A ‘Revolution’ In Working Practices

Nov. 17, 2011 - PRLog -- Successful businesses will measure and reward people by results, rather than hours, and offices will shift from being nine-to-five workplaces to meeting places.

These ideas are put forward by two visiting fellows at Cass Business School which is part of City University London, and Henley Business School in a new book, Future Work: How Businesses Can Adapt and Thrive in the New World of Work, published this month. The authors Alison Maitland and Peter Thomson say rewarding people by results, not hours, is the future

The book, which draws on a survey of international managers and examples of companies already making the transition, argues that a radical change in working practices will help businesses boost output, cut costs, speed access to new markets, and afford employees greater freedom.

“In the 21st century, we still cling to a rigid model of fixed working time and place better suited to the industrial age,” says Alison Maitland, a Senior Visiting Fellow at Cass Business School (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/). “Long hours are often required and rewarded without any measure of the productivity involved.  However, there is overwhelming evidence that employees are more productive if they have greater autonomy over where, when and how they work. Trusting people to manage their own work lives, individually or in teams, pays off.”

The concept could see the traditional nine to five working day disappear and be replaced with a model that rewards people by performance and results, rather than hours worked and presence in the office.

At Google, engineers are already judged on what they produce, not where or when they do it. “Our engineers can work whatever hours they like,” explains Matt Brittin, Google CEO, UK and Ireland, “assuming they co-ordinate with colleagues and deliver what we've agreed. They can be nocturnal.”

A study carried out for the book suggests a switch to ‘future work’ could be just around the corner.  Of more than 360 international managers surveyed from 40 countries, two thirds believe there will be a revolution in working practices in the next decade.  Nearly 90 per cent believe people are more productive given autonomy over their working patterns and over 80 per cent also think new ways of working would benefit their business.

“It takes bold leadership to break with old habits, but today’s workforce wants a new deal and it makes business sense to do it,” says Alison Maitland.  “Organisations that have discovered this are already reaping the rewards. Those that have not are in danger of being overtaken by events.”

For more information contact Chris Johnson, Press Officer at Cass Business School (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/) on 020 7040 5210.  

Cass Executive Education (http://www.cass.city.ac.uk/courses/executive-education) works within the world of today’s modern business environment and offers tailor made programmes addressing specific needs of your business.

# # #

Cass Business School is one of Europe’s leading providers of business and management education, consultancy and research.