UK businesses are missing out by not giving employees the technology needed to work on mobile devices away from the office, a study has found.
With the UK’s flexible working regulations set to change on June 30, more workers than ever will be able to request a portion of their hours to be worked outside the office. Yet almost half (44 per cent) of UK companies have not provided staff with the appropriate mobile technology to do their jobs effectively, reports computerworlduk.com.
The study, carried out by Virgin Media Business, surveyed 1,274 remote workers through the UK. It found that 88 per cent of workers believe traditional nine-to-five business hours are far less relevant than they used to be. Despite this, workers have found issues when working away from the office, with 36 per cent stating that gaining access to broadband or Wi-Fi on their mobiles was the biggest issue.
Some 32 per cent said that not having mobile access to work files and company networks was holding them back, while access to the intranet, messaging tools and extranet (22 per cent) and email access (21 per cent) were other obstacles named.
Duncan Higgins, marketing director at Virgin Media Business, believes that employees should expect companies to provide them with the mobile tools and training they need, for the benefit of everyone.
He told mobiletoday.co.uk: “If done correctly, remote working can transform an organisation, making the work environment less complex and enabling employees to be more collaborative and deliver a better service in an increasingly competitive business environment.”
