Business owners stand to benefit from a more productive and happier workforce by allowing staff to work from home over the Christmas period, it has been claimed.
New research, commissioned by Citrix, revealed that 80% of businesses have no remote working policies in place, yet 64% expect at least half of their employees to work during the ‘shut-down period’ between Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
The report claimed that businesses could benefit from increased employee satisfaction by considering more progressive approaches to working, as well as making savings on operational and environmental costs.
Richard Jackson, UK manager at Citrix, said: "Companies could profit by allowing staff to work from home during the Christmas week."
"Remote working allows staff to operate as effectively from home as they would from their office and research has proved that working remotely has a positive impact on productivity and staff contentment."
A recent report compiled by the Orange Future Enterprise Coalition found that small firms are in the prime position to reap the benefits of a less rigid approach to working, and three quarters of micro businesses agreed that flexible working practices were beneficial to business.
At an event hosted by the coalition, several small business owners reported that the ability to choose their locations and hours of work, and access their e-mails at any time offsite, improved rather than compromised their work-life balance and enabled them to go on holidays.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2006
