ADVOCATE COLUMN 4th WEEK APRIL 2013

If you have a business operating almost anywhere within the urban area of Whangarei, then by the end of this year you should have ultrafast broadband going past your premises. This presents an opportunity for businesses to examine some of the ways they deliver their product and services and also to look at how they manage their staff and their workloads. Given that most Northland businesses are very small, that their workforces are also small and that recent times have made it difficult to reward their workforces in a financial way, perhaps it is time to consider how technology could be used to benefit a business’s employees. If business owners value and strive for a work-life balance then it is natural to assume that their workforce will also place a benefit on it, and with younger work forces in particular they may actually demand it. Technology through ultrafast broadband, remote access and a proliferation of smart devices enables more flexible working arrangements than have ever existed before. Obviously it requires some clear guidelines and performance levels still needs to be monitored and adhered to but there are some big advantages to be had. Working remotely will require that staff have been given the appropriate training and information to give the business owner the confidence that productivity will at the very least remain constant if not improve. This in itself would make the whole process add value to a business. It would also make the business owner examine how they manage, store and safeguard their information and ensure they have processes in place to meet the demand of out-of-hours emergencies. It may take some time for individual businesses to establish the right mix of time spent in the office and working remotely given their own unique circumstances. I imagine purely from the element of social interaction there will always be a need for people to be present in a workplace for some period of their working week, both to keep informed of what is going on and to stay connected with other members of their team. Because the objective is to improve everyone’s work-life balance, the real challenge may be to ensure that a balance is actually maintained and the workplace does not dominate the owner’s or worker’s home life. In many cases this will require some real discipline in managing the use of their smart devices and knowing when to turn them off.