to wait for the patient to get to hospital or whether they should travel to

the scene to assist.



New ways of working



62. Some organisations that have adopted mobile working have encountered

problems trying to integrate the technology with existing systems. The most

successful projects have been combined with business process re-engineering

and newer technology that is designed to complement remote working. However,

integrating new ways of working into the organisation can be very difficult: the

section on Human Resources Issues provides some guidance on how to manage

this change.



63. The Transformational Government strategy sets out the case for delivering public

services through mobile channels, as part of its aim to design services around

the needs of the customer. As well as having benefits for government, this can

also make it easier for citizens to access services. However, mobile working also

has the potential to transform the way in which public sector organisations

function.



64. Examples of how mobile technology could change particular jobs are outlined

below.

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 During client assessments, social workers could gather information that

could be relevant for other departments, such as benefits or housing. This

could be added into council systems while on site.

 Refuse collectors could take note of abandoned cars or streetlights that are

not working. If these are reported on site, the technology could alert

relevant departments to their exact location.

 Traffic wardens could inform colleagues in highway maintenance of road

potholes.

 Benefits staff could determine whether their clients are entitled to other

services while on site.

65. The potential is there for remote staff to define new and more varied roles with

public sector organisations. The development of an ‘urban ranger’, who deals

with a variety of issues and is supported in the field by mobile technology that

allows him or her to access corporate and departmental systems on the move,

may not be far away.



Technology



66. Technological developments are likely to make mobile working an even more

attractive option in the future. There are now thousands of WiFi ‘hotspots’ in the

UK – areas of approximately 30m radius that allow people to access the internet

and corporate networks via radio waves, and thus without cables. They are

mostly in airports, hotels, conference halls, cafes, meeting rooms, railway

stations, trains, service stations and other public locations. Where hotspots are

not available, staff can normally access email through General Packet Radio

Systems (GPRS) technology, and mobile devices such as BlackBerries allow them

to respond by text or voice.



67. Public wireless networks can have knock on benefits for local businesses and

communities, particularly in areas where broadband access is limited. The

potential exists for local authorities to invest in them jointly with local companies

that are also interested in the technology – or alternatively charge them for the

use of corporate connectivity



68. A number of local authorities are installing WiMax networks in their areas. WiMax

works over a wider area than WiFi. Areas where WiMax is currently installed and

active are Manchester, Milton Keynes and Warwick. The primary purpose of these

networks is to give remote access to Council staff. However, spare capacity can

be sold to consumers. This is of particular interest in Milton Keynes as many of

the telephone lines in the area use aluminium which is not an effective carrier of

broadband signals.



69. In addition, telecoms companies have begun to promote ‘guest’ WiFi, which

enables visitors to university campuses, offices, warehouses or building sites to

access their own email, orders, brochures, network etc from another

organisation’s building. This allows people with unstructured, flexible work

patterns to access files, email and the internet from outside the office.



70. Increasingly, wireless networks are being installed in office buildings, removing

the need for excessive cables when staff log on to the network. This would be

particularly beneficial for employees who are only in the office occasionally, or

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may be moving around within the building. ‘Hot offices’ allow for even greater

flexibility than hot desks.



71. Future technological developments should also be considered, and integrated into

a mobile strategy where relevant. Photo messaging (MMS) has become

widespread in recent years and has the potential to improve service delivery. For

example, ‘urban rangers’ could send pictures to their colleagues to illustrate an

abandoned car, or building inspectors might inform repair staff of problems by

photo message.



72. Third generation mobile networks (3G) are also being rolled out in many areas,

providing huge capacity for mobile data streaming. Most organisations have yet

to consider how they might utilise it, but its potential for urban authorities should

not be underestimated (connectivity will be slower to spread to rural areas).



Security



73. Most of the security issues concerning viruses, passwords and acceptable use

policies that were raised in part one of this section also apply to mobile workers.

However, they assume even greater importance for staff that may be based in

any number of locations, since third party or open-air locations will probably be

less secure than an employee’s home.



74. For example, Wireless Fidelity (WiFi) cafés do not always have secure

connections – visitors do not necessarily need to log on with a password.

Consequently, work that involves sensitive or confidential information should not

be undertaken in hotspots, or indeed any location where other people might be

able to look over an employee’s shoulder.



75. In addition, employees who install and use wireless LANs at home for work

purposes also run security risks. Neighbours could access corporate networks if

the connection is not sufficiently secure, or alternatively ‘steal’ the bandwidth

provided by the LAN.



76. Moreover, legal and data protection risks are compounded when staff work from

different locations, because they may need to rely on data that is stored on

hardware that they carry around with them. Effective measures should be in

place to ensure that back-up disks and memory sticks (as well as laptops and

PDAs) are stored securely, particularly if they contain sensitive information.



