News

Offering flexible working hours and the ability to work from home is not going to work in all aspects of transport. After all, drivers may struggle to change their hours because of delivery schedules and they can't really work from home. But for employers in clerical and administrative roles, working flexibly is a possibility. Speaking at the Skills for Logistics (SfL) and Freight  Transport Association Women in Transport 2007 event, Ann Beynon, BT director of Wales, says flexibility can make a business better.

And she should know: 75% of staff at BT work flexibly and as many men as women do so. However she admits it has meant a massive culture shift, because it only works when people are managed properly. "It means we have to manage and measure output rather than the number of hours staff are working." As a result of flexible working practices BT has saved £70m in office costs £10m in fuel and transport costs and £5m as a result of more staff returning from maternity or parental leave (99% now do so).

However only 10% of BT staff work from home full-time. Beynon says: "To accommodate flexible practices we offer hot-desking, remote access to BT systems, and reduced or compressed working weeks, and this means we have to  provide output-based performance evaluation. The only danger we find is the people work too much." While the need to work flexibly is not restricted to women, Beynon says women need more flexibility to remain in the workforce. BT figures show 64% women want to have flexible working hours. Other priorities include being associated with people they respect (82%) being themselves at work (79%) and working as a team (61%). Only 15% said a powerful post was important.

BT is not the only company offering staff the flexibility to work different hours or from home or on the road. Nigel Sullivan, group human resources director at Wincanton, says: "If someone has a field role then they are able to work from home, but we limit that to three days a week so they feel they are part of the business and part of the team." Tony Mellor, commercial director at Pall-Ex, says the company has found that employees are now working when they used to be travelling to work.

Nikki King, UK MD at Isuzu Trucks, says: "Typically employers make rules and regulations because one person has abused the system. But if they relax and are sensible, flexible working becomes very doable." King says Isuzu has a one-to-one system where every member of staff has a meeting with their manager every six to eight weeks this is "real time to talk about real issues - and issues like the need to work flexibly are often raised in that arena".

SfL's mentoring scheme

Skills for Logistics is trying to encourage women up the management chain with the launch of a mentoring programme. Heidi Boateng, women and work project manager at SfL, says there is a lack of female managers in the industry. "Only 10% of managers in transport and distribution, and 14% in storage and warehousing, are women."Boateng believes there are women working in the industry already who could be mentored to become successful managers.

"A lot of women have issues around confidence and this can be addressed with mentoring. Men seem to take advantage of mentoring opportunities more than women." The SfL mentoring scheme will be available over the internet. "With mentoring we hope to create a network for women outside of their immediate organisation that will help them with the issues they face and encourage them up the career ladder. And by doing it online it can be kept up to date and flexible."