A shake-up of UK law will allow some 2.2million Britons to request to work remotely from the first day in a new role.
A government announcement, to take place today, will unveil a new plan that will allow workers to ask for flexible working from Day One in a job – rather than six months in, under current rules.
The long-awaited plan will also narrow down the circumstances in which firms can reject a request to work flexibly.
The three-month window for firms to respond could also be slashed and the limit of one request per worker per year may face the axe.
The rights include requests to work from home, part time or on flexible or staggered hours, job-share or take phased retirement.
Jonathan Allan, CMO, Puzzel, said: “The world of work is changing. With employees wanting more flexibility in the wake of the pandemic, companies are now needing to rethink how they manage and deliver their customer service.
“In contact centres, if organisations require agents to be physically onsite to do their job, they could find themselves at reduced capacity due to social distancing measures or from staff having to isolate. This could result in longer queues and wait times for callers, and inevitably, customer dissatisfaction.
“There is a solution, however. Multiple studies have found hybrid working leads to an improved work-life balance for agents, and in turn, higher customer satisfaction. As the saying goes, happy agents make happy customers.
“Hybrid working should be seen as an opportunity, not an obstacle, for contact centres. There are numerous tools contact centres can use to keep hybrid teams connected and maintain collaboration without impacting service levels. These tools enable agents to chat with their colleagues and see when they are online, busy, away or in calls, regardless of location.
“The contact centres that provide the best agent experience, empowering employees to work from wherever they feel most comfortable and productive, and utilising positive team-building technologies, will deliver better customer service going forward.”
The future of work and the hybrid approach is a vital consideration for any business going forward.