77. The security of wireless devices is improving though, and provided sensitive data

is stored centrally and accessed through ‘thin client’ type solutions, the

confidentiality issue is reduced. In addition, a number of devices can be

destroyed or rendered useless remotely if they are lost or stolen.



NOMAD national project



78. The NOMAD national project, which was led by Cambridgeshire County Council,

developed support tools and business case modelling for mobile working in local

authorities. Further details about the project are available via

www.projectnomad.org.uk.

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Human Resources Issues

79. Any decision to introduce home-based or mobile working should involve all of the

relevant stakeholders, especially IT, facilities management, property and human

resources staff. Moving a member of staff to another working location might

mean a change in their contract, and it will almost certainly result in a different

relationship between employer and employee. In addition, many people work

from home occasionally on an ad hoc basis, but both employer and employee

should still agree on the reasons for and limitations to this arrangement.



80. Once an organisation has decided to adopt home-based or mobile working, they

should draft a policy or code of practice for the treatment of remote staff. They

should also be consistent when determining which roles do not have to be office-

based, to ensure that staff feel the policy is fair. A sample home working policy is

available in the appendix, but it should cover the following issues:



 definition of home-based or mobile working;

 eligibility and application procedure for home-based or mobile working;

 legal implications;

 health and safety implications;

 implications for contractual terms and conditions (availability, annual leave,

methods of contact, flexi-time, salary etc);

 procedures for monitoring remote employees;

 provision of equipment and support for remote employees;

 insurance;

 procedure to follow in the event of accidents;

 procedure to follow if either the employer or employee wish to terminate

the arrangement.

Recruitment and selection



81. Any organisation looking to recruit home-based or mobile workers should

determine whether candidates are suited to the job and would be comfortable

working away from the office. Any decision to be based elsewhere must be

mutual, and should take into account the candidate’s personal circumstances and

level of training. For example:



 Do they have sufficient space at home to work there?

 Does their family support the idea of home-based working?

 Is their domestic life stable, or do they move house frequently?

 Are they aware of the potential isolation associated with working away from

the office?

 Do they have childcare arrangements (home working is not a substitute for

this)?

 Are they sufficiently IT-literate?

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82. Many organisations insist that new employees should be based in the office for

the first few months after starting work. This has the advantage that new staff

will get a better understanding of the organisational culture and gain valuable

tacit knowledge about how it works. However, others employ people to work

remotely from the beginning of their contracts. This approach ensures that

candidates are certain of the working conditions from the outset and can also

broaden the pool of potential applicants, since they do not need to live near the

office in order to do the job.



Management issues



83. For managers, the biggest implication of home working is the reduced amount of

supervision and control they will have over their staff. However, control can still

be exercised in different ways, including:



 career opportunities;

 group pressures;

 review meetings;

 bonuses;

 workflow systems that identify when a task has been completed and make

processes more transparent.

84. Consequently, home working requires a more nuanced style of management than

ensuring employees are in the office during ‘working hours’. Instead of assessing

staff performance according to inputs (such as the time spent ‘at work’),

managers should judge them on their ‘outputs’.



Targets and measurement



85. In order to manage staff properly, we need to measure their performance. Once

sufficient relevant outputs have been identified, they should be translated into

targets for each employee, against which they can be assessed. Setting targets

should be a joint exercise involving the staff member and his or her manager to

help employees understand how they are contributing to corporate objectives,

and so ensure that they are realistic and achievable. Targets should also be

SMART:



 Specific

 Measurable

 Achievable

 Relevant

 Timed.

86. Organisations introducing teleworking should identify the standard and level of

work attained by office-based staff, against which any changes in performance

can be measured once they begin to work from home. This requires a significant

amount of data collection prior to beginning the project – although an alternative

would be to compare the performance of home workers with those employees

that are still based in the office.

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Case study: Bradford Council



87. Bradford Council piloted teleworking for a number of staff who processed benefit

applications. Since all employees process claims electronically, the authority was

able to compare the output of office-based staff and home workers using basic

quantitative data. It found that teleworkers processed an average of 25% more

claims per hour.



88. Source: EU SUSTEL project (www.sustel.org)



89. Determining relevant and reliable performance measures can be difficult,

depending on the job in question. Outputs that can be judged objectively in

‘units’ (such as those produced by the benefits staff at Bradford) offer obvious

advantages. However, they might need to be balanced by qualitative indicators,

which can be assessed in meetings, by email or over the phone, or by clients

through feedback mechanisms. Either way, all outputs should meet and fit with

corporate objectives, to ensure that the tasks undertaken contribute towards the

overall aims of the organisation.



90. Some private companies offer their staff incentives for meeting their targets,

such as piece rates, commission, ‘task and finish’ (whereby an employee works

until he or she has completed their designated tasks) or performance related

pay. However, money is not the only driver for most employees (particularly in

the public sector) and some staff might see this attitude as patronising – for

many, simple feedback and support may suffice.



