The recent drive to adopt hot-desking working practices is damaging British Businesses and services a new report by The HR News, claims. As many as 9 out of 10 workers believe that staff moral has been damaged by the introduction of hot-desking into the workplace.
(PRWEB UK) 17 November 2012
A new survey by Community Care and Unison, found that 9 out of 10 social workers in Birmingham currently hot-desking believed it lowered staff morale. Social workers felt disconnected from their colleagues and unsupported by their mangers and believed that this was adversely affecting the quality of the service they were able to offer their clients.
A report by http://www.thehrnews.co.uk/2012/11/15/staff-happiest-when-part-of-the-furniture/ argues that this is another piece of research that shows hot-desking can damage businesses and organisations as well as bring cost benefits.
In the last 5 years as electronic communication has made it possible to work from anywhere, companies and organisations have cut costs by switching their staff to hot-desking. At the British Airways Business Centre near Heathrow for example, 25% of the 3500 staff currently hot-desk and this figure is set to increase. In new technology companies the the figures are even higher. The Telegraph, recently estimated that by 2015, only 35% of computer service company employees will have their own desk, a drop of over 60% in 5 years.
While hot-desking can be beneficial, the report says that in many cases the new working practices are not properly managed or thought out. Research by the University of Sheffield found that staff who moved from desk to desk felt less of a connection with their colleagues, and that communication suffered.
The report argues that in may instances employees work better from a fixed location or desk. Rather than cutting these areas back organisations should look to improve office and desk work areas for many of their departments. Businesses in particular should consider the environment their staff work in as well as the cost savings hot-desking can bring.
“During the planning process, we advise on design and layout techniques that allow the space to be used in the most efficient and ergonomic way.”
Interoffice
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For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/11/prweb10138581.htm
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