Telecommunications firm BT is a great believer in flexible working arrangements, with around 12,000 of its staff working from home and over 10,000 dividing their time between their home and the office. Dave Wilson, head of employment policy at BT, strongly believes that employees are empowered via this flexible approach to work and the company's benefits.
"We know they [create empowerment], and we know that because that is the way BT works. It is simply impossible to monitor the work that people do," he says. But Wilson admits that empowering staff is not something that can be easily achieved, and believes an environment whereby employees feel empowered through flexible working arrangements needs to become part of an organisation's culture.
"If you get the job design right, people are empowered in the whole of their lives, not just at work. This is a practice built into the culture of BT now," he explains.
