29 October 2010 – Some SME decision makers don’t allow their workforce to work from home despite obvious business benefits, according to research carried out online by YouGov, on behalf of NewVoiceMedia.

Only 23 per cent of the senior decision makers in SMEs allow all their staff to work from home all the time. Of the respondents who don’t allow their employees to work remotely, the main reason cited (85 per cent) was the need for staff to be physically onsite, while 12 per cent simply don’t have the technology required to allow home working.

Disappointingly, 11 per cent of senior decision makers who don’t allow home working stated that it was because they believed their employees would be less productive with five per cent suggesting their staff couldn’t be trusted to do a full day’s work at home.

Jonathan Grant, CEO at NewVoiceMedia, says: “At a time when the technology is available and affordable to all SMEs I can’t believe that so many senior people don’t trust their teams enough to let them work from home, or cite technology as the sticking point. Cloud technology has made it possible for businesses of all sizes to implement flexible and scalable telephony solutions that allow staff to work from home and remain accountable."

“Cloud-based telephony is perfect for SMEs as there is no requirement for onsite equipment or ongoing maintenance costs.  Supervisors can effectively monitor staff regardless of their location and have the flexibility to add or remove users as the business demands."

The respondents who are in favour of allowing staff to work from home, explained they believed it increased productivity (60%), motivated staff (60%) and allowed for better relationships with their employees (58%).

The YouGov survey was carried out between 3rd and 6th September 2010, and covered 616 senior decision-makers in GB-based SMEs. For further details on the results, please contact the NewVoiceMedia team at Berkeley PR via [email protected].

Please join the NewVoiceMedia webinar on implementing home working strategies with Call Centre Helper on 4th November.

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