The traditional 9-to-5 work day appears to be heading for the history books in Britain, as staff work longer hours to meet increased customer expectations.
The competitiveness of today’s business world and rising client expectations are causing our work patterns to change faster than we imagined. In fact, more than half of businesses (51 percent) believe that customers are becoming more demanding when it comes to getting hold of the right person the first time and getting an urgent response to queries.
Additionally, we are now much more open to working in locations other than the office. Ninety-three percent of the British workforce works from home for part of the week, while 76 percent work while travelling. At the same time, with customers now expecting responses within just three hours, over three-quarters of us respond to work emails after 6pm while two-thirds of us answer work calls in the evening.
Companies are recognizing this trend, and are now adopting more customer-centric working practices. Over a third (37 percent) of businesses spend up to five hours a week at client offices, while 83 percent spend their time visiting customers or communicating with them via phone and email when out of the office.
The trouble is that legacy communications technology wasn’t designed for today’s dispersed workforces. Staff need the flexibility to work where they want and on a range of communications devices.
Productivity may stand to benefit: close to 80 percent of employers believe giving employees the ability to work flexibly, will enhance employee productivity levels. The vast majority of businesses (90 percent) believe that the appropriate communications technology is important in this endeavour.
For more of YouGov’s findings, take a look at the below infographic. And don’t hesitate to visit the RingCentral Office product page to learn how Office can benefit your business in this new world of work.
Originally published Jan 10, 2014, updated May 27, 2021
