Homeworking Benefits UK Employers & Employees

What are the advantages of homeworking?

The Skillcast WFH Insights Survey May 2020 found that employees are finding working from home highly advantageous. In the largest survey of its kind in Great Britain, we presented 1,983 employees, confirmed as working from home at least most of the time, with a selection of advantages and asked them to select all those that they were experiencing.

A huge 97% of respondents reported experiencing one or more advantages, with only 3% stating there were no advantages to working from home.

Analysing the survey responses in further detail provides insights that managers will find useful when engaging with their staff and supporting them to work from home successfully. A particular benefit is helping to keep employees focused and in control of their work.

Survey findings: The advantages of working from home

1. Commuting: The most widespread advantage of working from home was the time saved by avoiding commuting - selected by over three-quarters of participants (78%).
   
   
   1. This featured highly in London (84%) and for those working in Media/ marketing/ advertising/ PR & sales (83%).
      
      
2. Focus: Despite saving time by not having to commute, less than a third (31%) feel they are more focused and able to get more work done at home.
   
   
   1. Those working in Education reported even lower levels of focus (19%).
   2. Those with previous experience of working from home were more likely to be focused and get more done than those homeworking for the first time (48% vs. 26%).
3. Clothing: Being able to wear more comfortable clothing was the second most selected advantage of working from home (62%).
   
   
   1. Those finding this an even more significant benefit included female respondents, those aged 35 or under (68%) and those working in Real Estate (82%).
4. Climate change: Over half of our respondents appreciated the reduction in their carbon footprint (58%).
   
   
   1. This featured highest for millennials (63%), compared to 56% of the over 35's.
5. Working hours: Half feel they have greater flexibility with their working hours (50%)
   
   
   1. This allows employees to better manage their health and well-being (49%).
   2. Londoners value this even more with 57% feeling that they can manage their health and well-being better, compared to just 35% in Scotland.
6. Work-life balance: 4 in 10 feel that they are able to spend more time with their family (42%) and maintain a better work-life balance (38%).
   
   
   1. Nearly half of Londoners (47%) feel they can spend more time with their family.
7. Control: Few felt that working from home gave them more control over how to do their job (27%) or that not having to see their colleagues face-to face every day was a plus (24%).

About the Skillcast WFH Insights Survey

Skillcast is the leading provider of compliance e-learning and staff compliance tools to companies in the UK, ranging from FTSE 100 giants to small and mid-sized businesses.

In May 2020, Skillcast commissioned YouGov to undertake the largest study of its kind in Great Britain, based on responses from 1,983 participants qualified as working from home all or most of the time. Fieldwork took place online between 23rd April & 4th May 2020.

This is just a taster of the full survey results. For further insights by the size of firm, the industry sector, region and demographics, email us at insights@skillcast.com.

To see more primary research results from our surveys, read our Insights blogs.

Need more help with working from home compliance?

Working from home presents specific challenges to maintaining regulatory compliance. This is why your senior managers and compliance officers will need a resilient, scalable plan.

Our 3-step compliance training and assessment roadmap will help put your homeworking environment on a much stronger footing.

It includes a 10-minute training module for all staff, a 15-minute training module for managers and a self-assessment.

You can access all of these training aids for free, and they are available for roll-out as part of our Compliance Essentials Course Library.

Looking for more compliance insights?

If you'd like to stay up to date with best practices, industry insights and key trends across regulatory compliance, digital learning, EdTech, and RegTech news, subscribe to Skillcast Compliance Bulletin.

To help you navigate the compliance landscape, we have collated searchable glossaries of key terms and definitions across complex topics, including GDPR, Equality, Financial Crime and SMCR. We also track the biggest compliance fines, explaining what drives them and how to avoid them.

You can follow our ongoing YouGov research into compliance issues, attitudes and risk perceptions in the UK workplace through our Compliance Insights blogs.

Last but not least, we have 60+ free compliance training aids, including assessments, best practice guides, checklists, desk-aids, eBooks, games, handouts, posters, training presentations and even e-learning modules!

If you've any questions or concerns about compliance or e-learning, please get in touch.

We are happy to help!