Snow in UK and work flexibility - Building Gender Balanced Business

As the UK gets record snowfall (the coldest week for 20 years), millions of workers are struggling in to work. Some will make it, hours later than normal. Others end up staying at home.

Their trouble highlights the fact that many companies have not yet radically changed their way of working. The technology is there for great numbers of employees to be able to work from home. But it is still relatively unusual to find companies that have that kind of flexibility on offer.

This is an issue close to women’s hearts, as they know they can be more efficient and balance work and life more easily with such flexibility on hand. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that when women get into positions of influence they change things in this direction.

One of the first changes brought in by Angelines Basagoiti, General Manager, Sodexo Spain, Vouchers & Card Services – the first women to reach this position of seniority in that part of the business – was to make sure no-one stayed at work late. She knew it was inefficient and something that had become a cultural habit, supposedly showing that people were working hard.

Professor Lynda Gratton has also written about the fact that the current economic slowdown could act as a catalyst for positive change in the workplace connected to more flexibility. Companies can save money by having more people work at home or by negotiating more part-time contracts, while having flexible options will create a more productive and happier workforce.

Not everyone can work this way – but there are many that can. Right now, they have to travel long distances to get to work – relying on trains, buses, cars and so on, which more often than not let them down.

Perhaps, the combination of women in leadership, the economic crisis and the examples set by leading businesses will bring in a big change in the way we work – something that will be of great benefit to all workers, men and women.