Derrick
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South Africans seem to be working away from the office more often than some of us would have imagined. I can speak of experience in the sense that my office is my home and I have a number of personal friends who also work at home either for themselves or as a perk offered by the company they work for. Philip, a friend of mine specialises in environmental economics who works for a company who does economic and environmental impact studies in instances where natural land is made available for whatever human occupation and use. He gets to work at home all the time only going into the office if a meeting necessitates it. His dining room table is his office desk and his laptop his essential companion. That is the world of the future for those people who increasingly find themselves unwilling to commit to the insanity of modern day South African roads, especially the daily trek on the N1 between Pretoria and Johannesburg. If you calm one of those souls down enough and give them time to get anti-depressant withdrawal for about 10 minutes they will drop down on their knees and weep like you’ve never seen because a two to three hour trek every morning in traffic is nothing but insanity in a world where there are other options. The good news is that statistics are showing that South Africans are trying to solve the problem like some of my friends did.
73% have already adopted mobile working policy
A survey on mobile working trends, conducted by Citrix Systems, has found that 73 percent of South African organisations have already adopted a mobile working policy, while a further 20 percent have mobile working under consideration. In my humble opinion it is just laziness and ineptitude that prevents managers to endorse policies where their workers can work from home, save the planet and be more family oriented.
Access to exactly same systems and software away from office as they have in the office
Of the 132 respondents, over 70 percent work away from the office at least once a week, with 44 percent working away from the office more regularly at two to three times per week. An encouraging finding is that half of the respondents have exactly the same level of applications and information available as in the office, with the appropriate security measures. The last bit of what I just shared is important to understand. “An encouraging finding is that half of the respondents have exactly the same level of applications and information available as in the office, with the appropriate security measures.” If done right there is no reason an employee cannot work from home! It is such a fundamental mind shift that can make the world of difference to the quality of life of people not to mention that the younger generation Y will demand flexible hours. Why work eight or nine hours a day when you can finish it in five? They will also demand telecommuting. The workplace can accommodate it and should. Naturally there will be an increased focus on the quality of the employees appointed, but that is also a good thing, not so? There are some stumbling blocks though and in my view they all reside with management.
Laptop is most used device away from office
Mobile working still seems to be the exception to working practices rather than the rule, as 51 percent of the respondents only work from home after meetings or in exceptional circumstances. The device most used for mobile working is the laptop, with 82 percent of respondents citing this. While bandwidth restrictions and security still pose the greatest concerns, the adoption of mobile working has been encouraged by general cost savings, rising fuel and related costs, and the increasing traffic congestion on South Africa’s roads.
Expectations of change
What is also interesting is the expectation for things to change. 98 percent of the respondents believe that South African companies will adopt mobile working policies in the future. The survey was conducted in August 2008 amongst those IT decision makers registered to attend Citrix’s annual Virtualization Solutions Seminar in Johannesburg.
73% have already adopted mobile working policy
A survey on mobile working trends, conducted by Citrix Systems, has found that 73 percent of South African organisations have already adopted a mobile working policy, while a further 20 percent have mobile working under consideration. In my humble opinion it is just laziness and ineptitude that prevents managers to endorse policies where their workers can work from home, save the planet and be more family oriented.
Access to exactly same systems and software away from office as they have in the office
Of the 132 respondents, over 70 percent work away from the office at least once a week, with 44 percent working away from the office more regularly at two to three times per week. An encouraging finding is that half of the respondents have exactly the same level of applications and information available as in the office, with the appropriate security measures. The last bit of what I just shared is important to understand. “An encouraging finding is that half of the respondents have exactly the same level of applications and information available as in the office, with the appropriate security measures.” If done right there is no reason an employee cannot work from home! It is such a fundamental mind shift that can make the world of difference to the quality of life of people not to mention that the younger generation Y will demand flexible hours. Why work eight or nine hours a day when you can finish it in five? They will also demand telecommuting. The workplace can accommodate it and should. Naturally there will be an increased focus on the quality of the employees appointed, but that is also a good thing, not so? There are some stumbling blocks though and in my view they all reside with management.
Laptop is most used device away from office
Mobile working still seems to be the exception to working practices rather than the rule, as 51 percent of the respondents only work from home after meetings or in exceptional circumstances. The device most used for mobile working is the laptop, with 82 percent of respondents citing this. While bandwidth restrictions and security still pose the greatest concerns, the adoption of mobile working has been encouraged by general cost savings, rising fuel and related costs, and the increasing traffic congestion on South Africa’s roads.
Expectations of change
What is also interesting is the expectation for things to change. 98 percent of the respondents believe that South African companies will adopt mobile working policies in the future. The survey was conducted in August 2008 amongst those IT decision makers registered to attend Citrix’s annual Virtualization Solutions Seminar in Johannesburg.