Right to apply for flexible working



91. Under the terms of the Employment Act 2002, the parents of young children

have had the right to apply to work flexibly since April 2003. This fits with the

government’s desire to help people have a better work-life balance. In 2006 the

right was extended to cover workers who care for an older relative. The

government has announced that they plan on extending this right to all workers

with children under 16.



Support and maintenance



92. IT and administrative staff must be involved in any decision to implement remote

working, since it is likely to have a major impact on their jobs. Home-based or

mobile employees may start to ask for support ‘out of hours’, and might require

technicians to travel to their homes if they have a particularly serious IT

problem.



93. A few simple procedures can reduce the burden on support staff:



 procuring technology that allows IT staff to take control of computers

remotely, reducing the need for laptops to be taken into the office or have a

technician come to the employee's home;

 placing frequently asked questions or a quick troubleshooting guide on the

corporate intranet, providing a first point of call for remote staff in

difficulties (provided their problems do not extend to an inability to access

the intranet of course!);

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 providing administrative staff with a mobile phone that all remote workers

are able to call in an emergency.

Salary



94. Most organisations pay their home-based and mobile employees at the same rate

as they would receive in the office. However, employees in more expensive parts

of the country (such as central London) often receive additional ‘weighting’ to

counteract the high cost of living. If the individual’s registered place of work

(their home) no longer qualifies for this extra money, organisations may be

within their rights to withhold it.



95. Another issue arises if staff are paid by the hour, rather than a fixed salary. It

could be argued that they should be paid for the time spent travelling to a

meeting or work-related activity from their registered place of work.

Organisations should develop their own policies in this regard, and ensure they

are applied consistently.



Health and safety



96. Initially, employers should ensure that the chosen working location meets

necessary health and safety requirements by conducting an on-site assessment

to ensure the environment is suited to the job in question. Once this is complete,

the mobile or home-based employee is largely responsible for health and safety

in their working environment. Particular attention should be given to:



 use of laptop computers. Health and safety requirements stipulate that they

should not be used for longer than five hours a day. If the employee is

expected to be at their desk for longer than this, they should be given a

docking station and TFT screen to fit with these regulations;

 workplace assessments for safety of power supply and electrical equipment,

trailing cables, desk space, fire exits and any special physical requirements.

Following the initial assessment, employers only need to repeat the exercise

‘where practicable’;

 other recommendations, such as taking regular breaks from a screen, are

largely the employee’s responsibility.

Remove obstacles to change



97. Managers should ensure that staff have the tools and skills for the jobs they do.

All staff should be given relevant training, but employees who are based outside

the office often require different skills. Additional training may be required in the

following areas:



 information technology – smaller public sector organisations are unlikely to

require (or be able to afford) ‘24/7’ helpdesk support. Remote workers will

want to solve as many IT difficulties themselves as possible, and they may

require additional ICT skills to do this;

 health and safety, although the employer should make an initial assessment

of the workplace;

 security – to understand how data should be made secure, by using

passwords and screensavers, for example;

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 acclimatisation and addressing issues of time management and avoiding

overwork. New home workers often feel the need to work harder than their

office-based colleagues, but this is unnecessary;

 avoiding isolation – following the teambuilding ideas covered above can also

help to deal with this.

98. In addition, obstacles that could hinder the realisation of mobile working should

be removed, amended or otherwise alleviated. These may include inflexible job

specifications that prevent staff from exploiting the benefits of mobile technology

to the full, inappropriate or insufficient equipment or individual targets that do

not reflect the new working arrangement.



Conclusions

99. This section has shown how mobile technology can improve the way the public

sector is organised and delivers services to citizens. Among other things, mobile

government can result in efficiency savings, better service delivery and more

contented staff.



100. The knock-on effects of contented staff are improved recruitment and retention

rates, which can ultimately save thousands of pounds. By not limiting themselves

to employing people from a particular geographic area and giving employees the

chance to have a better balance between work and home life, organisations are

more likely to attract and keep personnel of the highest quality.



101. Above all, the greater flexibility provided by mobile technology means that

government can provide services as and when they are required. If staff can

access relevant information at the time and location of their choosing, this will

result in a significant improvement in customer satisfaction. The transformation

agenda seeks to redesign public services around the needs of the citizen. Mobile

technology can help to achieve this vision by providing services more flexibly,

‘out of hours’ and where they are required.



102. However, a number of hurdles need to be overcome before this vision is realised.

Some managers are sceptical about the benefits of mobile working, and many

jobs still need to be office-based. Most importantly, managing the change to the

new ways of working that mobile technology makes possible will be difficult. If

staff do not understand and support m-government projects (and the impact

they could have on their roles), they are unlikely to be successful.