Vendor survey suggests pubsec better at mobile than private

Public sector management and workforces are working more flexibly than the private sector - both in terms of setting work policies and the communications tools they use, according to research sponsored by a vendor.

 

The report suggests strongly that public sector is already establishing a “top-to-bottom” culture of versatile working and improving and maintaining services, more effectively than many private companies, to cope with economic austerity but also to deal with events, like the Olympics, that could disrupt the UK workplace.

 

The research also suggests the public sector is showing clear signs of adopting more sophisticated ways to collaborate and make efficiencies than the private sector. Public sector staff are adapting to changing workforce needs and using workplace tools, like unified communications that incorporate staff availability system, it claims.

 

In contrast, 60% of private sector counterparts do not use communications tools that allow staff to determine a colleague’s contactability. This indicates that local government and other public bodies are formalising systems that boost operational efficiency and cut wasted telephone calls and duplicated processes and efforts. 

 

The study also found 65% of public sector organisations have agreed flexible working policies with their staff helping create an agile workforce leading to greater employee productivity and making optimum use of office space with hot desking or sharing of resources by departments.

 

And public organisations may have have successfully factored in ways of minimising the impact of the Olympic events; nearly a quarter of public firms have dedicated Olympic policies in place already, while 50% of private firms have not issued any flexible working policies or guidelines.