Fifty six per cent people in Manchester are more productive when working from home in their pyjamas, with eight per cent also admitting to taking conference calls in the buff.
These are the results of a survey by UK-based independent office technology supplier Altodigital has conducted research into working from home trends to better understand the technological and operational challenges faced by firms in the region when it came to remote and mobile working.
It reveals that despite 1 in 10 workers claiming their productivity increases by 80 per cent when WFH, that motivation has a limited scope; peaking at just four hours a day, before it trails off.
Maintaining a professional dress code also seems to create an issue for some employees, with 8% admitting to having worked naked while fielding client and colleague phone calls!
A more modest 56% preferred to stay in their dressing gown or pyjamas while working, with men twice as more likely than women to dress in smarter ‘office wear’ while WFH.
Only 2% of respondents admitted to regularly skiving off when WFH, with an impressive 44% revealing that they rarely skive of at all! The top distractions were household chores (30%) and playing with their children (36%), with 16% admitting to meeting friends and family while ‘on-the-clock’.
Consultant social scientist, psychology presenter and professional author Anjula Mutanda said: “It is important to be aware that how you dress may more subtly affect your mood and attitude, and it can be particularly challenging to maintain a professional and focused approach when working from home. You may enjoy being able to wear your dressing gown all day, but this may sub-consciously put you in the weekend relaxed mood and could slow you down.”
Technology in Manchester businesses also played a key role when it comes to productivity levels, with 44% facing slow internet issues, server connectivity problems (30%) and problems with emails (13%) while WFH, showing that many business in Manchester still don’t have the appropriate technologies in place to cater for effective homeworking.
However, it’s not all negative, and the research revealed the very real benefits of WFH, including helping to support employee’s family commitments (36%), workers benefitting from improved concentration (21%) and saving on commuting time and cost (11%).
Tony Burnett, Group Sales Director at Altodigital comments: “Over the past few years we have seen a clear trend in businesses looking to implement effective WFH policies for their staff and though the many benefits are undeniable, firms must work sensibly to ensure they are getting the most out of their employees when they are working away from the office.
“In order for WFH to work successfully, firms must have a clear and concise WFH policy in place which sets measureable and specific goals for their employees. This should be supported by an appropriate IT infrastructure that makes it easy for employees to connect to the server, print and access their relevant documents and feedback their progress to the rest of the team quickly and easily.”
